Preview

Ap English - Didion

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
580 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Ap English - Didion
The Santa Ana winds cause people to act more violently or unruly and makes others irritable and unhappy to a great extent. Joan Didion explains to the reader about how the Santa Ana affects human behavior in her essay "Los Angeles Notebook." Through the use of imagery, diction, and selection of detail Didion expresses her view of the Santa Ana winds. Didion paints uneasy and somber images when describing the Santa Ana winds. "There is something uneasy in the Los Angeles air… some unnatural stillness, some tension," starts the essay off with the image of Los Angeles people in a sense of stillness or tense. She further adds, "Blowing up sandstorms out along Route 66… we will see smoke back in the canyons, and hear sirens in the night," propagating the uneasy and stark image of Los Angeles. "The baby frets. The maid sulks," she adds, giving a depressing view into the effects of the Santa Ana winds on people. Didion, in an attempt to show the craziness associated with the Santa Ana winds, points out the Indians who throw themselves into the sea when bad winds came. At any rate, Didion attempts to show the negative effects of the Santa Ana winds through images of stillness, uneasiness, and sobriety. In her tone, Didion remains clear, consistent, and vivid. Her choice of words remains simple as if to not alienate the readers of her essay. Her tone for the first half of the opening, primarily the first and second paragraphs is calm, inviting, and explanatory. Didion tries to capture the attention of the readers by constantly using tone that is not harsh. The second half of the opening to her essay, which deals with the scientific aspects of the Santa Ana winds, is mostly explanatory. "To live with the Santa Ana is to accept, consciously or unconsciously, a deeply mechanistic view of human behavior," she state in a serious yet not overbearing tone. With her use of syntax, Didion largely varies her sentence structure. This reduces the monotony of her essay and
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Brief Summary: The Most Dangerous Game By Richard Connell
    • 319 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Brief Summary: The Most Dangerous Game By Richard Connell

    In Richard Connell’s thrilling short story “The Most Dangerous Game”, an uneasy mood is constructed by Rainsford’s illusive adventure on Ship Trap Island. Many moments in the short story help build up a feeling of uneasy, one being when Winston uses a simile to describe the evil of the atmosphere, saying that the air “ was actually poisonous”, and that he felt a “mental chill, a sort of sudden dread” when the ship neared the island (Connell 1). The author makes the reader feel uneasy by making just the atmosphere itself seem evil and dangerous with the simile comparing the air to something that kills and is to be avoided. Readers also naturally pick up the feeling of dread from Whitney, which significantly helps in building…

    • 319 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Analysis Of Year Of Magical Thinking: Syntax And Synthesis
    • 1075 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Analysis Of Year Of Magical Thinking: Syntax And Synthesis

    In Didion’s style, she constantly shifts her story, focus, tone and syntax portraying to the audience how her mind cannot stay in one place and how none of the evidence or stories she reads satisfies her. An example of shift in syntax she uses is on page 12 “ “V-fibbing,” John’s cardiologist said the next morning when he called from Nantucket. “They would have said ‘V-fibbing.’ V for ventricular.”… Ventricular did. Maybe ventricular was the given. I remember trying to straighten out in…

    • 1075 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Puesta De Sol 15 Analysis
    • 640 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Puesta De Sol 15 Analysis

    Diego Rivera’s artwork Puesta de sol 15 (Sunset 15) created in 1959 is a two dimensional painting created by using oil and tempera on cardboard, and is a prime piece that exemplifies my theme of nature through the seasons. This entire art project itself works together as a whole to create my theme, and Sunset 15 works to exemplify nature during the summer season. Sunsets are something typical of the summer season, and while Rivera’s take on a sunset is interesting, and uniquely different, we still get the point of how nature is envisioned during the summer months with the hot summer sun and its intense rays of light. The water is also an aspect of nature of and of summer time that exemplify the theme trying to be conveyed with this artwork.…

    • 640 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    English I Pre AP Fall Semester Review
    • 505 Words
    • 3 Pages

    English I Pre AP Fall Semester Review

    How and why is the Scarlet Ibis a symbol for Doodle ( do not put because they are both dead)…

    • 505 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Brush Fire Analysis
    • 1237 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Brush Fire Analysis

    Didion explicitly said “science bears out folk wisdom.” This means that she believes there is a scientific explanation to why people are on edge during the Santa Ana winds. Through research she discovers that an Israeli physicist discovered that prior to the Santa Ana winds there is an abnormally high level of positively charged ions. The scientist don’t know why this happens, but they do know “positive ions does, in simplest terms, is make people unhappy.” This research into the facts of Santa Ana winds tants her view of the winds, because now she believes that they are affecting her body. Didion uses the Los Angeles Times as a source of her knowledge as well. The Los Angeles Times has a negative perspective of the Santa Ana winds, because it focuses on the deaths and destruction of the winds. This influence has also solidify Didion’s negative perspective on the…

    • 1237 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    AP English Final
    • 1438 Words
    • 2 Pages

    AP English Final

    Essay prompt: Whether you take offense or not, can you see any virtue in using such stereotypes…

    • 1438 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Los Angeles Notebook Essay
    • 536 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Los Angeles Notebook Essay

    Joan Didion, a concerned citizen living in the nicer parts of Los Angeles near the ocean, writes the “Los Angeles Notebook” about the return of the Santa Ana winds and how the winds are altering the ordinary behaviors of the Los Angeles citizens. Didion claims the Santa Ana winds aren’t just in Santa Ana, but also in Switzerland, and are very perilous with a strong disruption in normal human nature, suggesting a mechanistic behavior. Through her use of apprehensive diction, eerie imagery, and suspenseful syntax, Didion depicts the winds as a threatening entity.…

    • 536 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
    • 986 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor

    3. Storms are represented as chaos and dangers throughout the novel. “The tat-tat of the rain against the tin roof, changed to a deafening roar that sound as if thousands of giant rocks were hurled against the earth.” (45) The author uses the expression of thousands of rocks being hurled to earth, in “the tat-tat rain . . . turned into a deafening roar.” The strong amount and force of rain is basically telling everyone to be safe, and take cover. If they do not be careful, they could be stoned to death. Another example is, “Mr. Avery stepped dripping the room . . . Theys ridin’ tonight.” (60) “A clap of deafening thunder drowned Mr. Avery’s words, then the rain quickened and the conversation was lost.” (62) Mr. Avery starts talking about the ridin’ tonight, Mama gets scared and suspicious, shortly after the storm drains out the conversation. The strong storm leaves important information to be unheard; this leaves the person suspicious and frightened.…

    • 986 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Santa Ana Winds
    • 409 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Santa Ana Winds

    In Joan Didion’s Los Angeles Notebook, she depicts the wind’s presence as sinister, however, her description clearly shows that she believes this is an incredibly mysterious and foreboding occurrence. Her use of diction and imagery set the tone for the essay, while her use of detail supports this claim.…

    • 409 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Ap English Language Test Paper
    • 187 Words
    • 1 Page

    Ap English Language Test Paper

    Fill in the blanks with the plural form of the words in the list above. Each word can only be used once. Then, check your answers with a peer.…

    • 187 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    AP English Language Essay 2
    • 277 Words
    • 1 Page

    AP English Language Essay 2

    Using specific examples (cite page numbers or line numbers) from at least three of the selections we read, discuss similarities in the American Indian view of nature.…

    • 277 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Freedom In Kate Chopin's Short Stories
    • 1117 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Freedom In Kate Chopin's Short Stories

    which control the overall mood of the story. The actual meaning of the storm is strong wind…

    • 1117 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    first impression
    • 1084 Words
    • 5 Pages

    first impression

    Objective: For this essay, you will be analyzing Erik Larson’s style, revealing what devices he uses to convey his message(s) to his readers. The majority of the paper should be comprised of detailed close readings that analyze how his use of language contributes to an overall effect on the reader. Feel free to draw evidence from your journal (but don’t do so blindly, without considering if there are better options! You may end up taking only general ideas from the journal.). Your analysis should show real depth and insight, going beyond the obvious, and beyond what we have discussed in class. Your paper should also show an awareness of the entire novel. Focusing only on one section may hopelessly distort your analysis.…

    • 1084 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Santa Ana By Joan Didion Summary
    • 409 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Santa Ana By Joan Didion Summary

    For this discussion I decided to write about Joan Didion’s essay, “The Santa Ana. The author starts off by explaining that there is, “Something uneasy with Los Angeles air in the afternoon.” This immediately grabs my attention as I have been to may states and towns and don’t believe I have ever had the feeling of uneasiness or that something was wrong with the air in a given city. Even when in Buffalo the air does not feel any different other than it is cold. The cloud cover does not help either sometimes you can have some menacing looking gray clouds and no snow and other days you get hit with 12 feet of snow in a day or two. They continue to hold the reader’s attention with the vivid descriptions of the Santa Ana when he talks about trying…

    • 409 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    My Favourite Poem
    • 445 Words
    • 2 Pages

    My Favourite Poem

    Not just storm, the other hard circumstance where the poet examines this positive feeling of hope is the snow covered chilly lands, and the deep strange sea where one can easily wander and get lost. In other words, one should keep the will power high filled with this feeling of hope even in the extreme of extremes situations.…

    • 445 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More

Related Topics