In the excerpt, “Dreams Dissipated” by Mark Twain, one must look closely in order to see the author’s main argument. This excerpt describes the events before and after the 1865 San Francisco earthquake, and under more scrutiny, its citizenry. Throughout his work, Mark Twain implements several examples of strategies such as loaded diction, imagery, personification and use of litotes in order to reveal that during these times of trouble, a facade had dissipated along with the earthquake, one where it revealed the citizens true identity; a deplorable one. It is critical to keep in mind the time period and authors background when analyzing diction used in Mark Twain’s, “DREAM Dissipated”. This work was written during a time period in American …show more content…
One example may be when describing when “ Prominent citizens who were supposed to keep Sabbath strictly, rushed out of saloons in their shirt sleeves, with billiard cues in their hands. Dozens of men with necks swathed in napkins, rushed from barber-shops, lathered to the eyes..” In the example, it appeals to one’s visual sense, for one can imagine the men bustling out into the street, the shaving cream cut by their sweat as they try to escape from any danger. When reading what occurs, one can easily visualize it , and by doing so, demonstrates how it is an example of imagery, but if one where to look closely, Twain describes how one example of how a facade is dissolved with the earthquake. With Twain’s argument in mind and when applied to this above example, one can see how by describing certain events, Twain also reveals facades exposed and therefore, he discreetly inserts his argument, for it is never explicitly said.. This meaning, Twain “decorates” the story with imagery such as “raising dust like a great volume of smoke” in order to imply the argument. Like from the example mentioned earlier, Twain used this scene to also describe “prominent citizens” pouring out from saloons as well, and uses the example as a continuation, when if one were to look closer, can see Twain’s argument. By using examples of imagery, Twain also inserts his argument as well, yet does not explicitly acknowledge
1) This quote is an example of imagery because it uses figurative language to describe what New York is like late at night. As well as it uses words
My first example of imagery within the text we have read in class is the Odysseus’ bow. The bow is a symbol of power. For example, Penelope prepares a mission in which the man who can string the bow and shoot an arrow
In the first paragraph, Twain utilizes figurative diction in order to create a romanticized tone. Twain exploits metaphors and similes
Imagery is when the author presents a mental image through descriptive words. One prime example of imagery that the author uses is in paragraph 3; where she tells of a moment between a man and a woman. In this narration she states the time, year, outfit of each character described, and what the female character was doing. These details might come across as irrelevant, or unnecessary, but this is Didions way of showing what the blueprint of notebook it. Using imagery reinforces the foundation of the essay, and what the essay’s mission was.
In doing so, Twain created a personal connection by implementing first person in the piece, used oxymoronic adjectives to demonstrate the disarray, and consistently contrasted the geometrical destruction with the “living” city. Conversely to London’s essay, Twain utilized first person, especially when describing the early stages of the earthquake. This perspective allowed Twain to reference the distraught nature of others in the city by comparing it to his own state. In the opening line of his piece, Twain wrote, “When I was in San Francisco…” and also provides other examples, although they occurred in the first paragraph. Because he used this tactic, he criticizes the vulnerability of others in his same situation. In and of itself, Twain created a comparison to his state of mind and that of others. Another syntactical anomaly in his piece was the consistent use of oxymoronic adjectives. For example, “I enjoyed my first earthquake,” and “Of the wonders wrought by ‘the great earthquake’” both demonstrate Twain using adjectives which would generally be considered undescriptive of the situation. Similar to the examples of the clothing designer running naked in the street, or the priest fleeing from the church in fear of his life, these instances show parallelism with the overarching idea of
The writer uses imagery, because he wants to let the readers into his mind. By describing the scene for the readers, makes the readers fell like they were there. Therefore, it gives us a better ability to emphasize with him.
In the article “The San Francisco Earthquake” written by Mark Twain, is written to talk about an earthquake that occurred. Author Twain uses humor to highlight his purpose throughout the article. “The San Francisco Earthquake” written Jack London, ( a different article) writes about a different earthquake that struck the earth. Author London uses The descriptive detail to describe the city dying throughout the piece. Twain and London both write about the subject of an earthquake Although, Twain uses humor to show society flaws and people’s reactions, while London uses vigorous detail to explain the falling and death of the city itself.
One of the literary techniques most prominently featured throughout the passage would be that of imagery. The author takes great care to interweave sentences comparing the traits
The story Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe has a lot of imagery in it. Imagery was a big part of the story. The imagery used enhanced the mood and setting of it.
The passage quickly shifted focus from the earthquake detail to society's reaction. In the first paragraph he mainly wrote what he saw at the time of the event, by the second paragraph he's noting that the citizens are behaving barbaric and chaotic. "...The public streets in all sorts of queer apparel, and some without any at all." He continues to show the foolish behavior throughout the rest of the passage. He told what he saw. London wrote his passage in chronological order to give cause and effect. He states the time and day before going into hefty detail of defeat. Showing the death of San Francisco in phases. Thirty seconds to live. Twain mentions "wave shocks" emphasizing the timeliness of the quake itself- thirty seconds. In his last few paragraphs he emphasizes the entire city falling apart. An Oakland minister of a quickly deteriorating church tells the people of San Francisco " 'Keep your seats! There is no better place to die than this'- And added, after the third: 'but outside is good enough!' Twain uses this as closure from the earthquake, after such a defeat there's was nothing else to do. London takes advantage again with his chronological organization to portray the metaphor that the city of San Francisco is dying. He first hints this in paragraph two; the focus on this paragraph is the smoke that was left to linger in the city after disaster struck. "Within an hour after
Twain uses a series of similes to describe what he witnessed during the earthquake. Although Twain is mostly criticizing the actions of people, he describes the city briefly. For example, Twain says, “...and then drop the end of a brick on the floor like a tooth.” and “...meeting earth like a slender grave.” Twain uses these similes to add a sense of horror and imagery for the reader. It emphasizes the destruction of the city and the intensity of the earthquake. Twain's’ similes are not subtle rather they are very intense to truly help the reader see the destruction and really understand why he is connecting it what he is comparing it to. The similes make sense, they may be simple, but the context
A good example of imagery can be found at the end of the story in the last paragraph. For this part of imagery, the main character Jackson Jackson has received his grandmother’s regalia from the pawn shop employee without having to pay the total of $999 he originally had to pay. (Alexie) “I took my grandmother’s regalia and walked outside. I knew that solitary yellow bead was part of me.
Imagery consists of the use of symbols to convey an idea or to create a specific atmosphere. Shakespeare uses imagery in Macbeth often; pathetic fallacy, blood, tailoring and sleep are examples of this. His use of these tools in the play is to demonstrate the sadness of Scotland at what has been done, the guilt of the characters and to symbolises premonition of events.
Imagery is seen through Hosseini’s usage of analogies especially when he writes “Suddenly you’re breathing through a drinking straw ”(121) is one such instance of imagery. Readers would have experienced this feeling and know how difficult it is to draw in a full breath of air through a drinking straw. It shows how Amir’s breathing is constricted and tight, but does it in a very skillful way instead of just saying that Amir could not breathe. Another analogy is “...a dam has cracked open and a flood of cold sweat spills, drenches your body” (121). A concrete dam cracks after pressure has been put on it for a long time, and Hosseini makes it a symbol of Amir’s mind cracking under the pressure. Amir has so much guilt and fear hanging over him that being stuck in the dark “cracks” him. Darkness is a place filled with sin, and the dam releases all the demons contained within him. These analogies add depth to the writing and allow the readers to relate to Amir’s condition. Hosseini used these analogies to help the readers clearly visualize the panic attack and better understand what was
In Khaled Hosseini's book The Kite Runner, the significant use of Amir's dreams is evident in how they are used to convey what is going on consciously and subconsciously with the main character and his character development throughout the book. The author puts the main dreams right before or after a fundamental point in the book like before Hassan gets raped, before Amir fights Assef and leave with Sohrab, and then after his big redemption and finally getting to take Sohrab somewhere good.