Literary Devices in Zeitoun

A list of literary devices and their definitions here.


Alliteration: "linked loosely" (3)
"a solid mass of silver spinning" (3)
"impervious to injury" (8)
"never-needy" (8)

Metaphor: "her exhalations not unlike the shushing of water against the hull of a wooden boat" (5)

Onomatopoeia: "Kathy woke to a thump upstairs" (5)
"shushing of water" (5)
"With the thrump of three car doors" (15)

Personification: "There seemed to be a half-dozen named storms every August -- Katrina would be no different" (7)

SOAPSTONE

Speaker- The Speaker of Zeitoun is the author, Dave Eggers, and he acts as a uncharacterized narrator.
Occasion- The Occasion of Zeitoun is in 2005 in New Orleans before, during and after Hurricane Katrina.
Audience- The Audience of Zeitoun is people who are searching for a first hand account of the disaster in New Orleans right after Hurricane Katrina.
Purpose- The Purpose of writing Zeitoun was to show the acts of heroism that a normal man showed after one of the greatest natural disasters of all time.
Subject- The Subject of Zeitoun is the events that occurred in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
Tone- The Tone of Zeitoun is building anticipation into Hurricane Katrina, and what is going to happen to Zeitoun after it hits.

Characters in the Novel

Abdulrahman Zeitoun: A harder working man from Syria who was used to be a sailor with his brother. He runs a contracting and painting business with his wife which is very successful though they face a lot prejudice. He is extremely faithful to his religion, he is a good husband and father, but he is very stubborn about what he wants to do. He goes by his last name.

Kathy: Zeitoun's younger wife, a woman who converted later in her life to become Muslim. She is a southerner and a Louisiana local. She was married before Zeitoun and has a son with that marriage. Kathy runs the business and the household keeping everything organized, she chooses to take the kids and run from the huricane.

Ahmad: Zeitoun's storm tracking brother who lives in spain. They grew up and sailed the world together before setteling down and having families. The two are very close.

Yuko: Kathy's childhood friend who got her to convert to muslim, the two are very close.

The Children
Aisha:5

Safiya:7

Nademah:10

Zachary: 15-from Kathy's first marriage

Reading Dates

For Thursday 28th- 1-68
For Monday 2nd- 68-116
For Wednesday 4th- 116-182
For Friday 6th- 182-239
For Tuesday 10th- 239-293
For Thursday 12th- 293-325