Critical Review of John Henry

Dialect "Mood:cold an mournful"

• Examples of dialect in John Henry were
• "Lawd, Lawd" pg 1045-1048
• "Cap'n"pg 1045
• "Lil woman" pg 1045
• "Sun shine hot an' burning"
• "All these womens in the wes"
• "Jhon Henry tol' his captain"
• "Cap'n, bet yo as,red cent on me."

Hyperbole "Mood:Confusing and hostile"

• Examples of hyperboles in john henry were
• "I'd hammer my fool self to death"
• "An' his intrels fell on the groun"
• "Lightinin was in his eye"

Similie "Mood:anxious"

• The examples of similes in john Henry are:
• "Polly An drove steel like a man"
• "An' you cain' drive steel like me"
• "Sweat ran down like water down a hill"

Idiom "Mood: Interested"

• An idiom in john henry was
• "Fo i'll beat it to the bottom or ill die"

Reppetition "Mood:Annoyed"

• Examples of repetition in John Henry were:
• "Lawd, Lawd, i'll beat it to the bottom or i'll die"
• "lawd, lawd, tommorow'll be yo burying day'
• "Lawd, Lawd, goin' where John Henry fell dead
• At the end of each stanza the author uses the phrase "Lawd, Lawd" due to his writing structure

Alliteration "Mood:Depressed"

• Examples of Alliteration in Jhon Henry was:
• "Lawd, Lawd, ill beat it to the bottom or ill die"Pg 1046
• "Fo ill beat it to the bottom or i'll die."Pg 1046
• "Lawd, Lawd, that he lied down his hammer an' he cried"Pg 1046
• "Lawd, Lawd, ain' nothing but my hammer suckin' win"Pg 104

Personification "Mood:amused"

• Examples of personification in Jhon Henry were
• "Before I'd let this steam drill beat me down"Pg 1046
• "Yo' drill's done broke an' yo hole's done choke"Pg 1047

Oral Traditions "Mood:Interested"

• The author uses various oral traditions such as
• The Dialect/ pronunciation of words in the folktale.
• The use of "Lawd, Lawd" at the end of every stanza shows that the author was most likely christian.

Conclusion

• All of these types of figurative language affected the tone by making it start off with a serious tone then closer to the end it becomes a sad and depressing tone. The meaning by using the different techniques to convey the authors message. And the mood by making the reader have diverse attitudes towards the plot.
• ( Also John Henry was written by an unknown author)