Peter F. answered • 11/11/22
Professional, Published Writer and Writing Tutor
The key here is the difference in meaning between "the" and "each." In this context, they have pretty much the same meaning. However, "The artifacts" might be interpreted as not necessarily every artifact found by the protagonist, perhaps just the ones he deems truly worthy of analysis. "Each artifact" specifies that he indeed specifies every artifact he finds. So if you want to drive home the point that he analyzes every single artifact he finds in his quest, you would go with the first verse.
Peter F.
Given that these two statements are consecutive, and "infer" means to form a conclusion from evidence, this verse as it is strongly implies that he infers why he's stunted judging from his analyses of the artifacts. Perhaps if he takes another action between these two, the connection won't be as heavily implied.11/11/22
Ethan B.
I mean it's phrased in a way that suggests that he finds an artifact, analyzes it, makes inference. And that, that happens several times. I want to convey that the first two steps happen several times, and the inference only happens once at the end.11/11/22
Peter F.
You could put in: "After all that," "Having finished that," "When that was done," etc.11/14/22
Leah G.
Pardon me for butting in, but I love this kind of discussion. I love the way Peter has described the implications of using "the" vs. "Each". And, I think I understand what Ethan wants with the "stunted" ending. I like Peter's suggestions there as well. I think that given what you have described, Ethan, that "each" is the correct choice. "Each" implies there are many things and that time is spent with each one. "Each" has an implied time element. Then I would add "having finished that" or one of the other suggestions. Good luck with this. It sounds great!11/16/22
Ethan B.
Is there a way to phrase it in a way that separates the finding and analyzing of artifacts from the infering? He finds artifacts and analyzes them, and then he does his inference.11/11/22