Rocket Boys Memoir Passage Analysis

Rocket Boys Throughout the memoir to the highest degree his youth, Homer Hickam in Rocket Boys demonstrates faithfulness in prose. Hickam, a former aerospace engineer from NASA, probably and master skilfuly crafts his memoir so as to bring the reader into his mindset. His perceptive comments of action enable the reader to experience the moment branchhand with him with their image. He c arefully selects his words in order to create an flick in the mind of the reader through his deliberate syntax, powerful diction, literary devices, and tomography.The following passage is an example of his powerful prose Sherman wanted to light the fuse, nevertheless I worried whether he could get away from it fast enough. fag outt you worry about me, he said with such impregnation that I instantly gave in. In a lot of ways, Sherman was the least disable person Id known. He lit the fuse and ran prat to a rock. Flames burst from Auk II. It sat for a moment spewing stinkpot and sparks and rocking on its fins.Then it jumped ten feet into the air, turned and zipped into the woods behind us, ricocheted off an oak tree tree, rebounded back to the s lose, twisted around once, twanged into the boulder Quentin and I were hiding behind, jerked twenty dollar bill feet into the air, coughed once, and dropped like a dead chick. (Hickam 91) This passage is excellent because it displays literary excellence period also revealing a moment of self awareness in Hickams thoughts. There are deuce key portions to this quotation.The first is the momentary reflection that Hickam had concerning his friend, and the second being the description of Auk IIs pip. In the first half of the passage Hickam displays a moment of self awareness. Sherman Siers, a member of Hickams BCMA, had a left leg that had been shamed due to polio. Hickam states that at first he worried that Sherman that Sherman might non be able to retreat quickly enough after luminosity the fuse to Auk II, but he gave in due to the confidence and vehemence that Sherman possessed.In retrospect he writes In a lot of ways, Sherman was the least handicapped person Id known. (91) Here Hickam realizes that what many another(prenominal) raft label as handicaps whitethorn be in fact the opposite. Shermans handicap caused him to rise to the challenge and in doing so he gained a confidence that empowered him through other challenges that ein truthone in life may face to Sherman handicaps were just now a state of mind. The second half of the portion, which describes the flight of the rocket, is teeming with literary goodies the first of which being the syntax of the denounces.The first of the goodies is the fourth dimension syntax. In the sentences leading up to the rockets takeoff, you batch contain the sentence lengths are short and excited. Then it changes when it reaches the sentence It sat for a moment spewing smoke and sparks and rocking on its fins (91). Just as the rocket is live oned sittin g for a moment on the ground, the sentence length increases from that of the past sentences to certify the delay through syntax. The final sentence is lengthy and jumbled with verbs all end-to-end it.The constant usage of verbs each following the other gives a very staccato rhythm making the sentence very quick paced and full of action. This final sentence has a whopping total of ten verbs that show the actions and running of the rocket. By looking at the structure of the sentence, one can almost see the rocket flying all over the brand jerking this way and that and finally hitting the ground with a hunker at the period. Other goodies in the later portion of the passage hold the strong choice in diction and literary devices he employs. Hickam skipper choice in diction is evident in the final two sentences.Hickam carefully chose each word according to its sound and meaning. He did non try to sophisticate his word choices to make himself seem intelligent. Instead he searched c arefully for words that though simple to understand, create just the description for the rockets action. Some of the words like twanged (91) and zipped (91) are plane examples of onomatopoeia that is the words sound like what they mean. At the end of the final sentence Homer employs the parable dropped like a dead bird (91). This fable has a dual purpose as both a simile and a pun.This sentence brings an abrupt end to the crazy flight path of the rocket and creates a visual of the rocket plummeting to ground in the minds of the readers, insofar at the same time it is a play on words. A pun is the usage of a word which has two meanings to invoke humor. In this case the word which has two meanings is the word bird (91). The name of the rocket, the Auk II, is an allusion to the non bad(p) Auk which is an extinct, flightless seabird. When Hickam used the phrase dropped like a dead bird (91), he meant to show the rockets rapid descent while also humorously referring back to the ori gin of he rockets name. The last sentence from the passage is an excellent example of imagery. Instead of merely telling the readers about the rockets ensnare, Hickam shows the rockets launch to his readers. Using phrases like twanged into the boulder (91) and jerked twenty feet into the air (91), Hickam invokes the senses of seeing and tryout to bring the reader firsthand into the action. Overall I really enjoyed discipline Rocket Boys. The passages really brought me into Hickams mindset and I was able to see the world from his point of go through.The frequent literary devices entertained my mind, while my imagination was absorbed in the imagery in the book. I was inspired by Sonnys determination to succeed and make something of himself. I did not consider any truly weak parts of this memoir as I personally was absorbed in every moment in it. However I can understand if some people were to chance it dull or boring at times due to lack of action. Unfortunately many readers tod ay read only for action and violence, so due to a general lack of these in Rocket Boys, many people might take it unentertaining.I would only recommend this to a person who reads to be inspired and not merely to be entertained. in person I embed myself captivated by the books imagery and unknowingly I found myself on a mission to find every little literary device possible. Throughout my reading I always viewed the book positively and eagerly read ahead to find out what would happen next. Rocket Boys is an excellent book that I found to be truly inspirational and has positively impacted on my view on my own life. Now I truly believe that if I work hard enough, I can achieve just about anything.