Instructions
This worksheet explores the powerful writing of Joan Didion through the lens of advanced grammar and word structure. Read the provided text carefully and answer the questions that follow. Pay close attention to the specific instructions for each section, particularly the Four-Level Sentence Analysis.
Part 1: Reading and Literary Analysis
Read the following excerpt from Joan Didion’s essay "Los Angeles Notebook," where she describes the infamous Santa Ana winds.
There is something uneasy in the Los Angeles air this afternoon, some unnatural stillness, some tension. What it means is that tonight a Santa Ana will begin to blow, a hot wind from the northeast whining down through the Cajon and San Gorgonio Passes, blowing up sandstorms out along the Mojave, drying the hills and the nerves to the flash point. For a few days now we will see smoke back in the canyons, and all birds will stay on the ground.
I have neither heard nor read that a Santa Ana is due, but I know it, and almost everyone I have seen today knows it too. We know it because we feel it. The baby frets. The maid sulks. I rekindle a waning argument with the telephone company, then cut my losses and lie down, given over to whatever is in the air. To live with the Santa Ana is to accept, consciously or unconsciously, a deeply mechanistic view of human behavior.
- Mood and Diction: What is the overall mood of the passage? List three specific words or short phrases from the text that Didion uses to create this mood.
- Syntax and Repetition: In the first sentence, Didion repeats the word "some." What is the effect of this repetition ("some unnatural stillness, some tension")? How does it contribute to the feeling she is describing?
- Literary Device: Didion writes that the wind is "drying the hills and the nerves to the flash point." What is the literal meaning of this phrase (related to fire), and what is its figurative meaning (related to people)?
Part 2: Four-Level Sentence Analysis
Analyze the following sentence from the text using the four-level method. Fill in the information for each level.
Sentence: To live with the Santa Ana is to accept a deeply mechanistic view of human behavior.
Level 1: Parts of Speech
Identify the part of speech for each word in the sentence.
- To:
- live:
- with:
- the:
- Santa Ana:
- is:
- to:
- accept:
- a:
- deeply:
- mechanistic:
- view:
- of:
- human:
- behavior:
Level 2: Parts of the Sentence
Identify the main parts of the sentence.
- Complete Subject:
- Predicate Verb (Verb Type):
- Direct Object / Predicate Nominative / Predicate Adjective:
Level 3: Phrases
Identify all the phrases in the sentence by type and write down the words that form them.
- Phrase 1 (Type and Words):
- Phrase 2 (Type and Words):
- Phrase 3 (Type and Words):
- Phrase 4 (Type and Words):
Level 4: Clauses and Sentence Structure
Identify the clauses and determine the sentence's overall structure.
- Number of Independent Clauses:
- Number of Dependent Clauses:
- Sentence Structure (Simple, Compound, Complex, or Compound-Complex):
Part 3: Structured Word Inquiry (SWI)
Let's investigate the word unconsciously from the final sentence of the excerpt.
- Word Sum: A "word sum" breaks a word down into its meaningful parts (morphemes: prefixes, bases, suffixes). Write the word sum for unconsciously.
Example: The word sum for reactivating is re + act + iv + ate + ing → reactivating.
Your word sum for unconsciously:
- Morpheme Analysis: Define each morpheme from your word sum. What meaning does each part contribute to the whole word?
- Prefix:
- Base:
- Suffix 1:
- Suffix 2:
- Synthesis: Explain how the meanings of the individual morphemes combine to create the final definition of "unconsciously."
Answer Key
Part 1: Reading and Literary Analysis
- Mood and Diction: The mood is tense, ominous, and unsettling. Words/phrases that create this mood include: "uneasy," "unnatural stillness," "tension," "whining," "nerves to the flash point," "frets," "sulks," "waning argument." (Any three of these or similar answers are acceptable).
- Syntax and Repetition: The repetition of "some" creates a sense of vague but persistent dread. It emphasizes that the feeling in the air is hard to define or pinpoint, making it more mysterious and unsettling. It builds suspense.
- Literary Device: The literal meaning is that the hot, dry wind makes the landscape dangerously susceptible to fire (it could reach its "flash point" and ignite). The figurative meaning is that the wind makes people's tempers and emotions dangerously volatile, as if they too could "ignite" into anger or irrational behavior.
Part 2: Four-Level Sentence Analysis
Sentence: To live with the Santa Ana is to accept a deeply mechanistic view of human behavior.
Level 1: Parts of Speech
- To: (Part of infinitive)
- live: Verb (Part of infinitive)
- with: Preposition
- the: Article (Adjective)
- Santa Ana: Noun
- is: Linking Verb
- to: (Part of infinitive)
- accept: Verb (Part of infinitive)
- a: Article (Adjective)
- deeply: Adverb
- mechanistic: Adjective
- view: Noun
- of: Preposition
- human: Adjective
- behavior: Noun
Level 2: Parts of the Sentence
- Complete Subject: To live with the Santa Ana
- Predicate Verb (Verb Type): is (Linking Verb)
- Predicate Nominative: to accept a deeply mechanistic view of human behavior (An infinitive phrase acting as a noun)
Level 3: Phrases
- Phrase 1: Infinitive Phrase (acting as the subject): "To live with the Santa Ana"
- Phrase 2: Prepositional Phrase (adjectival, modifying "live"): "with the Santa Ana"
- Phrase 3: Infinitive Phrase (acting as predicate nominative): "to accept a deeply mechanistic view of human behavior"
- Phrase 4: Prepositional Phrase (adjectival, modifying "view"): "of human behavior"
Level 4: Clauses and Sentence Structure
- Number of Independent Clauses: 1
- Number of Dependent Clauses: 0
- Sentence Structure: Simple
Part 3: Structured Word Inquiry (SWI)
- Word Sum:
un + con + sci + ous + ly → unconsciously
- Morpheme Analysis:
- Prefix: un- (meaning "not")
- Base: <sci> (from Latin scire, meaning "to know")
- Suffix 1: -ous (adjective-forming suffix, meaning "full of" or "characterized by")
- Suffix 2: -ly (adverb-forming suffix, indicating manner)
- Note: con- is also a prefix, meaning "with" or "thoroughly." The base could be analyzed as <scire> or the element as <conscious>. For this level, breaking it down as shown is a strong approach.
- Synthesis: The morphemes build the meaning step-by-step. The base <sci> relates to "knowing." The prefix "con-" intensifies this. The suffix "-ous" turns it into an adjective, "conscious," meaning "aware" or "knowing." The prefix "un-" negates this, making "unconscious" mean "not knowing" or "not aware." Finally, the suffix "-ly" turns it into an adverb, "unconsciously," describing an action done in a manner of "not knowing" or without awareness.