For this week, I did a close reading of a excerpt from "Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz".
"Suddenly there was a rending, tearing sound, and the earth split into
another great crack just beneath the spot where the horse was standing."
(Frank Baum, "Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz", 350).
This short excerpt has a great historical context within it. You see, the original book was written in 1906 right after the great earthquake. What is very interesting about this is the fact that the author used a tragedy like one the of the worst earthquakes in California as a reference in his book. The story takes place in San Francisco right before the earthquake, then as she is riding a horse the earth then splits open. It also said how this was right after the quake, so it means that it could've been caused by an aftershock which made the Earth split open. The author was smart about incorporating the earthquake however, he was able to turn it into the part of the story where a young Dorothy sees the glass city. So, he was able to turn a horrific tragedy like the great earthquake into a positive because he used it as a gateway to a new world, just like he did with the Wizard of Oz and the tornado that takes her to the new world. He did a great job of using historical events to his advantage no matter how severe and horrific they could be.
Great job adding some context to his writing. I’ve read the book before a long time ago but didn’t realize he wrote it around the time of the earthquake. It bring a whole different element to his writing and perhaps why people connected with it so deeply at this time. They needed to search for something positive during a time of despair.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I had no idea "Dorothy and Wizard of Oz" was written in California after the great earthquake of 1906. I have not read this excerpt yet myself, but now I am definitely intrigued to go take a look!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this close reading!
Hi Austin, I enjoyed reading your analysis especially because I have not read the book. I also think it is interesting to see that the author incorporated the disaster they witnessed into their work. It was also interesting and great that the author could use a disaster and turn it into a way to introduce a new life or world to the character.
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