The personal feelings of John Steinbeck are reiterated through his writing. He truly writes from the heart; every phrase written has its own intent, but when put together they have an equal purpose. Like a tidal wave, the early settlers of the America's ravaged the pristine countryside as if it were guilty of treason. In Americans and the Land Steinbeck conveys that our careless actions will eventually lead to the downfall of our society and plague our world till the end of time, unless, we change our ways. .
With the use of diction, Steinbeck exemplifies his disapproving attitude portrayed throughout his essay. Using this type of vocabulary accurately describes the intense emotions he feels because of the wanton actions of the colonizers. Noxious, slaughter, and criminal are all words he uses to describe the way the pioneers treated the land in which they lived. He also uses a mixture of military terminology, such as barrage, debris, and foray, to illustrate how Americans assail the countryside as if they were at war with nature. Steinbeck creates many of his own words like air-poisoners and river-polluters to properly express just how the early inhabitants of the Americas treated the environment. Diction improves the feeling of the entire essay and creates a more dramatic effect for the reader.
Another technique depicted in the thesis is syntax. It is obvious that Steinbeck thoroughly researched his essay because of the chronological order in which it is placed. He begins in the early settlements of the Americas describing the destruction of lands for farms and personal benefit of the people who lived there. He moves through the settlement of the United States and ends with modern times. He ends his essay describing the U.S. bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the mass destruction that it caused. Another style of syntax Steinbeck uses is dashes instead of commas to emphasize important statements in his essay.