A Game of Polo with a Headless Goat

• Emma Levine is a British writer and photographer who has traveled widely in Asia since 1992, reporting on local customs and sports.
• Levine spent 13 months traveling through Asia, observing unusual sports like oil wrestling and donkey racing for "A Game of Polo with a Headless Goat".
• In this extract, Levine is in Karachi, Pakistan, being driven by two young men to watch a donkey race.
• The extract begins with Levine waiting in the car for the race, thinking nothing will happen.
• Suddenly, donkeys appear amidst numerous vehicles, and they join the chaotic throng.
• Levine describes the danger and excitement of the race, filled with noise and color.
• A donkey falls, leading to a heated argument, and Levine remains in the car for safety.
• Levine learns her driver is underage before they drive off.
• The extract is in the first person, past tense, typical of autobiographical narratives.

Opening Scene

• The opening depicts Levine and her companions in the car, seeking the best viewing spot on a hill.
• Levine's question about joining the "Wacky Races" alludes to the chaotic American cartoon series.
• "The lads" is a familiar term, indicating Levine's affection for her young companions.
• The youths enthusiastically plan to stash Levine in the car boot to film the race.
• Their confidence is expressed in reported speech, planning to join the cars as the donkeys pass.
• Levine's ambivalent question, "But will you try to get to the front?" hints at potential danger.

Metaphors of Anticipation

• The two "lads" are metaphorically "fired up with enthusiasm", like a steam engine ready for action.
• Hyperbole is used when Levine says they waited "for eternity", humorously expressing her boredom.
• Levine is "perched in the boot," a metaphor for her precarious position, increasing reader anxiety.
• A villager on a wobbly bicycle becomes amused by Levine peering out of the boot with a zoom lens.

Building Tension

• Donkey-carts carrying spectators pass by, responding with "coming, coming".
• Levine begins to doubt the race will happen, but "the lads remained confident".

The Race Appears

• The race finally appears in a "cloud of fumes and dust" created by the vehicles.
• Yaqoob "revved the engine"; "rev" is onomatopoeic, sounding like the engine turning.
• The donkeys are "dwarfed" by the cars but travel at nearly 40 kph.
• The donkeys race "neck-and-neck," close together like in horse-racing.
• The jockeys are "perched" on top, echoing Levine's position in the boot.
• Levine states the jockeys use whips "energetically, although not cruelly".

Sounds of the Chase

• Levine focuses on the "noise of the approaching vehicles," using onomatopoeia like "horns tooting".
• She describes the "special rattles" made from metal containers filled with fried beans.
• Men are "standing" on cars, "hanging" out of taxis, or "perched" on lorries, and vehicles "jostled".

Chaotic Imagery

• Yaqoob "edges out" and "swerves" to the perfect viewing spot.
• The race is described as "Formula One without rules" or "a city-centre rush hour gone anarchic".
• Alliteration emphasizes the chaos with the hard "c" in "complete flouting" and "common sense".

Yaqoob's Driving

• Yaqoob "relished" the race, enjoying it despite the danger.
• "The survival of the fittest" metaphor implies only the best drivers will survive the race.
• Yaqoob's driving skills include cutting in front of vehicles, nerves of steel, and no lane discipline.
• There are "two races," the donkeys and the following cars, and oncoming traffic takes evasive action.
• Yaqoob is in his element, "his language growing more colourful," a euphemism for swearing.

The Crash

• The race reaches its climax, but there is a crash at the "hospital gate".
• The race's sudden end is emphasized in the very short sentence, "The race was over".

Trouble Begins

• "And then the trouble began" humorously implies even more chaos is coming.
• The race result is contested by over a hundred "punters".
• The growing sense of argument is created with the three part sentence: "Voices were raised, fists were out and tempers rising".
• The "v" sound repeated in "nervous" and "volatile" puts a stress on both words, and shows how Yaqoob and Iqbal are getting more anxious.
• "Volatile" is a metaphor taken from chemistry.
• Levine switches to direct speech: "it's starting to get nasty. I think we should leave".
• Yaqoob reveals he doesn't have a license because "I'm underage!"

Final Reflections

• The young men found the situation "hilarious".
• Levine reflects on the potential "massive pile-up" that could have occurred.
• Levine uses litotes or understatement, stating the pile-up "could have caused problems".