Pat Barker's 'The Silence of the Girls': understanding the extract

Briseis is a character from Greek mythology; she is given to Achilles (a renowned warrior) as a prize of war. Pat Barker wrote ‘The Silence of the Girls’ from the first person perspective of Briseis. The novel begins with Briseis in her home city of Lyrnessus which is under attack from the Greeks. Barker creates tension and suspense through descriptions of Achilles, the battle and hints about Briseis's future. When annotating a text, you can use a range of symbols and notes to help develop an understanding of the text’s ideas.