Blog Topic #1: Rhetorical Strategies
• Personification: “The last rains lifted the corn quickly and scattered weed colonies (1)”
• Alliteration: “hooves of the horses,” “high heavy clouds,” “sluggish smoke” (2)
• Anaphora: “where the teams moved, where the wheels milled (2)”
• Personification & Simile: “white road that waved gently like a ground swell. (10)”
• Simile: “like little armadillos,” like elephant legs,” “like a tiddly-wink” (10-11)
• Simile: “like a pork pie lay on the ground beside him (18) “like a stud horse in a bow stall,” “howlin’ like a dog-wolf in moon time,” “like a sow litterin’ broken bottles” (28)
• Oxymoron: “cleansing dust (33)”
• Rhetorical Question: “Don’t they make explosives out of cotton? And uniforms? (32)”
• Epistrophe: “being born on it, working on it, dying on it (33)”
• Symbolism: “dust-blanketed land (4)”
John Steinbeck’s use of similes often relates humans to animals, which reflects his simplistic and informal style. The comparison to animals gives off a sense of uncivilized actions especially during the time of great economic hardship. The lives of people that have been affected by the Great Depression have been deluged with stress and hardship; however their hardship and stress seem more magnified when it is related to the simpler lives of animals. The Grapes of Wrath takes place in Oklahoma, where dust was a common item to encounter. The reoccurring presence of dust symbolizes the pain and suffering that will always cover the land. The dust reflects Steinbeck’s simplistic style because dust is a very small and very common item and yet he uses its presence as a huge burden in the lives of the Oklahoma residents.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Personal Response
Blog Topic #5: Personal Review
John Steinbeck’s use of colors intrigued me, it was so simple yet the colors symbolized the overall tone of the book. He constantly explained how the “gray dust” was covering all of the other more vibrant colors. However, I disliked reading about the hardship of the families and of the farmers. Prior to reading The Grapes of Wrath, I had learned about the Great Depression in my AP United Stated History class. As I read about the Great Depression from my history text book it was simply just another event that I would soon be quizzed on. But when I read The Grapes of Wrath, the Great Depression went from an event in history to a life or death situation. My understanding of the hardship that these people felt increased significantly. Although I did learn a great deal from this book, I personally did not enjoy it. The description of the stress and despair in the lives the “Dust Bowl” residents was heart wrenching. This book honestly made sad, no matter how informative it was, as I read I could not help but think “Why would anyone want to read this?” I could not think of a better reason to read this other than for information on the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. However, I would prefer to learn about those events from my history book. I simply could not handle the emotion that was put into the pages.
John Steinbeck’s use of colors intrigued me, it was so simple yet the colors symbolized the overall tone of the book. He constantly explained how the “gray dust” was covering all of the other more vibrant colors. However, I disliked reading about the hardship of the families and of the farmers. Prior to reading The Grapes of Wrath, I had learned about the Great Depression in my AP United Stated History class. As I read about the Great Depression from my history text book it was simply just another event that I would soon be quizzed on. But when I read The Grapes of Wrath, the Great Depression went from an event in history to a life or death situation. My understanding of the hardship that these people felt increased significantly. Although I did learn a great deal from this book, I personally did not enjoy it. The description of the stress and despair in the lives the “Dust Bowl” residents was heart wrenching. This book honestly made sad, no matter how informative it was, as I read I could not help but think “Why would anyone want to read this?” I could not think of a better reason to read this other than for information on the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. However, I would prefer to learn about those events from my history book. I simply could not handle the emotion that was put into the pages.
Text Connections
Blog Topic #4: Text Connections
Text-to-Text: Colors play an imperative role in describing the setting or the tone of the story. John Steinbeck uses many colors to convey the moods of the setting and of the people. Gray is the most common color used because of the stress and frigid tone. Also in the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, the colors that the main character, Janie, wore reflected her mood. During her marriage to Joe Starks, she often wore pale and dull colors, but while she was married to Tea Cake she was always dressed in a bright blue dress of some sort. Through out The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck includes many long sentences. This is similar to the Scarlet Letter because Nathaniel Hawthorne used many dashes to elongate the sentence and to add as much detail as possible.
Text-to-World: In The Grapes of Wrath, there is a town described in which several farmers lose their privileges to the land they work on. A similar crisis is happening right now, many families are being forced to move out of their homes by the bank/government. In a way the economic crises that this country has experienced is simply in a reoccurring cycle in which every financial issue will eventually happened again.
Text-to-Text: Colors play an imperative role in describing the setting or the tone of the story. John Steinbeck uses many colors to convey the moods of the setting and of the people. Gray is the most common color used because of the stress and frigid tone. Also in the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, the colors that the main character, Janie, wore reflected her mood. During her marriage to Joe Starks, she often wore pale and dull colors, but while she was married to Tea Cake she was always dressed in a bright blue dress of some sort. Through out The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck includes many long sentences. This is similar to the Scarlet Letter because Nathaniel Hawthorne used many dashes to elongate the sentence and to add as much detail as possible.
Text-to-World: In The Grapes of Wrath, there is a town described in which several farmers lose their privileges to the land they work on. A similar crisis is happening right now, many families are being forced to move out of their homes by the bank/government. In a way the economic crises that this country has experienced is simply in a reoccurring cycle in which every financial issue will eventually happened again.
Syntax
Blog Topic #3: Syntax
• “and every day the earth paled”
• “And the women came out of the houses to stand beside their men- to feel whether this time the men would break (3)”
• “’ My dogs were pooped out’ (8)”
• “the yellowness was disappearing under the gray dust (17)”
• “’Got drunk together ever’ chance they got.’ (28)”
• “on both sides, dusty and dry and dark green. (28)”
The overall tone of The Grapes of Wrath is the forced contentment of the people and an undertone of hopelessness. John Steinbeck clearly displays this tone by describing many colors such as red and yellow, are being covered by a shade of gray, which parallels the emotions of the people. All of the other emotions they are supposed to be feeling, such as happiness and love, are being covered by despair and hopelessness. Steinbeck’s simplistic style is reflected in his use of very simple and short words. Once again he relates people to simple animals; this comparison simply reiterates how large the difference is between the simple acts of animals to the now difficult decisions of people. Steinbeck conveys the idea that the males have the deciding voice in whether the family will move or stay. This creates a sense of dominance for the males, and in most societies the male is seen as the dominant and confident member of the family, and Steinbeck repeatedly explains the difficulty of deciding the family’s fate; which even further conveys the idea of hopelessness, when even the confident male figure is having doubts. Steinbeck constantly explains the conditions of the “paling earth,” which conveys the purpose of describing the hardship and despair of the time.
• “and every day the earth paled”
• “And the women came out of the houses to stand beside their men- to feel whether this time the men would break (3)”
• “’ My dogs were pooped out’ (8)”
• “the yellowness was disappearing under the gray dust (17)”
• “’Got drunk together ever’ chance they got.’ (28)”
• “on both sides, dusty and dry and dark green. (28)”
The overall tone of The Grapes of Wrath is the forced contentment of the people and an undertone of hopelessness. John Steinbeck clearly displays this tone by describing many colors such as red and yellow, are being covered by a shade of gray, which parallels the emotions of the people. All of the other emotions they are supposed to be feeling, such as happiness and love, are being covered by despair and hopelessness. Steinbeck’s simplistic style is reflected in his use of very simple and short words. Once again he relates people to simple animals; this comparison simply reiterates how large the difference is between the simple acts of animals to the now difficult decisions of people. Steinbeck conveys the idea that the males have the deciding voice in whether the family will move or stay. This creates a sense of dominance for the males, and in most societies the male is seen as the dominant and confident member of the family, and Steinbeck repeatedly explains the difficulty of deciding the family’s fate; which even further conveys the idea of hopelessness, when even the confident male figure is having doubts. Steinbeck constantly explains the conditions of the “paling earth,” which conveys the purpose of describing the hardship and despair of the time.
Diction
Blog Topic #2: Diction
• “; and every day the earth paled (1)”
• The reoccurring “dust”
• “, so the earth became pale, pink in the red country, and white in the gray country. (1)”
• “Inside a screened restaurant a radio played, quiet dance music turned low the way it is when no one is listening. (5)”
• “Lighted it (11)”
• “ the yellowness was disappearing under gray dust. (17)”
• “a snowball’s chance in hell (22)”
• “same on both sides, dusty and dry and dark green (28)”
• “He ate without relish (36)”
John Steinbeck’s use of diction creates a tone of contentment but he includes an undertone of hopelessness. Steinbeck creates the content although hopeless tone by explaining that all of the more vibrant colors are still present, but they are being covered by a shade of gray. When Steinbeck describes a small diner in the town, he mentions the volume of the music that is coming from the radio. The music is explained as a quiet dance song that no one is listening to, this even further conveys the tone of hopelessness and despair because it reflects the uncaring emotions of the town. The tone of the people also reflects the overall tone such as “he ate without relish,” which symbolizes that the people’s lives are becoming dull and unflavored, this implies that the mood of the people is reflected upon the land.
• “; and every day the earth paled (1)”
• The reoccurring “dust”
• “, so the earth became pale, pink in the red country, and white in the gray country. (1)”
• “Inside a screened restaurant a radio played, quiet dance music turned low the way it is when no one is listening. (5)”
• “Lighted it (11)”
• “ the yellowness was disappearing under gray dust. (17)”
• “a snowball’s chance in hell (22)”
• “same on both sides, dusty and dry and dark green (28)”
• “He ate without relish (36)”
John Steinbeck’s use of diction creates a tone of contentment but he includes an undertone of hopelessness. Steinbeck creates the content although hopeless tone by explaining that all of the more vibrant colors are still present, but they are being covered by a shade of gray. When Steinbeck describes a small diner in the town, he mentions the volume of the music that is coming from the radio. The music is explained as a quiet dance song that no one is listening to, this even further conveys the tone of hopelessness and despair because it reflects the uncaring emotions of the town. The tone of the people also reflects the overall tone such as “he ate without relish,” which symbolizes that the people’s lives are becoming dull and unflavored, this implies that the mood of the people is reflected upon the land.
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