Joan Didion Santa Ana Essay

It is in Los Angeles, where people walk with uneasy hearts, a tension that hangs in the air like a thick blanket. It is a minute scale that can be broken with the slightest gust of wind. It is “a hot wind from the northeast whining down through the Cajon and San Gorgonio Passes, blowing up sandstorms along Route 66.” It is an uncertain force of nature, an anomaly. As someone who has lived in Los Angeles, Joan Didion is able to recall certain memories of living through this spectacle. By juxtaposing her personal experiences and scientific reasoning to explain the Los Angeles phenomenon, Joan Didion forecasts an atmosphere of incomprehensible eerie mood towards the foehn winds – famously known as the Santa Ana. Throughout Joan Didion’s essay, she utilizes intense imagery and diction to help create deeper personal anecdotes. …show more content…
We know it because we feel it. The baby frets. The maid sulks.” It’s evident in her writing that the things she writes represents quite a lot, if not most of the people in Los Angeles. She exploits pronouns to convey pathos with the readers. It signifies that she herself has gone through it, and that not only she, but everyone else also feels it. She continues to elaborate on that by using symbolism. She alludes to a baby and a maid, and with these figures, she is setting a tone to say that social distinctions and age are of nothing when it comes to anticipating the wind. Although a baby is new and inexperienced, it is still able to show its emotions, and the act of “fretting” shows discomfort and fear. However, the word “fret”, carries a strange connotation to it because other words like “crying” and “whining” are more associated with baby. This sophisticated term illustrates her knowledge and adds emphasis to what she

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