Rhetorical Analysis of the Grapes of Wrath - 1767 Words

September 7th, 2012 Rhetorical Analysis of The Grapes of Wrath The dust bowl was a tragic time in America for so many families and John Steinbeck does a great job at getting up-close and personal with one family to show these tragedies. In the novel, â€Å"The Grapes of Wrath†, John Steinbeck employed a variety of rhetorical devices, such as asyndeton, personification and simile, in order to persuade his readers to enact positive change from the turmoil of the Great Depression. Throughout the novel, Steinbeck tells the fictional narrative of Tom Joad and his family, while exploring social issues and the hardships of families who had to endure the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. Steinbeck’s purpose was to challenge readers to look at†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"And over the grass at the roadside a land turtle crawled, turning aside for nothing, dragging his high-domed shell over the grass. His hard legs and yellow-nailed feet threshed slowly through the grass, not really walking, but boosting and dragging his shell a long†¦For a moment he stopped, his head held high†¦At last he started to climbed the embankment†¦As the embankment grew steeper and steeper, the more frantic were the efforts of the land turtle†¦The head upraised and peered over the wall to the broad smooth plain of cement†¦The car swung to the right†¦The turtle had jerked into its shell, but now it hurried on, for the highway was burning hot. And now a light truck approached†¦His front wheel struck the edge of the shell, flipped the turtle†¦and rolled it off the highway†¦.little by little the shell pulled over and flopped upright†¦.And the turtle crawled on down the embankment.† (Steinbeck, 15-16) This is compared to the flight of the migrant workers down Highway 66. â€Å"Highway 66 is the main migrant road. 66-the long concrete path across the country, weaving gently up and down on the map, from Mississippi to Bakersfield†¦66 is the path of people in flight,. ..66 i s the mother road, the road of flight†¦All day they rolled slowly along the road, and at night they stopped near water. In the day ancient leaky radiators sent up columns of steam, lose connecting rods hammered andShow MoreRelatedEssay on Rhetorical Analysis- the Grapes of Wrath967 Words   |  4 PagesRhetorical Analysis- The Grapes of Wrath â€Å"You don’ know what you’re a-doin’,† were Casy’s last words before he died as a martyr. 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