Editing Angle of Repose (section)

==Explanation of the novel's title==

The title, seemingly taken from Foote's writings,<ref name="Hall2022"/> is [[Angle of repose|an engineering term for the angle at which soil finally settles]] after, for example, being dumped from a mine as tailings. It seems to describe the loose wandering of the Ward family as they try to carve out a civilized existence in the West and, Susan hopes, to return to the East as successes. The story details Oliver's struggles on various mining, [[hydrology]], and construction engineering jobs, and Susan's adaptation to a hard life.

Another view has to do with a typical construction of canals and the drowning of Ward's daughter in a canal. Canal banks are sometimes simply piled mounds of dirt. Slanted walls of dirt are left at the angle of repose after the canal is built. Small disturbances to the dirt can cause it to slide down. Ward's daughter fell into a canal and couldn't climb out because of this.