Analysis Essay

Joan Didion's essay, "Los Angeles Notebook," offers an insight of the concurring environmental event of the Santa Monica winds. She spreads awareness to her audience by stating that the winds are a huge threat to humans before, during and after they hit. This lets the reader draw the conclusion that this is in fact an issue that should be taken seriously because of its permanet effects both on the environment and health that humans and animals  are exposed to. It's prolonging effects such as a high ratio of postive to negative  ions in the air, suicide rates increase, and symptoms of headaches and nausea become popular and of great concern.  Didions's awareness is conveyed through the use of rhetorical devices, such as imagery, selection of detail, and alarming tone.

                Didion has a great use of imagery in her essay. Her opening line, " there is something uneasy in the Los Angeles air this afternoon, some unnatural stillness, some tension," you can clearly visual a populated urban city and feel worrysome and uneasy in that setting. She also refers to this as "earthquake weather." Suggesting that due to the tragic outcome of an earthquake we can predict that we should be alarmed because earthquakes are known to cause massive destruction, especially in populated cities, like Los Angeles.

Her great use of imagery is made possible by her selection of detail. She mentions that the Indians would throw themselves into the sea when the bad wind blew and she could see why. It was because the sea, which turned ominously and glossy during the winds, was an escape, an outlet from the deteriorating world surrounding them. The world they knew would soon become inhabitable to live in, let alone breathe in. She also mentions foreign types of malevolent winds that have distinct characteristics all of which make people unhappy in the circumstances that they dwell.

                Didion's views and opinion towards the winds is successful in persuading her audience because of her alarming tone. She awakens and causes concern among her audience by sharing other people's experiences with the winds. As Raymond Chandle wrote, "every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the curving knife and study husband's necks." Here we are able to understand that the winds are more than just an act of nature.  They are affecting us mentally causing us to behave abnormally. The winds are not to be reckoned with for they are more than just a whistle and more deadly than what is expected. Didion is able to prove just that, its continuous effect is prominent.