Unit 6, Exam style question.

 In my writing, I will be analyzing the language, structure, form and style of an extract from Roads to Quoz, An American Mosey by William Least Heat-Moon. Before the writing begins, we learn that the extract that I will be analyzing is from a travel writer’s exploration of life in rural America. 

By having a short sentence of what is extract is based from, starts to set the setting of the story. The setting starts to develop in the second sentence of the extract when the narrator describes the ‘Joe’s Country Store’ as having a look of an “old village-grocery”. It immediately paints a picture in the reader's mind of an old looking grocery store in some rural town. 

Although it is hard to tell when this story takes place, one of the only clues throughout this extract is in the second to last paragraph, “run home and bring back your laptop”. So the setting has to be around the time when handheld computers were accessible and common for almost everyone to have. Although part of the first paragraph could be interpreted as being set sometime in the 1970s due to the word choice, but after reading the whole extract, we learn that it is set later, probably around the early 2000’s. 

Another way the author sets the setting is by saying “An institution seriously diminishing across America but perhaps less so in the northeast.” It implies that what once was a popular and common “institution” like a family owned sandwich shop. It gives the setting a ‘vintage’ sense. Due to the “institution seriously diminishing”, it gives a sense that the “institution” might not last long and that you should take advantage of the remaining “institution” before it is also diminished. 

Throughout the extract, the author uses first person and it is set in the past tense. At the beginning of the extract, the first two words are “We went”. It immediately starts off in the first person and past tense. Another example of the author's use of past tense throughout is towards the end of the extract, “the daughter opened her computer”. Due to the use of the past tense throughout the extract, it makes it seem like it is a memory or that the narrator is telling a story to someone. The extract is informal and in an unprofessional tone. 

The form of this extract is in a short story. It could also be a journalism extract but. Between the use of the past tense and first person, it creates a sense that the narrator is telling a story. By the author using “Q” to describe his wife, it gives the reader an even bigger sense of a memory from his past. Without the little note describing who “Q” was, we wouldn’t have known that it was his wife.

This extract is structured in four different paragraphs. The extract is in a chronological order and starts out with descriptive words to set the scene and then goes into background about how across America a “stubby” loaf of bread. The second paragraph is about all of the different ingredient choices. The third paragraph starts off with a quote and then talks about the historical highlights of the village. The fourth paragraph sets up the conclusion and end setting. It talks about what is in the video and the impact it had on the village.