Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone

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Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone

"Harry saw, as though in slow motion, the ball rise up in the air and then start to fall. He leaned forward and pointed his broom handle down - next second he was gathering speed in a steep dive, racing the ball - wind whistled in his ears, mingled with the screams of people watching - he stretch out his hand - a foot from the ground he caught it, just in time to pull his broom straight, and he toppled gently onto the grass with the Rememberall clutched in his fist."

This passage demonstrates the use of additive style to create a flurry of actions. Rather than just say Harry caught the ball at the last moment, we follow him through his steep dive. This sets up the imagery of him flattening down on his broom and shooting towards the ground. You can almost hear the kids screaming wondering if he's going to hit the ground. It's just one long sentence using asyndeton to create continuing actions that all flow rapidly together. When you finally reach the end of the sentence where's safely on the ground you get this sense of relief. There is no stop or break in this continuous dive he's in until he hits the ground and the sentence is entirely created to mimic that. You feel the building worry, the slight fear and then the complete relief when he makes it to the ground. This sentence effectively takes you on a roller coaster, or broom ride, with him.