- Most crucially, it is giving us setting. I imagine California, and I imagine this place is some kind of commune. That's the only explanation I have for the generic "babies" that Marion and the narrator are playing w/.
- This also is setting the voice. And time. The narrator is too articulate to be eleven, her age in the story. She's looking back at a summer in her past.
- There's a weird sexual tension between adults and children in this story; we see that in the fact that Marion's father "Bobby" kisses the narrator on the mouth.
Welcome to the blog for Prof. John Talbird's English 220 class. The purpose of this site is two-fold: 1) to continue the conversations we start in class (or to start conversations before we get to class) and 2) to practice our writing/reading on a weekly basis in an informal forum.
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
"Marion" Opening
The opening par. seems to be doing several things:
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Marion is starting to be created by dialogue. Her first line "I need cigarettes" (esp. since we know she's 13) tells us a lot. Also, she's passing a bottle we learn before we learn that it's root beer.
ReplyDeleteAlso, we move from the general to the specific w/ the space break. We need that "One afternoon" to know that we're reading fiction. Finally, w/ the narrator's anxiety about the bathing suit we learn that she's different sexually from Marion.
I agree! Upon second reading the first paragraph definitely feels almost a hazy California summer on a ranch, and which the addition of what we know of the characters, helps establish the location and helps us further understand the characters. The narrator definitely seems to be speaking about this experience from adulthood explains her broader understanding and self awareness.
ReplyDeleteI agree that as much as Marion is created in what she says, as well as the narrator being equally created in what she doesn't say.