Write An Essay On Didion Rhetorical Devices

819 Words2 Pages

One day, I was on a camping trip with my family. When we got there, I thought everything was going to go well, like I thought. However, after a few hours, around dinnertime, I noticed the sky became cloudy, with barely any visibility. I thought that it would start raining soon, and my prediction was correct. It was pouring heavily, so many people began packing up. Later, thunder and lightning came in, so we were instructed to leave immediately. We packed up and left the campsite. After leaving, I also found out that it was going to rain throughout the entire week, so it was a good idea to leave. The anecdote above gives an example of an ominous sign and its effects. The dark clouds were an indicator that something was not going to …show more content…

She keeps her dull and anxious tone throughout the passage. When she is talking about this, she seems very unhappy about the events. After that, she talks about some of the signs that she has seen, as well as other people’s actions. After that, she gives a scientific explanation to the previous phenomena. She uses a series of related words to build onto the feeling of anxiety. In the first paragraph, she begins with words such as uneasy and unnatural, and then adds details such as “blowing up sand storms” and “drying the hills” to emphasize its power. After that, the lines “for a few days … knows it too” appeal to the reader’s senses, by implying that people know that a Santa Ana is coming soon. At the end of the second paragraph, she uses phrases such as “roamed the place with a machete” and “One day he … the next a rattlesnake” add on to the feeling of anxiety that is prevalent throughout the …show more content…

She uses imagery to allow the reader to picture the events, as well as a good assortment of diction to allow the reader to understand what is going on. At the end of the intro, she put the lines “The baby frets … in the air” in order to allow the reader to imagine what it’s like during a Santa Ana. After that, she echoes the tone with the word ominous, as well as adds to the anxiety tone with the anecdote “My only neighbor … a rattlesnake.” The purpose of the anecdote is to provide some imagery for the reader. The vivid descriptions such as “no lights at night” and “he had heard … a rattlesnake” allow the reader to imagine as if they were experiencing this. The previous sentences were all signs that the Santa Ana was impending. In the third paragraph, she adds a few details that Raymond Chandler has noted about what happens during the Santa Ana with the lines “every booze party … folk wisdom.” The purpose of those lines was to imply that what happens during a Santa Ana is unpredictable, and has an effect on many

Open Document