Language

The choice of words for May as the narrator suggests an educated person, while the choice of words for May’s mother as a narrator suggests a less well-educated person. Furthermore, colloquial broken English is used to illustrate how the grandmother used to talk. Consequently, the author uses language to suggest that each generation is more educated than the previous.

Imagery (descriptive passages meant to convey mental images) is used extensively in the opening of the story which presents the narrator and her brother playing on a beach, collecting clams, and swimming in the ocean:

...

The author adds deeper meanings to the story by using language devices like similes, metaphors, repetitions, and symbols.

Similes

A few similes are used in connection with the setting and characters. To convey a child’s perspective on shark egg capsules, the author uses the simile “like dried out leather corkscrews” (p. 192, l. 14)

To suggest the idea of a carefree feeling that the narrator and her brother experienced while swimming, the author uses the simile “like breeding turtles and hidden jellyfish” (p. 193, l. 3).

...

Metaphors

A series of metaphors and figurative phrases make the story more appealing and illustrate deeper meanings. Instead of saying May and Billy imagined their hands were creating a rainbow, the author uses the following description: “We make rainbows that pour out from our heads” (p. 192, l.2).

...

Repetition

Occasionally, repetitions are used to add emphasis to certain ideas, gestures, and reactions. For instance, several sentences at the beginning of the story start with ‘We+verb’. The repetition of the first-person...

...

Symbols

Many elements mentioned in connection with the physical setting have an additional symbolic function, which enhances the themes of the story.

The clouds and the action of cloud busting are symbolic of racial prejudice and challenging norms. Like the children imagine busting clouds (which is physically impossible, but for them is very real), Samuel and Alice manage to challenge social prejudices in 1960s Australian society,...

...