Megan- Summary Chapter 9

1)      Summary:  Chapter nine revolved around when EMTs or firefighters get the “call” that tells them that there is an emergency.  Some of the “calls” that Perry highlighted were the young man with heart problems, the elderly man with health problems, and the drunken man who tried to flee. Another point in this chapter that Perry brings up is the importance of the dispatchers. The dispatchers have the job of trying to figure out where the emergency is taking place through all of the chaos. The volunteer firefighters and EMTs don’t always get paged when there is a fire, sometimes they come to the house or shout to a volunteer in the streets.

2)      Analysis

“The old foundation is gone now, replaced by a yellow prefab, and so

 tonight I run straight out my backyard, through eight inches of snow.

 The temperature stands at dead zero. I feel as if I’m pushing my face

through rubbing alcohol. My cheeks stiffen, have the feel of butter

hardening. With every inhalation, the hair in my nostrils freezes. The

village is still, the stillness intensified by the cold….” (150).

Perry uses the senses to get the image across to the reader. He uses the senses of touch and sight to describe the way to the fire station once getting paged. Perry FEELS like something is pushing on his face and that his cheeks have a feeling like “butter hardening.” Also, his “nostrils freeze” every time he takes a breath of air. These vivid descriptions help the reader create a better mental picture because every part of the picture is present. Another technique Perry uses is the use of a metaphor. Saying that his cheeks felt like butter hardening confirms to the reader just how cold it was outside when he was on the way to the station. Finally, the last sentence confirms as well just how cold it was out. Perry says, “The village is still.” When it is cold out, items tend to freeze and when items are frozen they are still. By using metaphors and the five senses, readers are able to get the best mental image possible.