Literary Techniques In Joan Didion's On Going Home
Going Home
In the piece “On Going Home” Joan Didion uses many literary techniques to emphasis her sentences. Didion’s use of quotation marks around specific words stands out first to the reader. The quotation marks suggest that the meaning she was trying to come across was a bit different from the original meaning the word normally would carry. For example when Didion quotes the words “happy, home, and normal”, they are usually described as positive meaning. But it depends on how the reader takes if from his or her own personal experience and feelings. Each person gets a different meaning of a word. Didion does not have a clear feeling on her family, even home.
Joan Didion forms long and complex sentences, but on the other hand she made some short and declarative sentences. In the second paragraph Didion writes, “ We did not fight. Nothing was wrong” (636). Since there have been longer sentences, these two shorter sentences stood out in contrast. What I got out of this was Didion was trying to explain how her family has a normal relationship, but every other detail defines the families’ relationship differently. She leaves it up to her readers to draw their own conclusion on her family. …show more content…
For example when Didion uses phrases such as “neurotic lassitude engendered” (636), and “oblique, deliberately inarticulate” (636) illustrates the difficulties of her feelings. If she stated these words more clear throughout the reading, the reader might have gotten the same feelings that Didion felt. When describing “neurotic lassitude engendered,” Didion’s feelings are difficult and the more difficult the words she uses add more importance to her feelings. Long, compound words may not be as clear in the meanings as short simpler words. Didion used these long, compound words because her work is not boring and dried up. She keeps the reader
In the piece “On Going Home” Joan Didion uses many literary techniques to emphasis her sentences. Didion’s use of quotation marks around specific words stands out first to the reader. The quotation marks suggest that the meaning she was trying to come across was a bit different from the original meaning the word normally would carry. For example when Didion quotes the words “happy, home, and normal”, they are usually described as positive meaning. But it depends on how the reader takes if from his or her own personal experience and feelings. Each person gets a different meaning of a word. Didion does not have a clear feeling on her family, even home.
Joan Didion forms long and complex sentences, but on the other hand she made some short and declarative sentences. In the second paragraph Didion writes, “ We did not fight. Nothing was wrong” (636). Since there have been longer sentences, these two shorter sentences stood out in contrast. What I got out of this was Didion was trying to explain how her family has a normal relationship, but every other detail defines the families’ relationship differently. She leaves it up to her readers to draw their own conclusion on her family. …show more content…
For example when Didion uses phrases such as “neurotic lassitude engendered” (636), and “oblique, deliberately inarticulate” (636) illustrates the difficulties of her feelings. If she stated these words more clear throughout the reading, the reader might have gotten the same feelings that Didion felt. When describing “neurotic lassitude engendered,” Didion’s feelings are difficult and the more difficult the words she uses add more importance to her feelings. Long, compound words may not be as clear in the meanings as short simpler words. Didion used these long, compound words because her work is not boring and dried up. She keeps the reader