Journal 3?

Simile: "Logan held his wad of tobacco real still in his jaw like a thermometer of his feelings while he studied Janie's face and waited for her to say something." (p27)
-I think that possibly represents him not exactly waiting for Janie to say something, but mainly waiting for her to say something back. Maybe even daring her to speak out in protest against him. There hasn't been any major problems between them, and I think that this could be foreshadowing something to come since it sounds like he might want her to start doing things and labor that Janie is not used to.

Tone: "...and dis man Ah'm talkin' 'bout is got uh mule all gentled up so even uh woman kin handle 'im." (p27)
-I am not quite sure what you would call it, (maybe even just plot or the development of Logan's character since I don't think he has really changed) but I definetly felt when I read this that the tone had changed, for at least a solid amount of time, to a definitely more serious note. This also seems to be used by the author to get us ready for the fact that this book isn't going to be happy and gentle all the way through.

Conflict: " 'You behind a plow! You ain't got no mo' business wid uh plow than uh hog is got wid uh holiday!" (p29)
-Besides the fact that this in part is a simile/comparison, I can see already the conflict that comes out of Joe's statement here. Janie has had thoughts and ideas of how married life is supposed to be, and this directly opposes her husband's growing sense of how things are going to start changing in their marriage. This is not necessarily a character conflict, but a conflict of ideas that Janie now has in her mind that the author is using to directly feed into something else.

Journal 2

The setting for me is a little bit difficult to understand, which is why it is important that a lot of the dialogue is read so that it can be understood. Even though the physical and maybe even literal setting is seen through narration, the real feel for this book comes from the way tone and atmosphere is expressed through the style of speech. This affects the story in a very positive and view altering way, but I think that I could be just completely missing a lot of things that are really not only happening, but being said as well.

Journal 1

There is a very distinct difference between the normal narration and the dialect expressed through dialogue, as well as an important unique purpose for each style. The narration is given in a very traditional, English writing style and this serves to add a fair amount of background and setting to the story as well as possibly clarifying some of the things that might get "lost in translation." It also seems to be a secondary way for the author to reveal some of the internal thoughts of the characters.
The dialogue lends itself to laying the foundation and the entire tone that this story must be read and understood by. I think that in the dialogue, and characterization therein, the author is able to reveal not only what this book is really about, but also all those things she wishes to express that come more naturally to the core of a person when they are learned, understood, and applied by them and them only. It is only through the dialogue that this book is a truly great experience. The dialect, even though hard to get through at first, seems to be the author's way of communicating better with her readers. I think this might just be better than most styles in writing because often the narration is done in the same language and style of the speech itself.

This blog is for Mrs. Wecker's IB Junior English class.