Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

In her opening paragraphs of "Los Angeles Notebook," Joan Didion describes the Santa Ana wind as a threatening force of nature that can change the way humans behave. She conveys this view of hers through diction, selection of detail, and structure. Didion begins talking of the Santa Ana winds and immediately gives the reader uncomfortable feelings about them. She starts off by using words such as "uneasy", "unnatural", and "tension" to describe the wind before even making note of it. These words let the reader know that what Didion is about to describe is not a good thing. Further on in the reading, Didion backs up these use of words by saying how nerves are brought to the flash point, babies fret, maids sulk, and even Didion herself had once rekindled an argument with the telephone company because of the Santa Ana. Didion's view is justified even more when she uses wo