Blog #3 Syntax
Long list of things sold at Lee Chong’s: “Inside the glass case were the brown cigars, the cigarettes, the Bull Durham, the Duke’s mixture, the Five Brothers…the pints, half pints, and quarter pints” (10).
Awkward conversation between Doc and Hazel: “’Oh!’ said Hazel and he cast frantically about for a peg to hang a new question. He hated to have a conversation die out like this. He wasn’t quick enough.” (34).
The first example shows the multitude of items available for purchase at Lee’s grocery. The many long lists that Steinbeck creates greatly shows how much the people of Cannery Row depend on his store and how many items are at their disposal. It also seems to compliments Lee’s personality of feeling like he is the dominate figure of his community by having a monopoly on most goods sold in the town. He knows that everyone must come to him for the purchasing of their goods and it makes him feel superior.
The second example shows without explaining it in words, how awkward the conversation between Hazel and Doc is. The short, frantic syntax shows Hazel’s inner thoughts and explains how uncomfortable the silence is. This is significant to Steinbeck’s style as it establishes his tendency to imply certain meanings through the structure of his sentences to convey his story to the reader. It also adds to his realistic style of writing by showing how an actual conversation between two people from different ends of society would really take place.
How does the first example of syntax contribute to Steinbeck's style? I see that you explained the significance of the second example but, again where is it for the first?
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, perhaps you could have gone a bit deeper with your analysis and draw more significance to the style as a whole. I do like your realistic approach to your concluding sentence. This is very effective and different from any other blog I have read yet. Lastly, I think you gave yourself more of an opportunity to elaborate on the similarities of Steinbeck's realistic style and conventional syntax that you did not take advantage of. Great understanding of the examples and giving your blog audience much to infer and really wrap their head around/think about.