The First Spar

Text 1: Hands Up, by Shona McCreadie

An original short story extract.

The gym smelled of sweat and old leather and the bleach they used on the mats. Dani climbed through the ropes and stood in her corner, and the gloves on her hands felt like two loaves of bread, heavy and stupid. Across the ring, Kerry-Ann bounced on her toes. Kerry-Ann had been boxing for four years. Kerry-Ann had a nose that had been broken twice and did not seem to mind.

The bell rang. Dani’s legs went to water. Kerry-Ann came at her, quick and light, and a jab snapped her head back before she had even seen it leave. Then another. The world rang. Her eyes filled. Somewhere outside the ropes Coach was shouting, ‘Hands up! Hands up, Dani!’ but his voice seemed to come from very far away, from another room, another life.

She thought about quitting. She thought about climbing out through the ropes and walking home and never coming back. Then something hot and stubborn rose up in her chest. She lifted her gloves. She tucked her chin the way she had practised a hundred times in front of the bedroom mirror. When the next jab came, she saw it, and slipped it, and threw her own right hand back, and felt it land.

How does Shona McCreadie use language and structure to show Dani’s fear turning into determination?

You should use relevant subject terminology to support your answer.