ZORA
ZORAZORA NEALE HURSTON
In the excerpt from Dust Tracks on a Dirt Road: An Autobiography by Zora Neale Hurston, she uses powerful diction allow readers to get a good, clear sense of her culture during her childhood. Also, she uses manipulations of points of view to present the differing opinions within her household, which give the readers another strong sense of her childhood. Instead of generalizing those early years, Hurston elaborates on specific highlights of her childhood that were imprinted into her mind.
We see Zora Neale Hurston’s use of diction really come out when she talks about the rarities that were in her life. Hurston mentions many things that were “too common”, but only briefly. She recounts the blooms of Cape jasmine bushes on the sides of the walks and the big chinaberry trees “shading the front gate.” She remembers the “fleshy, white, fragrant blooms” of the bushes like it were yesterday. Hurston’s clear memory of her yard is instilled in the reader, allowing him or her to get a clear, visual representation in their minds by triggering the senses. The reader is able to smell the fragrant blooms and actually see the big trees.
Hurston uses imagery when she describes the recollection of the leftover eggs and grapefruits that were used as missiles and hand grenades against the neighbor children. A battle scene with grapefruits and boiled eggs flying everywhere can be depicted in the mind of the reader. When read, Hurston’s friendly egg battles and her greatly foliated outdoors have readers think of the fun it must have been back then; it makes them want to jump right into her story and have fun too. Throughout the passage, readers see Hurston describing the little things...
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