Analyzing Joan Didion's 'Los Angeles Notebook'

514 Words2 Pages

50-500-500 Essay
Ricardo Roman
AP English III
9/24/15


In the ''Los Angeles Notebook'' by Joan Didion describes the Santa Ana's wind and its effect by emphasizing the wind's ability to change human behavior before during and after the winds presents, Didion does this by demonstrating supporting detail and imagery. Didion also expresses all of her ideas in first person view and in the present tense. Didion supports an eerie, ominous and dark mood by presenting it with strong imagery and detail, by stating ''My only neighbor would not come out of her house'' and ''Her husband roamed the place with a machete''. Didion also demonstrates personal recollection to assist with the eerie, ominous, and dark mood by stating ''The Indians will throw themselves into the sea with the bad wind blow.'' Didion references other cultures by comparing the Santa Ana winds to the foehn wind. The Santa Ana winds or the foehn wind can dramatically change people's behavior and causes people to commit crimes and suicide. Didion supports this by stating ''in Switzerland the suicide rates goes up during the …show more content…

Didion first personifies the Santa Ana winds as a negative, and evil force of nature “ There is something uneasy in the Los Angeles air this afternoon, some unnatural stillness, some tension”. When Didion explains that the air has unnatural stillness and tension, it paints the picture of the impending end for Los Angeles by giving the Santa Ana winds some adjectives that describes the wind which creates character for the wind. Didion establishes personification throughout her story, in order to create a increasing sense of danger which amplifies the mood . Each personification shown gives the Santa Ana wind different human like characteristics to make it seem alive than just a simple

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