University:
University of La Verne
Course:
RCS 110 | College Writing
Academic year:

2022
Views:

203

Pages:

2
Author:

ilikemyicons0y5

Seraph on the Suwanee In the passage from seraph on the suwanee by Zora Neale Hurston, the author uses literary devices to describe the town of sawley and characterize the people with it. Sawley is a town in west Florida Composed of simple folk that live off the land and love their work and daily lives. Within this excerpt, Hurston uses similes in conjunction with imagery and descriptive syntax to describe Sawley and characterize the people who live there. In her opening paragraph, Hurston uses descriptive words and imagery to show her audience a geographical mental map of Sawley, “It is flanked on the south by the curving course of the river… upon its waters running swift and deep...the town is flanked by cultivated fields planted to corn, cane, potatoes, tobacco, and small patches of cotton.” This description gives the reader an idea of the daily lives of the people who live there; they grow their own food, fetch their water, and raise their cattle. “The magnolias and bay and other ornamental trees which grew so plentifully in the swamps along the river.” The people of Sawley are working people, who use the resources around them to survive. This section of Seraph on the Suwanee is rich with imagery and similes. The most prominent simile is when the trees, tin cans, and buckets are said to look like the people of Sawley. Hurston explains that the people of Sawley looked like, “The farms and the scanty flowers in front yards and in tin cans and buckets...Trees and plants always look like the people they live with, somehow.” This comparison helps us picture the people of Sawley, creating the image of skin as round as tree bark, while still having beauty in their delicate facial features like a flower. In conclusion, Zora Neale Hurston describes Sawley and characterizes the people who live there by using literary devices such as similes, descriptive syntax, and imagery.

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