MARJORIE KIMNAN RAV/LINGS' TUI: YFARLING: A STUDY IN THE RHrTORICAI ^FFECTIVE^ilESi 01-"A NOVEL EDN'A LO'UiSE SAPFY A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE CO-JNCIL Oi THE UNr\'T:R5ITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA Copyright 1976 Edna Louise Satfy To G'^iadij EoJiZ Jokn-bon, Juyvion. [lla n.a.{^lk haycutl makabatzyi abadiyah] . . ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish 10 acknov;ledge those individuals who con- tributed to the accoTTiplish'rient of this document. Without Dr. Ronald Carpenter, a scholar, a gentle- parson, and T.)' iTcentcr, this dissertation would neither have come into existence, nor have reached coT.pietion. He gave not only of his wisdom but also of his faith. In a house divided, only by his example was the profession defined. The dissertation itself serves as an acknowledge- ment to another, that "Canadian Serpent" v/ho both sus- tained and nurtured me, for without Grady Earl Johnson, Jr., there v.ould have been nothing. The work of this volume reflects the composition cf av corrjaitteo and to each of the mem.bers T am grateful : to Dr. Lcland Zimmerman for. his introduction tc the gradu- ate st'jdy of speech; to Pr. Donald KLiliams for liis knowi- ed{;e; to Dr. Patricia Schmidt for her direction; to Dx Vincent McCuire ^os hLi p!?r.Tpe',.ti\e. T would like tc acknowledge the others In rhe Speech Defarcinent of t'i-3 Jniversity of i'Lorida, witliout who.s':? aid t'l^s •voi'k ^hs i'.';<.cmpi.:'s.'.^d Since a dissertation is never wi-itten alone, there are so many o::hers to tnank; Dr. Laura Monti, who guided ir.e through the freasures of the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Collection; Dr. Harry Sisler^ Dean of the Graduate School, viho gave me his friendship; Dr. Cal VanderWerf, Bean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and Dr. Ruth McOuov/n, Assistant Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, who both gave me their support. And rhere are iiiore to v,hoTn I am grateful; to a group called Bloomsbury; to a small friend V'jb,ose name belied her value; and finally to the person with whOiTi it all began—my mother, Sadie Daumit Saffy. i \'\BLE OF COiMTZNTS -ase ACKNCWLEDGE^IENTS iii ABSIRACT vi CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTIGN 1 URneigvieornsaallismTheansicaofSymTbhoeliYcearBal~isnTgJ of -. . . 5 Universality 6 Regionalisn as a Rhetorical Response to a Crisis 11 The Study of Regional Literature as Rhetorical Discourse 20 Methodology 24 Utilization of the Mariorie Kinnan Rav/liags Collection 5C Conclusion 31 TWO MAR.JORIE KINNAN R.A.WLING5' T[!RCRY OF COMPOSITION 35 Biographical Sketch 36 Awareness of Audience 39 Communication of Beauty Through Reality .. 42 Definitiou of Beauty 13 Responses to Beauty i~ Sources of Beauty ParticularL)' in The Yearling 19 Theory of Comnositicn Necessary to Achieve Effect of Beauty Through Creation of Reality 55 Through the Process of Characteriration. 3^> True-to-11re character!:arion 5? Universality in characterization tf.' L'l'titv In ch'iract'.'.ri."•!tJ.o;"i 63 Through Ust of Facts and Details 66 Methods of Expression 69 Ghi£c-:ivit--' 71 Uic-l-v::: 72 Si'HDlicity 74 Conclusion 79 THREE RESPONSE FROM THE GENERAL READERSHIP 81 Readership Response to Effect of Beauty ... 84 Response Based Jpon Perception of Reality as Produced b/ Mariorie Kinnan Rawlings 86 Response to individual Elements of Marjorie Kinnan P.awlmgs' Theory of Composition 90 Response to the process of characterization 90 Response to facts and details 97 Response to obiectivity 99 Conelusion '. '. 10^ FOUR RESPONSE FROM PROFESSIONAL READERSHIP 103 Professional Readership Response to Effect of Beauty 107 •. Response Based Upon Perception of Reality Ill Response to Individual Elements of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' Composition 114 Response to the process of . characterization 115 Response to facts and details 123 Response to objectivity 126 Response to dialect 128 Response to simplicity , 131 Conclusion 135 FiVS CONCLUSION 137 , Sumnary 157 Perspective 151 BIBLIOGRAPHY 133 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 163 , Abstract of Disserra-ion Preserited. to the Graduate Council ot the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillnient cf the Requirerie:its for the Degree of Doctor of Phiio:sophy M-XRjORIE KINNAN RAV/LINGS' the YEARLING STUDY IN THE RHETORICAL EFFECTIVENESS OF A:NOVEL By Edna Louise Saffy March 1976 Chairperson: Ronald C. Carpenter Major DepartT.ent: Speech In 19.39 Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Letters for her novel, The Yearling and , elected to the Academy of <^.Tts ?.nd Letters. Marjorie Kinnan Ra^'lings wrote with a preset concept of effective- ness. Her theory of composition as evinced by her personal papers, lecture notes, scrapbooks, newspaper articles, and correspondence ?Loai.ed in the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Collection at the. University cf Florida Library, was based upon the creation of a sense oF reality, which she believed ^ neces'-ary in orde:- to conxiuiiicuce beauty. Her heory_A'',:L- corporated the proces-i cf characterization, true-to-lice depiction, universa1it/\ unity, the use on facts .i">' .iv^r.iil-^ objectivity, simplicity, and dialect. Regionalism was the iitera'-y vehicle Marjorie Kinnan Rawl i.njjs chose for her novel, and in so doinj?, she responded rhetorically to an exigence, in accordance v;ith the ccii- straints of her personal theorv- of coinposition Region- . alisn, at that point in history, served as a response to a crisis; that is, the untenable situation of a population in the iriidst of society's ills during the Depression. Her writing had as its purpose the communication of the beauty which Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings found in the Big Scrub country and its people, and by extension, of humanity in harmony wiih the environment. That Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' purpose was effectively achieved has been borne out by thorough investigation of the responses of both her gen- eral readership and her professional critics. This investigation places the effectiveness of Marjorie f^innan Rav-zlings' no'vol into the broader context of modern rhetorical criticIsmi and attempts to illume the rhetorical interaction of sender, message, and receiver in ^vhich the author o+' a novel determ^ines a method or theory of composition predicated upon the effect she wishes to acliieve. CHAPTER ONE INVRODUCTION The Yearling was first publisb.ed in 195S. For it, Majorie Kinnan Rav/lingi v/as awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Letters for a Novel in 1939 and elected to the Academy of Arts and Letters. Receiving universal acclaim, The Yearling was subsequently translated into thirteen lang'jages and cited as the most ''distinguished novel published during the year by an American author dealing with American lirJe."" Reissued v-ith a special ''Study Guide" geared to secondary schools, the novel has been a part of the curriculum tiiroughout the country; and the book has been designated "a classic" and "a literary masterpiece"" on a regional, national, as well as an international level. Chosen as a Pook-ot-tho-Month Club selection at publication, accolades wore heaped upon it (.Mew York:R. RR., RB,ovvckoewrk,eri'.iCtformpaavnyyP,iliiz'ebs7j,andpTTThSe.i'r '>vinners 7"M. K. Rawlings, The Yearling, Study Guide by Mary Louise Fap>' and F-dith' Ccvles rNVuTcTrk: Charii?.'? Scribner's Sons, 19C2J.