Jack London, author of "Story of an Eyewitness," used very detailed and clear descriptions to describe to the readers what exactly happened on the day of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The way he described the crumbled buildings and the smoke really let the reader get a feel on what it was like to stand in the middle of all that was happening. London used metaphors, irony, and personification to convey the direness of what had happened to San Francisco after the earthquake.

London included many metaphors in his article, including "The smoke of San Francisco's burning was a lurid tower," "A rain of ashes," and "The street was a wall of flame." "The smoke of San Francisco's burning was a lurid tower" was meant to convey how the smoke