Exam Practice Paper 1 Question 2: Roads to Quoz

            The extract from Roads to Quoz, An American Mosey by William Least Heat-Moon is a memoir recalling his experiences traveling around rural America.  This memoir creates a feeling of reflection and reminiscence for the reader.  It also allows the reader to experience the author’s experiences vicariously through him.  The author uses various literary devices and structural elements to expand upon the meaning behind the travel writing.

An important structural element is how physical proximity is used throughout the memoir.  In the beginning, the narrator created a sense of distance between the audience and the setting.  This is done through an overview of the setting being described.  For example, the author said that the store he entered had contained a typical “meat-and-cheese counter” that was an essential part of hometown grocery stores and how the store has now seen its “fifth generation” of owners.  This acts as though the audience is scanning the grocery store, thus creating distance.  However, the dynamic changed when the author began into a conversation with the store’s owners.  The use of dialogue and actions that indicate interaction, like “handed me” allow the reader to feel close to the situation and involved.  This contributes to the overall feel of the passage for the audience, as it allows the reader to vicariously experience the travels.

Another important feature of the structure was how slowly the memoir progressed.  This could be seen when the author engaged in the discussion of the origins of the different names of sub sandwiches.  He detailed names from “zeppelin” to “grinder.”   Another key factor that indicates the memoir’s slow pace is within the title, when the word “mosey” is used.  This does two important things to the pace of the piece.  It indicates that the writer is taking his time within these small towns that he is visiting.  He does this by enjoying the history and quirks of a small town.  This pace is also reflected in the small towns themselves.  Within rural America, there is not much hustle and bustle, rather a slow enjoyment of basic activities, like perhaps a sub sandwich.  This slows the reader’s pace as they read the text and transports them into the feel of rural America.

The language used throughout this piece is unique and thought provoking.  The author emphasizes the quality of hometown grocery stores by using imagery and similes.  One reference to how the store was of quality is the description of the ingredients within the narrator’s sub sandwich.  He described how the “bread,” green peppers,” and “pepperoncini” were expertly combined with various other ingredients to create a masterpiece.  This gives a vision to the audience of the deliciousness of the quality ingredients, and further intrigues the reader and shows the reader the narrator’s appreciation for value.  

The author further emphasized the worthiness of the grocery store by using a simile to describe the sandwich.  He said that the sub of a chain store compared to the sub of a local grocery is like “shaken milk” compared to a “milk shake.”  This highlights the difference in substance between the two sandwiches.  This contributes to the overall purpose of explaining why the grocery was memorable for the narrator.

The writer continuously uses hyphens throughout the text.  Some words that the author combined were “village-grocery” and “well-filled.”  The purpose of hyphens is to combine words to function as one word.  The feeling that this creates for the reader is that the writer’s voice becomes apparent.  This gives the writer a hint of a southern accent and creates a relatable tone to his word choice.  This is because when two words are combined so that they function as one in casual language, it creates a slurring sound and is not formal.  

The writer uses the first person point of view throughout the entirety of the passage.  This use conveys the opinions that the author has about the grocery and the personal connection he felt with the place and the owners.  This can be seen when he described how he said “[m]y running commentary” led him into an interesting conversation about the town’s history with the owners.  He then further went on to say that “I expected,” to see an old photo album depicting the town’s history, but instead looked at an event on a laptop.  This indicates that he was surprised by the actions of the owners.  This emphasizes the narrator’s positive view of the grocery owners.

The author used personification in conjunction with a metaphor to describe the Susquehanna, the river that runs through the town.  It described the river as though it was a person when it went above its banks and flooded the town.  The writer described the river as not “wiping… his feet” and leaving behind “mud and stink.”  This gives the river a sense of life, thus demonstrating that it is volatile and can be easily aggravated by excess water.  The personification shows the tremendous impact the river can have on the town.