Bring arguments to bear for or against Mr. Donn Byrne’s statement. Be sure you have read widely before drawing conclusions, and have studied the technique of the stories and novels read.
THE GREAT AUK
Setting. The locale is New York City; the most important scene, in the Scudder Theater. The time is the present.
One of Irvin Cobb’s most remarkable powers is that of picturing so vividly a setting that the reader cannot but read and cannot but remember. What is the explanation of this astonishing success? First of all, Mr. Cobb is a keen observer. When he is out with his wife, according to her he sees ten times more than she does, yet she thinks she is seeing all there is to see. “When he was writing ‘The County Trot’ Mrs. Cobb marveled at his life-like pictures of the Kentucky characters, all of whom he had really known. She asked him how it was possible for him to remember their faces and mannerisms after the lapse of so many years. He said: ‘Why, I can close my eyes and see the knotholes that were in the fence around that fairground.’” This quotation indicates a second requisite—accurate memory. The third requisite is hard work, a condition through which Mr. Cobb believes all success must come. “When writing a story his object is to draw sharp pictures that will never leave the reader. To do this, he thinks out the minutest details of that picture, not that he will use those details, but that he himself may really see the picture as he writes.” The fact that he will not “use all those details” which observation and memory have supplied means that he has the ability to select. And, finally, he knows how to handle an ample vocabulary.
Plot.
Initial Impulse: The need for a “grandfather” motivates the search of Verba and Offutt. (A search, a type of “chase,” serves for a strong story-backbone.)
Steps to the Dramatic Climax: 1. The cab-ride to Bateman’s old haunts. 2. Finding the Scudder theatre closed. 3. The visit to the wine-shop; the clerk’s account of Bateman. 4. The ragged boy volunteers information. 5. He leads them to the side entrance of the theatre, into the gloom and decay of which they make their way.
Dramatic Climax: The urchin whistles; the curtain rolls up; old Bateman appears. The search is now at an end. Bateman is found. The new cause of suspense lies in curiosity over ensuing events. To satisfy this curiosity, the author extends the dramatic climax moment. The whole scene at the theatre is a prolonged climax, gradually revealing the old man’s unfitness, even as it soars to a higher emotional climax. The story structure may be roughly indicated by the diagram:
That is, if M represents the dramatic climax moment, then MS represents the dramatic climax scene, which is the period of Bateman’s acting three parts. With S, comes the realization that Bateman is not in his “perfect mind.” Notice the impeccable workmanship by which this recognition is forced home to Verba in the last speech of Bateman, the lines from “King Lear.” SZ is the brief drop to the climax of action. See the story for details.