Endurance: anticipation

• Literary Term: hyperbole- intentional exaggeration to create an effect
• example: "Worsley related, with a characteristic touch of exaggeration: 'The result was disastrous, two of the poor creatures fainted and had to be brought round with hartshown, etc., while the remainder went into hysterics until the Vulgar Person and his associates disappeared over the horizon.'"
• Quote: "They had no idea what the future might bring.  The novelty was past, and so too was their optimism."
• As children, and even now, many of us get a thrill when we see snow starting to fall in the winter.  The winter-wonderland that is created is often breathtaking.  After days, however, of talking about, looking at, and feeling nothing but the chill of snow, even the most avid lovers of snow wish for it to go away.  Likewise, Shackleton and his men were in awe of their surroundings for the first few weeks in which their ship was stuck in the ice.  However, the excitement of their situation soon passed and was replaced with each man thinking about the unknown.  While taking sail, the men had been confident that their strongly-built ship would carry them safely to their destination.  Their optimism only increased each time the Endurance survived yet another onslaught of pressure from the ice.  Day after day, the crew watched as the side planks of the ship caved in deeper and deeper.  Finally, Shackleton was forced to tell his men that the time had come for them to evacuate the ship, for she could collapse under pressure at any moment.  On hearing this, the men's fascination with their surroundings vanished, to be replaced with fear and anticipation.