GERMINAL IDEA, OR STARTING-POINT. “The ‘Excursion’ was written from
the humorous delight I have always felt in excursions; it was started
merely as humorous description of certain inevitable excursion types.
I put the ‘story’ into already written appreciations of sartorial
and millinery triumphs as demonstrated on any well-developed
excursion.”--_Edwina Stanton Babcock._
CLASSIFICATION. A study in realism, wherein the general picture and
all the excursionists are of quite as much importance as the few
predominant characters.
PLOT. Loosely interpreted, plot may be termed a summing up of the
“story,” a recapitulation. Technically, the plot is the underlying plan
“of which no part can be removed without ruin to the whole”; it is
the development of the struggle or conflict which every “short-story”
possesses in common with the drama.
What in “The Excursion” is the struggle? What part does the dialogue
between the two sisters play in the revelation of the struggle? If the
struggle were made dominant, what lamentable result would follow for
the “situation” value of the whole narrative? Is there a hint near the
conclusion that the struggle may have an outcome? Is the plot finished,
then, as the author has left it? What is the embryonic dramatic climax
or turning point? (Find the moment when the feelings of the passengers
change toward Mrs. Tuttle.)
CHARACTERIZATION. What types are represented in Mrs. Tuttle? Mrs.
Cronney? Mrs. Tinneray? Mr. Tinneray? Mrs. Mealer? Mrs. Bean? The
“lady in a purple raincoat”? “A mild mannered youth with no chin?”
Miss Mealer? Hypatia Smith? Test the economy and effectiveness of Miss
Babcock’s portrayal by asking yourself what further things these people
would do or say. Are the types such as would be found in the same boat?
Compare the few figures of prominence with those of the background. Are
they in “high relief” or “low relief”?
ATMOSPHERE. Realistic; it has the “feel” of the typical American
excursion. To achieve it, were necessary the author’s keen observation,
sane vision, and sense of humor.
ACCESSORY DETAILS. Enhancing and emphasizing the reality of the
occasion are the features, objects, and acts associated with
excursions. The crunch of peanuts, the search for chewing gum, the
squinting through ivory-headed canes,--such details of the composition
indicate meticulous workmanship on the part of Miss Babcock. Notice
whether these features appeal rather to sight, to hearing, or to other
senses. What do you deduce?
GENERAL METHODS OF MISS BABCOCK. “To me, in writing, the story is keyed
by a face, the note of a man’s or a woman’s voice, a bit of lonely
moorland, a scene in a railway station, some little amusing bit some
one tells me. Then comes incubation for an absurdly uncertain time.
Then I dress up in a mass of what seems to me related detail the
significant centre, trying usually to thrust in a few bits of humor for
the simple reason that life is made of it and the huge wonder is that
the whole world does not ‘grin like a dog and go about the city.’... I
love to paint things I’ve seen--particularly natural things....”