The opening lines
The opening lines paint a clear picture of what to expect throughout the text in the readers' minds. The entire text is about the moon blowing up. Therefore, the imagery prepares readers to see the entire text in a nutshell. The author writes, "The moon blew up without warning and for no apparent reason. It was waxing only one day short of full. The time was 05.03.12 UTC. Later it would be designated A+0.0.0, or simply zero.”
Movies
The author compares what is seen in the movies during the planet's explosion and compares that to the real events when the moon is blowing up. The reader realizes a complete contrast because the moon does not cease to exist when it blows up. The author writes, "In movies, when a planet blows up, it turns into a fireball and ceases to exist. This is not what happened to the moon. The agent released a very large amount of energy, to be sure, but not nearly enough to turn the entire moon’s substance into fire.”
The imagery of Rufus
Sight imagery is depicted when the author describes Rufus' daily activities in the mine. One of the people who saw the blowing up of the moon from a mountain top is Rufus. The author writes, "Rufus Macquarie saw it all happen above the black ridgeline of the Brooks Range in northern Alaska. Rufus operated a mine there. On a clear night, he would drive his pickup truck to the top of a mountain that he and his men had spent the day hallowing out."
