Journal 9: Pastiche of Hurston duplicating theme

Theme: Judgement of  others by comparison to one's self gives humans a feeling of power and superiority.

He opened the door with shakey arms as a look of mixed despairity flashed on his face.  He thought back to this time last year, the cold walk followed by the warm welcoming entrance into the miniature society called "high school".  But times were much different now.  The warm California sun dumped him into a cold air conditioned room, filled with pockets of people dressed in all different colors and clothes.  Clothes that were bright, that were dark, and clothes that didn't even count as clothes back in Wisconsin.  They talked different, acted different, yet somehow were all the same.  He estimated about 500 people held simply in the one room.

As people poured in he overheard words he'd only seen on the television, "dude" and "tight".  They spoke an alien language to him.  Peter advanced on and pushed through the crowds to his locker 164-B.  He opened his new locker when a small boy of heavier proportion who looked far too young to be anywhere close to being in high school walked up to him.  He reached over him with his sweat stained t-shirt and noted Peters existence with a questioning gaze. 
"You new here man?"
"Uh...sure am," Peter replied.
 "Where ya from?"
"Wisconsin."
"DUDE thats way far.  You skateboard?"
"Huh?"
"Skateboard?  4 wheels, 3 foot piece of wood?  Ya know?"
"Oh uh..no." 
The bell rang as Peter walked away confused by this new encounter.  These people spoke so differently, quick and imformal. 

-The motifs explained in this patiche are clothing and speech. Throughout this passage the narrator is explaining the differences in clothing and the way the two boys talk. They are different based on the places these two boys live. The imagery of the diffent clothing is also portrayed throughout the passage for example " the pockets of people"
-The dialect is also different helping give more emphasis on how the two places are so different. The dialect from Wisconsin is more formal and proper where as in California slang words play a huge role in their everyday vocabulary.
-The tone is set in the opening paragraph of this pastiche. "He opened the door with shakey arms as a look of mixed despairity flashed on his face. " It is explaining how nervous and different Peter felt. By using descriptors like shakey and desparity we can almost feel how nervous Peter was being placed in this new situation.