The Santa Ana Winds “ The Santa Ana” by Joan Didion and “Brush Fire” by Linda Thomas offer complete separate views to a similar topic, the winds of Southern California. In a first person narration the authors write of the wind from her own experience of living in California and from her own perspective, shedding light on two very different aspects of the Santa Ana winds.
Physically, both pieces of literature are different. Each story reflects its own writer as “The Santa Ana” has lengthy paragraphs, chock full of information. Didion is an American Author known for her literary journalism and use of logos. At a glance of the piece, it lists of reasonings and details is clearly visible. Each paragraph is filled with descriptions and examples of the author’s point. Didion cites others like Raymond Chandler and uses lots of facts to prove her point of the winds destructive nature. “Brush Fire” has noticeably shorter paragraphs and uses much more imaginative diction like in paragraph four where she describes the wind’s journey as “....arrives in the foothills of southern California in hot, bone-dry, ten to forty mile-per-hour gusts that lower the relative humidity to three percent” in comparison to Didion’s description in paragraph three, “warmed as it comes down the mountain and appears finally as a hot dry wind”. Thomas is a well-versed poet, known to have published in the American Poetry Review. She offers her own opinion and recalls many memories with the winds in short anecdotes rather long paragraphs. Both authors are of different writing natures writing on the same topic, offering different perspectives to their readers. Joan Didion approaches the Santa Ana winds in a much more frightened, fearful light. She writes of how the winds are so mighty and scary that in paragraph 5 of “The Santa Ana”, “some teachers do not attempt to conduct formal classes….the