April 15, 2013 Analytical Essay
Throughout the novel “The Grapes of Wrath” Steinbeck uses a variety of rhetorical strategies such as symbolism, diction and personification to intrigue the reader. He also use’s a number of rhetorical modes such as ethos, pathos and logos. For example in chapter 12 he uses diction to convey his purpose and in chapter 11 he uses descriptive language and personification to establish a sense of loss, while in chapter 9 he appeals to pathos. In chapter 12 I think that Steinbeck uses diction to establish the tone of the chapter. Highway 66 is a famous road; it carried thousands of people west towards California during the dust bowl. The families who crowded into their used cars and learned how to listen for any kind of breaking down sounds. On the road they met mechanics and a car sales man who again try to rip them off, these merchants practically tell them that there is no hope or opportunity in California but they keep on going. In the chapter Steinbeck uses distinctive vocabulary choices and style of expression. In chapter 11 Steinbeck establishes a sense of loss by using very descriptive language and personification. In the chapter he describes the houses that the tenant farmers left behind, he says the houses slowly deteriorated, local kids came and broke the windows with rocks, and the mice moved in and got cozy. The wind slowly began to pull the roof of the building, everything is empty! By saying that the mice moved in he uses personification everyone knows that mice can’t literally move in. He also uses very descriptive words to create an imagine in your mind.
In chapter 9 the tenant people pick through their belongings, deciding what few precious items can be taken on the journey west.