Letter to Daniel: Despatches from the Heart (BBC)

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Word choiceWord choice -’veered’ gives the -’veered’ gives the sense he has been inches away sense he has been inches away from death due to the risks he from death due to the risks he takes, like a car on the edge of a takes, like a car on the edge of a cliff cliff In Fergal Keane's "Letter to Daniel" the writer is protective ofhis newly born son. He wants to protect him from the outside world that can be In writing I spoke not just about becoming a father, but also about my own past, about loss and the failure of dreams, about the pain of different children I had met along the roads of war, about my father and how alcohol had taken him from me.

In the meantime, believers must be patient and faithful in a hostile world, looking to the Lord alone for deliverance ( 11:33–35).youyou think is Fergal Keane’sthink is Fergal Keane’s main purposemain purpose for writing this for writing this letter. letter. a long sentence whose a long sentence whose punctuation marks are feeding punctuation marks are feeding and winding and nappy and winding and nappy changing and these changing and these occasionaloccasional momentsmoments of quiet.” of quiet.” The colony is no more. The baby has grown into a boy and he now has a lovely younger sister. And I have greying hair and no longer roam the war zones of the world. This much - at least- has changed.

protective of Daniel. In Rwanda people were trying to kill each other because they were different race. In Fergal Keane's essay "letter To Daniel" the writer He describes his fathers condition as “cancer”, in other words he sees it as a disease and knows that it could not be helped. This metaphor shows no sense of blame towards his father and also shows that it is killing him. The phrase “it just was” also gives me a sense of his acceptance of his fathers condition. He loved his family, but he was “living and dying for the bottle” and the love he had did not save him. He understands what it would have been like for his father to be separated from his family, as he now has one of his own. I think that this is why he decided to reveal that it was his father at the end of the letter. He personalised it because he now understood. He was not just “a man” anymore, he is “your grandfather”. The clever way in which the writer has used this tone makes me realise what emotions he feels.This I feel is one of the most moving sentences in the story and helps me to recognise Keane’s universal message of the love bond between parent and child. Daniel has given Keane an understanding of his own father, and at the very end of the letter he describes his son as “the sound of hope” and uses wordchoice such has “innoncence” and “freshness” to show the stark contrast between his child’s innocence and the darkness that he previously described. I feel that Keane’s choice of theme throughout the letter is very important in conveying his emotions at this time as it shows how important his son is to him. Because Fergal Keane has used Because Fergal Keane has used very precise detail in his letter to very precise detail in his letter to his son, the reader is given much his son, the reader is given much more powerful imagery and a real more powerful imagery and a real sense of what Keane writes about.sense of what Keane writes about. From Our Own Correspondent." As a BBC correspondent, Keane has reported from various international crises areas including The book’s central theme is God’s sovereignty over history, empires, and kings ( 2:21; 4:34–37). All the kingdoms of this world will come to an end and will be replaced by the Lord’s kingdom, which will never pass away ( 2:44; 7:27). Though trials and difficulties will continue for God’s people up until the end, those who are faithful will be raised to glory, honor, and everlasting life in this final kingdom ( 12:1–3). Key Themes

StructureStructure – lists most dangerous – lists most dangerous places he has been to emphasise places he has been to emphasise the risks he once tookthe risks he once took Keane indicates how badly they Keane indicates how badly they wanted a child and how much this wanted a child and how much this was on their minds.was on their minds.It started with a refusal. The producer called and asked if I would think of writing a piece about being a foreign correspondent and a father. I said no. I was on paternity leave and overwhelmed with the sleeplessness of early parenthood. The narrative changes from second to third The narrative changes from second to third person. The change removes or distances person. The change removes or distances him from the action initially. We expect a him from the action initially. We expect a story told in third person by a neutral and story told in third person by a neutral and omniscient author; but it becomes clear – omniscient author; but it becomes clear – through convincing detail - that he is telling through convincing detail - that he is telling his own storyhis own story