Yetis and unicorns are creatures rumored to have existed for generation upon generation but whether they might actually be around somewhere on the planet is unlikely. The passage we looked at presented the evidence to support the existence of these creatures and evaluated the likelihood of such evidence being true. The passage therefore, forms a lot of doubt in regards to both creatures existence and the author seems to air on the side of skepticism.
The author uses many different words and phrases to place doubt in the readers mind. Firstly, at the very beginning of the passage, compares the unicorn to ‘actual animals’ which suggests that the author doesn’t believe that the unicorn is real. This opinion is then backed up with evidence, ‘Thorough research into contemporary wildlife has not supported the possibility of creatures with the characteristics of the unicorn’. Then, the passage suggestively uses words to indicate the fictitious nature of the unicorn by stating that it is a ‘mythical beast’ and calling Robert Vavra’s diary, which presented photos completing a claim that he had finally tracked down the creature, ‘sensational’.
Secondly, the author also uses similar techniques to show that they do not believe in the existence of the yeti. It is called ‘mysterious’ and ‘mythical’ creature, it also calls the story of the yeti a ‘legend’. Again, supporting evidence is provided, ‘Conclusive evidence of the creature’s existence has proved elusive’. It also dispels the evidence presented by Sir Edmund Hilary as proof of the existence of yetis as false, ‘The picture of a large, wide footprint, taken by Sir Edmund Hilary in 1951 while climbing Mount Everest, proves nothing’. A hand that was also provided as the proof of the stories being true is also referenced in the passage, ‘…The hand could have, of course, come from anywhere’. Rumors about mummified yetis were also circulated and the passage calls them fakes, ‘These turned out to be fakes, or were no longer where they were supposed to be’.
Finally, to only further throw doubt of the existence of the yeti into the readers mind, dramatic words are used in regards to Reinhold Messner’s search for the yeti. ‘A terrifying night’, ‘haunted by the strange whistling cries of a creature’ and ‘the large, hairy, ape-like man’ are all used to dramatize the experience and to make it seem more and more fictitious. The whole paragraph referencing Messner’s experience is written in a very fictional manner and reads like a fascinating ghost story.
React!