ipl-logo

The White Album Joan Didion Analysis

2470 Words10 Pages

Joan Didion is known as one of the greatest writers of the twenty first century. Inspired by life events, her writing reflects her critical view of society. Both of her memoirs, The White Album and The Year of Magical Thinking, differ in her execution of literary techniques such as tone, character, and conflict but remain synonymous in her themes. Didion’s iconic use of tone is celebrated for her uncensored opinions, especially in her assessment of liberal California in the 1960s.The analytical nature of The White Album sets a critical and confident tone throughout her work. In the opening line, Didion writes “we tell ourselves stories in order to live” (11 WHITE ALBUM). She introduces the idea that storytelling is what gives people the incentive to live. She furthers her point by applying this concept of storytelling to confusing life scenarios, “we tell ourselves that it makes some difference whether the naked woman is about to commit a mortal sin or is about to register a political protest...” (11 WHITE ALBUM). EXPLAIN THIS QUOTE MORE. It is important to acknowledge that Didion’s opening line, filled with hope and …show more content…

Praised for its truthful cultural criticism, The White Album portrays a unique conflict of Didion against the world, more specifically society. When the book begins, Didion shares her relatively optimistic attitude on the world. She notes the positive characteristic of the non-judgemental and carefree attitude of the 1960s, especially in California, but slowly begins to neglect these qualities as the story progresses. Coincidentally, when Didion tries to explain the chaos of the world around her, her tone sinks into a state of unemotive and dullness. It is as if the world that surrounds Didion shapes her mind to emulate its destructive, desperate quality. She struggles between wanting to assimilate into social norms, but also has a secret yearning to resist

Show More
Related
639 Words | 3 Pages

In this book Glory is overwhelmed with how her town is handling people who are different than they are. She realizes that her favorite local pool is closing down so colored people can’t swim with the whites. Glory becomes an activist herself and writes a letter to the newspaper lining which makes her preacher father proud. Therefore, the theme of this book is to treat everyone equally, such as when Glory’s friend Frankie from Ohio drinks out of the “colored fountain”. Also, when Glory’s sisters boyfriend that he was arrested for sitting with a “colored friend” at the white table.

Read More
843 Words | 4 Pages

Review on Joan Didion’s Slouching Towards Bethlehem In her memoir titled, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Joan Didion includes a collection of essays that focus on her experiences in California during the 1960’s. By combining true historical facts, with a keen eye for gothic imagery, Didion narrates a felt experience from the perspective of a participant and an observer— calling into question the values of her own generation, while simultaneously embracing them in order to create a palpable narrative. Part One, Life Styles in the Golden Land provides a both a nostalgic and geographic origin story for the following chapters. The collection opens with the essay, Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream, which tells the tale of Lucille Miller and her

Read More
1103 Words | 5 Pages

In her short story “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, she centers on the struggles of self-identity that

Read More
716 Words | 3 Pages

What idea does the author develop regarding the conflict between pursuing a personal desire and choosing to conform? “Street lights glow red, green and yellow too, do you let signs tell you what to do?”... The words from Lady Gaga ponder over the balance between conforming to authority or self fulfillment. Do we let our individuality falter under the presence of authority and social demands, or do we maintain our own identity and achieve self-actualization? In a society where sacrifices have to be made in order to avoid prejudice, we show tenacity towards who we are at core.

Read More
990 Words | 4 Pages

2) This extract is found in “The White Album” written by Joan Didion, who is the creator of many significant different literature pieces, both novels and essays. “The White Album” was published in 1979, and is the first and longest essay in the book. In this essay Joan Didion essentially uses a women as a connecting thread to describe what was happening in America at that time. I believe that the woman may even be herself to a certain extent, trying to externalize all her thoughts. What is perceived from the essay is that Didion was submerged into the focus of some big events that were happening in that year, not only as a journalist but also as a bystander and a normal Californian.

Read More
1409 Words | 6 Pages

Pratikshya Thapa Prof. Alex Kurian English 2328-73001 12 April 2017 Winnemucca, Hurston and Tan The American Literature consists of artists from various cultural and social background who devoted their life in literary works. There are number of female authors who are known for their magnificent writings. Sarah Winnemucca, Zora Neale Hurston and Amy Tan are some of the famous female American authors. They belong to different racial and cultural backgrounds but share a common ground when it comes to expressing their life experience and opinions through their literary art works.

Read More
724 Words | 3 Pages

The story takes place at the height of the Civil Rights Movement in America, when desegregation is finally achieved. Flannery O’Connor’s use of setting augments the mood and deepens the context of the story. However, O’Connor’s method is subtle, often relying on connotation and implication to drive her point across. The story achieves its depressing mood mostly through the use of light and darkness in the setting.

Read More
1551 Words | 7 Pages

She is confident in her ability to pass and fails to consider the moral consequence hence focusing only on the physicality of it. She states: “It’s such a frightfully easy thing to do. If one’s the type, all that’s needed is a little nerve” (Larsen, 25). With that being said, she understands that passing involves a risk, which she is willing to take due to her desire to dissociate herself from her race. Therefore, she keeps her racial identity a secret from her husband, fearing it would endanger their marriage and their daughter’s future5.

Read More
1906 Words | 8 Pages

Well-known writer and essayist Joan Didion, in her essay, The White Album, shatters every preconceived notion of the late nineteen sixties. Set primarily in Los Angeles, California Didion blends reportage and personal essay to recount cultural tensions that arose during the period- protests, murder, apathy-with her own psychosis. Incorporating fragmented narrative and film technique Didion offers snapshots of the events with language that is curt yet symbolic of her unique style. “The White Album,” demonstrates that everything in life is meant to teach us something. Through Didion’s experiences behind the pen, as a news reporter, her narration attempts to understand the lesson and discovers "We Tell OURSELVES STORIES in order to live" (Didion

Read More
711 Words | 3 Pages

While reading the story, you can tell in the narrators’ tone that she feels rejected and excluded. She is not happy and I’m sure, just like her family, she wonders “why her?” She is rejected and never accepted for who she really is. She is different. She’s not like anyone else

Read More
999 Words | 4 Pages

In Los Angeles, there is a well known stormed called the Santa Ana that often occurs during the colder months. Joan Didion writes an essay that discusses what the storm is and how it affects the Los Angelenos. Although primarily writing for everyone’s knowledge, being she is a fellow citizen, she directs her thoughts towards Los Angeles’ people She gains a connection with her audience and their emotions. After doing this she selects specific words to help enhance the intensity of the storm. She also uses long sentences to further describe the intensity of the storm through her writing techniques, but towards the end of the essay she uses short sentences to provide information and to show she is knowledgeable to the audience .

Read More
464 Words | 2 Pages

Susan S. Lanser’s “Feminist Criticism, ‘The Yellow Wallpaper,’ and the politics of color in America” examines the impacts “The Yellow Wallpaper” had on feminist writing styles and critiques. Lanser writes that the story helps to analyze the reading trough “the lens of a female consciousness” and apply the knowledge gained from a female perspective onto other literature (418). The transition that the narrator displays from being dependent on John to becoming independent reflects the feminist movement and challenges the “male dominance” that currently takes precedence in society (418). The “patriarchal prisonhouse” that is society controls the narrator and oppresses women not only in “The Yellow Wallpaper” but in real life as well (419). The

Read More
1013 Words | 5 Pages

Society in today’s world is very alike to society years ago, with different social classes and stereotypes. In “Just walk on by” by Brent staples, a variety of rhetorical devices are used in order to convey the message of how a black man is trying to show society that he is so much more than the color of his skin. The author explains how the character was characterized as violent and dangerous because he was black. Staples continues on a sort of journey with the character to show how he overcomes that stereotype, by whistling classical music to give the idea that he is mature and less threatening. Throughout the piece, Staples uses devices that will help the reader better understand the struggles that the character has to face on a daily basis.

Read More
814 Words | 4 Pages

Joan Didion’s “Los Angeles Notebook” is an essay that highlights the deeply mechanistic view of human behavior by using images that are both enticing, yet horrifying at the same time. Her audience is broader than the people of Los Angles, who she discusses in articulate detail. Being that her audience is generally aimed at people who are concerned about humanity and the way people operate together in certain scenarios. There is an eerie sense to this piece, as the subject is the hot winds known as foehn by scientists, but otherwise known as a “Santa Ana” by the people of the region. Didion claims that, in the simplest terms, “to live with the Santa Ana is to accept, consciously or unconsciously, a deeply mechanistic view of human behavior,”

Read More
1055 Words | 5 Pages

Her personal experience is socially and theoretically constructed and emotions play an essential role in the process of identity formation. Her identity is not fixed, which is portrayed by inquisitiveness that her own mother and Aunt thought she was possessed, enhanced and made this story an enriching experience. The family is the first agent of socialization, as the story illustrates, even the most basic of human activities are learned and through socialization people

Read More

More about The White Album Joan Didion Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document