In this piece written by Stewart Lee on the Elephant Fayre, Cornwall,1984, there are many literary devices and variations in language used to persuade the reader that the music festival he attended in Cornwall as a teenager was magical and memorable. The writer uses a lot of repetition and juxtar positioning to emphasise his points and catch the readers attention. Also the writer uses a lot of foreign and descriptive language. Finally the author uses many literary devices throughout the article.


Throughout out this article the author uses repetition and short sharp sentences, however the writer utilises them much more at the beginning of the piece. The use of these short sharp  sentences catches the reader’s attention and they are supposed to make the reader want to read on by catching their eye, for example,”I was sixteen. I wanted, finally, to see the Fall.” this shows the use of shorter sentences to give a concise snappy tone to the piece. The writer also uses repetition a lot to emphasise why this concert was so amazing for him and why he liked the band so much,”from irritating me beyond reason to enthralling me beyond imagination.” the use of the beyond twice in this one sentence shows how the writer’s view of music and this band in general may have gone from being irritated or annoyed by them, to amazed and enthralled by them, which shows the impact this band has had on the writer. The use of these short sharp sentences and repetition shows how the reader viewed this band as revolutionary and also as a good way to catch the reader’s attention.

The writer uses a lot of foreign and descriptive language throughout the piece to try and persuade the reader that this band is worth going to see and to watch at a concert. This language is a key part to the success of this article as a whole, for example,” wafts pre-Raphaelite women wandered bare-breasted.” this is not the type of language usually seen in an officious article in a well known newspaper however it captures the reader’s attention and draws them in to read onwards and engage in the piece of writing more. This type of language is used again more in the latter parts of the article as well where the writer puts,”a hippy antiques dealer lectured me by moonlight,” an affair by moonlight is usually associated with more of a secret affair by star struck lovers than a teenager and a Rastafarian of the same sex talking about antiques. However this shows how the unexpected as well as this band can cultivate love in someone who was never particularly interested in music before a short period of time ago. This use of more out of place language than would usually be used emphasises how the writer found love in something he never really associated with before.

Finally the writer uses a lot of different literary devices throughout this piece to describe the scene of the concert and how he vies the band as a whole now. For example the writer uses a metaphor of,”The rolling grassland sloped down to a stage,” this shows the majesty and grandeur the writer felt in seeing the band and how it contrasted with his surroundings which shows the depth of reverence he holds for the band. Secondly the writer also uses a transition of time from a childhood teenager perspective to an adult perspective which shows how his love for the band is unchanged over a longer period of time which also shows the affect the band has had on the writer throughout his life. These devices and the transition of time shows how the author has been deeply affected by this band throughout his life and how they made a major impact on him.

In conclusion the writers use of literary devices as well as short sharp sentences and repetition shows how this band has deeply affected him as a whole. The use of more foreign language not usually seen in big newspapers also shows how the band refreshed and renewed the writer’s life.