The Great Depression Passage Analysis

I found this except from the Federal Writer’s Project interesting for several different reasons. For one, the style of this passage really stood out at me because the author ignored typical grammar rules and instead opted to accurately portray the man’s speech pattern in her dialogue. However, I found the events that occurred in this passage interesting as well. By today’s standards, it’s considered dangerous for anyone, especially a woman, to stop their car and go talk to a strange man working in the woods alone. I think that this is important because it highlights the general social environment that was common during this time period. Although everyone had their own struggles as a result of the Great Depression, most people were still very

Another reason why this passage is important is because it briefly discusses the wages of an African American man. The man explains that he doesn’t earn much and that he needs all the money he can get, which was a common theme for many Americans during the Great Depression. However, since the man in this passage was African American, one can assume that he was struggling more than the average white American during this time period simply due to his race. Minority groups tended to face discrimination and lower wages, but that didn’t prevent them from still being kind and courteous to those they interacted with. In general, I think that this except provides an important snapshot of normal life during the Great

For one, like in the first passage I read, this author ignores typical grammar rules and chooses to write in a style that is distinctly Southern. However, unlike the first except, which only used such a style for the dialogue of only one person, this excerpt uses this style consistently throughout, which is significant. Although this could merely be a stylistic choice from the author, I personally feel that this was simply the way that the author talked in every day conversation and didn’t feel the need to change it when writing this passage. This suggests that the author wasn’t very well-educated, which in turn shows how the Federal Writers’ Project published the works of a wide variety of people from different lifestyles and backgrounds. Although the style of this excerpt is important, the content itself is also important. The passage basically tells the story of a slave who was essentially struggling to survive in an oppressive and unfair system, which can be viewed as a reflection of the time period that it was written in. From such a plotline, it can be inferred that the author’s life is difficult and they’re struggling to make ends meet in the poor economic climate of the Great Depression. This supports the existing evidence about the difficulties of the era, but it also shows how many people expressed their displeasure through art.