Analysis
Analysis of "The Story of an Eyewitness" by Jack London
Jack London uses such deep, vivid language in writing in regard to the San Francisco tragedy. In the report, "The Story of an Eyewitness," Jack London's writing assists the reader in feeling the tribulation of the events that occurred in San Francisco. The inevitable destruction of the city that he writes about is unquestionably harrowing. When writing about the earthquake, he uses descriptive words to portray the damages done to the city. London also gives us a description of how the people felt during the tragedy by saying "not one person who was in the slightest degree panic stricken." Throughout the report, one can experience the horrible events that happened that day through London's vivid language.
The report starts off when Collier telegraphs Jack London to go to the sight of the San Francisco earthquake. Upon arrival, London goes into an extent amount of detail of everything that the earthquake destroyed in the city, from the businesses to the residential areas. He states that there was no water available to put out the fires caused by conflagration, so the firefighters used abundant amounts of dynamite to counteract the fires from getting to the buildings still standing. He also states that there were watchmen at every door of still-standing buildings to control the fire from spreading.
Next, London gives us an idea of how much destruction the earthquake caused to the city by giving us the cost of damages, "The earthquake shook down in San Francisco hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of walls and chimneys. But the conflagration that followed burned up hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of property." He also gives us another idea of how damaged the city really is by saying, "Not in history has a modern imperial city been so completely destroyed. San Francisco is gone. Nothing remains of it but memories and a fringe of dwelling-houses on its outskirts." By using
Jack London uses such deep, vivid language in writing in regard to the San Francisco tragedy. In the report, "The Story of an Eyewitness," Jack London's writing assists the reader in feeling the tribulation of the events that occurred in San Francisco. The inevitable destruction of the city that he writes about is unquestionably harrowing. When writing about the earthquake, he uses descriptive words to portray the damages done to the city. London also gives us a description of how the people felt during the tragedy by saying "not one person who was in the slightest degree panic stricken." Throughout the report, one can experience the horrible events that happened that day through London's vivid language.
The report starts off when Collier telegraphs Jack London to go to the sight of the San Francisco earthquake. Upon arrival, London goes into an extent amount of detail of everything that the earthquake destroyed in the city, from the businesses to the residential areas. He states that there was no water available to put out the fires caused by conflagration, so the firefighters used abundant amounts of dynamite to counteract the fires from getting to the buildings still standing. He also states that there were watchmen at every door of still-standing buildings to control the fire from spreading.
Next, London gives us an idea of how much destruction the earthquake caused to the city by giving us the cost of damages, "The earthquake shook down in San Francisco hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of walls and chimneys. But the conflagration that followed burned up hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of property." He also gives us another idea of how damaged the city really is by saying, "Not in history has a modern imperial city been so completely destroyed. San Francisco is gone. Nothing remains of it but memories and a fringe of dwelling-houses on its outskirts." By using