_Initial Impulse_: Sara Juke faints at the Hibernian Hop. How is this
event prepared for in the finally developed story?
_Steps toward the Dramatic Climax_: Sara and Charley leave the hall.
This stage is succeeded by others preparing for the counter-play
and emphasizing the T. B. motif. They see the Tuberculosis exhibit,
and visit it. The pink-faced young attendant gives Sara a circular.
Sara fears the disease. She revisits the display. The attendant,
Eddie Blaney, shows his interest, advising her to go to a clinic for
examination. At Sharkey’s Sara tells Charley the doctor’s verdict.
What obvious steps in the action has the author omitted, thus giving
the reader the chance to help in constructing the story?
_Dramatic Climax_: Charley leaves Sara. (This climax is, of course,
intensified by its juxtaposition to the doctor’s verdict; in fact,
the two details together may be regarded as a double climax. Miss
Hurst is one of the best authors to study for duplication of dramatic
climax effect. See also, for example, “Ice Water.”)
_Steps toward the Climax of Action_: Eddie Blaney meets Sara and
takes her to the country. (Has this step been prepared for duly?
Why is it one not left to the reader’s imagination--that is, the
engagement made previously?) Eddie encourages Sara, telling her she
will be well by Christmas.
_Climax of Action_: (Deduced by reader.) How has Miss Hurst in the
developed story suggested the inevitable ending?
CHARACTERS. By what speeches and acts does the author flash the
personality of Sara? By which ones in particular does she draw the
reader’s sympathy to her? How is Hattie Krakow used to emphasize the
appeal of Sara? What other purpose does Hattie serve? How is her
interest in Sara motivated? How far is Charley one of a type? To what
extent individualized? Is the type or the individual more necessary
to the author’s purpose here? How does Charley’s treatment of Sara
enhance the reader’s interest? How is Blaney’s solicitude for the girl
motivated? Do the three characters constitute the three figures of a
“triangle” story? If so, is the triangle one of distinctly new features?
SETTING. How many times does the scene change? How is contrast employed
in the construction of settings? Does the change in scene conform to
the plot action? Has this relationship a necessary unifying value? What
is the time of the story?
DETAILS. How much space does the author consume before gliding into the
introduction of character and setting? What is its worth? A student
once asked Miss Hurst why she chose such openings, suggesting that
quite frequently the reader found it difficult to see the connection.
Miss Hurst smilingly replied that it was her idiosyncrasy. “That’s
where I take _my_ fling.” Is there more back of her words than her
modesty allowed her to assert? What is the real contribution made by
page 84?
What are the principal features of the economy by which she presents to
the reader the opening situation?
Note the many details by which throughout the story the author keeps
vividly before the reader the actual setting. Although her method is
that of the romanticist, her result is one of reality. In listing
these details, notice that another purpose is also effected--another
economical device. “On a morning when the white-goods counter was
placing long-sleeve, high-neck nightgowns in its bargain bins,” page
85, conveys the season, better than statement could do (because more
picturesquely) at the same time it builds up the scene.
How has the author enriched the main narrative by contrast with lightly
suggested situations? (See the Van Ness passages.)
Study the narrative for sounds and odors as well as for pictures.
Contribution to vividness of reality? What contrasts do you find in
these sense appeals?
How does Miss Hurst make most of her transitions in time and place? Is
the double space well used? What is the acting time of the story?
From whose angle of narration is it told? Is there a shift from the
objective to the omniscient point of view? If so, is it justified by a
gain?
“ICE WATER, PL--!”
STARTING POINT. According to Miss Hurst, “Ice Water, Pl--!” had its
germinal beginnings in the self-imposed query: Given, a mother whose
joys are largely the vicarious ones that come through her daughter, to
what extent can her own personal life become more and more submerged?
SETTING. The locale of this story is the same as that of “T. B.” Point
out evidence, explicit or implicit, of its being New York City. In
general, notice that the larger setting of Miss Hurst’s stories is
frequently St. Louis or New York. Account for this fact. How long is
the action of “Ice Water, Pl--!”?
PLOT. The _initial impulse_, the force that sets the story-action
going, is Mr. Vetsburg’s invitation to Mrs. Kaufman and Ruby to “come
down to Atlantic City over Easter.” (Fill in the important steps toward
the dramatic climax.) The _dramatic climax_ is a double header: First,
Ruby accedes, after a struggle, to her Mother’s wishes that she accept
Mr. Vetsburg. Second, Mrs. Kaufman gives in to Ruby’s marrying Leo.
By this clever duplication, not only is the turning point made more
emphatic, but the sympathy of the reader is evoked for both mother
and daughter. It is another excellent instance of economy joined to
strength.
The _climax of action_ follows without much delay: It is bound up with
the dénouement, since in it Mrs. Kaufman learns that it is herself--not
her daughter--whom Vetsburg loves.
CHARACTERIZATION. What is Mrs. Kaufman’s outstanding trait? Ruby’s?
Vetsburg’s? Is Mrs. Kaufman’s dominant characteristic logically
connected with her capability as a boarding-house keeper? Are the two
so portrayed as to make satisfactory the dénouement, by which Mrs.
Kaufman will be married to Mr. Vetsburg? What preparation leads to the
happy outcome?
How is Ruby akin to her sisters, Sara Juke and Selene Coblenz? How is
she differentiated? Is the individualization stronger than the type
resemblance?
Close your eyes after finishing the story and call up images of the
two main women characters and of Vetsburg. Go over the narrative and
see how the author has given you these pictures, and also observe
how accurately you have registered the impressions. If there are
discrepancies between your memory and the presentation, whose fault is
it?
What purposes are fulfilled by the background figures? Recall instances
of humor to which they contribute. Have you ever met Irving Katz?
Why is Leo so slightly touched? Do you notice other measures taken to
keep in the foreground the middle-aged pair? What are they?
DETAILS. What popular attitude does the philosophy of page 181 subtly
criticize? What is the link which connects the generalizing preliminary
with the particular instance? (Notice that the slide is effected on the
towels.)
Where is the first scene laid?
Who, in the first scene, reveals most of the situation to the reader?
Page 187 contains an important clue to the subsequent action. What is
it?
What is the purpose of the next fully developed scene (in Mrs.
Kaufman’s apartment)?
What is the purpose of the continuation of the scene (after Vetsy’s
exit, page 194)? Does the division into two parts (before and after the
women retired) contribute to more than an impression of reality?
Study the transition between the night scene and eleven o’clock the
next morning. What value has the paragraph (page 205) beginning “At
eleven”?
How does the author effect the return of Vetsburg and Mrs. Kaufman to
the apartment? How is Ruby disposed of? (See page 107, “Down by Gimp’s
I sent her,” etc.).
Miss Hurst is an expert scene-developer. Her setting is clear; her
characters move as they move in real life; the action is in the right
tempo for the conditions and the time at hand; no scene exists without
a definite purpose. It is the fine scene-work which gives to her
stories a dramatic quality equalled only by that of the stage.
Compare the scene-work of this story with that of “T. B.” and of “Get
Ready the Wreaths.”
Has the Easter season a contributory significance?