The questions I will be answering are "What techniques does the author use to engage the audience and make the story effective? Give examples to support your analysis (mystery, humor, symbolism, suspense, etc.)." from the book Grapes of Wrath. The author uses action a lot about midway through the book. There are many fights that break out in the book. "Well, this fella don' want no hangin', 'cause he'd do it again. An' same time, he don't aim to bring trouble down on his folks. Ma - I got to go." (Steinbeck, John pg. 509)This quote was right before Tom went to fight a man. This shows the anger that forced action out of him. The next technique he used was mystery. From the very beginning when he had the trucker talking to the unknown man. The unknown people kept coming up throughout the book many times making me as the reader begin to think about every detail. A mystery technique such as this lets the reader get more involved in the book. "She looked up and across the barn, and her lips came together and smiled mysteriously." (Steinbeck, John pg. 578 ) This quote just shows how Steinbeck knew they using mystery would intrigue the reader even more. Another technique he used was humor. If a book is totally serious then the reader will become bored or to emotional about the book. Many readers do not like it when books are either of those. So Steinbeck knew this and used the perfect balance of serious nature and humor. An example of humor is when the Sharon of Rose uses her milk to help the man survive. This little bit of odd humor helped balance the books emotional/serious feel. Using techniques such as these allows the reader to become more engaged into the book. Without these the book would be overrated and boring. If you can't get a cry, laugh, and message out of a story, then it isn't very good.
Steinbeck, John, and Robert J. DeMott. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.
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