Read the following passage from the beginning of "Rhinoceros."
We were sitting outside the cafe, my friend Jean and I, peacefully talking about one thing and another, when we caught sight of it on the opposite pavement, huge and powerful, panting noisily, charging straight ahead and brushing against market stalls—a rhinoceros. People in the street stepped hurriedly aside to let it pas. A housewife uttered a cry of terror, her basket dropped from her hands, the wine from a broken bottle spread over the pavement, and some pedestrians, one of them an elderly man, rushed into the shops. It was all over like a flash of lightning. People emerged from their hiding places and gathered in groups which watched the rhinoceros disappear into the distance, made some comments on the incident and then dispersed.
Which of the following stylistic elements is used by the writer to create humor in these lines?
To determine the stylistic elements used by the writer to create humor in the given passage from "Rhinoceros," we need to analyze the text. Let's break down the passage and look for potential humor-inducing elements:
- The sudden appearance of a huge and powerful rhinoceros in the middle of a peaceful conversation can create a sense of surprise and absurdity, which is often used in humor.
- The rhinoceros is described as "panting noisily" and "charging straight ahead," which emphasizes its overwhelming presence and adds a comical exaggeration.
- The reactions of the people in the street contribute to the humor. The housewife's cry of terror and the wine spilling from the broken bottle, along with pedestrians rushing into the shops, show a comedic exaggeration of panic and chaos.
- The quick resolution of the situation, with the rhinoceros disappearing into the distance, followed by people emerging from hiding places and commenting on the incident before dispersing, creates a humorous anticlimax.
Therefore, the stylistic elements used by the writer to create humor in this passage include surprise, absurdity, exaggeration, panic, chaos, and anticlimax.