Steinbeck's use of various rhetorical devices in The Grapes of Wrath aid in providing an effective understanding of the author's purpose. It is with the use of rhetorical appeal, selection of detail and exemplification that Steinbeck conveys his interpretation of the Great Depression to the audience with every intention of instilling the powerful family bonds and the continued survival against all odds into the minds of the reader through rhetorical devices.
Steinbeck’s use of rhetorical appeal in The Grapes of Wrath provides meaningful support in persuasion through the use of ethos, pathos and logos. The use of logos is used to show facts supporting the element of family survival. In the assumption that Collins Report is a truthful account, much of The Grapes of Wrath stays faithful to the reality. An example of this is seen with the use of the real life, Arvin Migratory Labor Camp in the novel showing factual truth from the Collins Report.…show more content… During Steinbeck's travels with Collins, he receives a direct insight into camp life allowing him to create the accurate depiction for interpretation by the reader. In the Collins Report, “Dancing is the ‘big event’ for the Saturday evenings,” is merely the base of Steinbeck’s writing. In Steinbeck’s portrayal, “By seven, dinners were over, men had on their best clothes: freshly washed overalls, clean blue shirts, sometimes the decent blacks,” (Steinbeck 331) he uses an artistic liberty to tell a story of the Okies getting ready for the dance with the same, if not greater emphasis on the magnitude of the Saturday dances. It is in this comparison that Steinbeck effectively elaborates on the family life survival during the Great Depression from the Collins Report for the reader's