The passage presents a piece of narration intercepted with a description. It may be split into two logically complete parts. The first part – “Beautiful Sonning “ describes the place the three friends got out of the boat and put up for the night. The second part – “Cooking Irish srew” narrates how they cooked Irish stew.
The extract begins with the description of the beautiful view and comfortable destination of the place where the action comes to pass. From the very beginning we see the narrator admiring Sonning: “It is the most fairylike little nook on the whole river. It is more like a stage village than one built of bricks and mortar. Every house is smothered in roses…” From those exact sentences we can guess that the narrator is a kind of a person who admires beauty and can give his own impression.
The author describes the place the characters got out very colourfully and vividly. The vividness of the description has been achieved, firstly, by the use of bookish words and word-combinations (“to be smothered in”, “dainty”, “splendour”), secondly, by the use of the epithets which disclose the author’s emotionally coloured individual attitude towards the place described (“fairy-like”, “dainty”, “veritable”, “sweet”), thirdly, by the similes “fairy-like nook”, (Sonning) “like a stage village”, which also create a picturesque image, and, finally, by the metaphors “smothered in roses” and “clouds of dainty splendour” which contribute to the same effect – to a more colourful presentation of the setting.
All these language means create a lyrical romantic mood of this part and makes us imagine the beauty of nature, the fullness of emotions and feelings.
The second part presents a piece of narration which deals with the