Question

vast, red - golden, huge tail coiled, limbs sprawled over his treasure - hoard, eyes not fiery but cold as the memory of family deaths. vanishing away across invisible floors, there were things of gold, gems, jewels, silver vessels the color of blood in the undulant, dragon - red light. arching above him the ceiling and upper walls of his cave were alive with bats. the color of his sharp scales darkened and brightened as the dragon inhaled and exhaled slowly, drawing new air across his vast internal furnace; his razorsharp tusks gleamed and glinted as if they too, like the mountain beneath him, were formed of precious stones and metals.
my heart shook. his eyes stared straight at me. my knees and insides were so weak that i had to drop down on all fours. his mouth opened slightly. bits of flame escaped.
\ah, grendel!\ he said. \youve come.\ the voice was startling. no rolling boom, as i would have expected, but a voice that might have come from an old, old man. louder, of course, but not much louder.
from john gardner, grendel. copyright 1971 by john gardner
how does the author structure the passage to instill fear and awe?
by alternating between detailed descriptions and dialogue to create tension
by coupling strong metaphors with the narrators descriptions of his feelings
by cataloguing vivid sensory details to depict the dragon and its cave
by using short paragraphs to emphasize the dragons quick temper

Explanation:

The passage first uses vivid sensory - details like "vast, red - golden", "razorsharp tusks" to depict the dragon and its cave, creating a sense of awe. Then it shows the narrator's fear through "My heart shook", "My knees and insides were so weak". There are no strong metaphors, no significant use of short paragraphs to emphasize quick temper, and the dialogue is not the main tension - creating factor. The focus is on the sensory details.

Answer:

by cataloguing vivid sensory details to depict the dragon and its cave