MARJORIE KIMNAN RAV/LINGS' TUI: YFARLING: A STUDY IN THE RHrTORICAI ^FFECTI VE^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 h Li p!?r.Tpe',.t i\ 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 ABSI RACT vi CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCT IGN 1 Universal Thenic of T he Yearling -. 5 Regionalism as a Symbolic Ba~sTJ of 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 Particular L)' in Th e Yearling 19 Theory of Comnositicn Necessary to Achieve Effect of Beauty Through Creation of Reality 5 5 Through the Process of Character i ration . 3^> True -to -11 re character! :ar ion 5? Universality in characterization tf.' L'l'titv In ch'i rac t'.'. r i." •! t J.o;"i 63 Through Ust of Facts and Details 66 Methods of Expression 6 9 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 Cone lus ion '. '. 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 F iVS CONCLUSION , 137 Sumna ry 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 197 6 Chairperson: Ronald C. Carpenter Major DepartT.ent: Speech In 19.39 Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Letters for her novel, T he 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 conxiuiii cuce beauty. H er h e o r ^ y_A' ',:L- corporated the proces-i cf characterization, true-to-lice depiction, universa 1 it/\ 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 critic Ismi 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 INVRODUCT ION The Yearling was first publisb.ed in 19 5S. 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 R. R. Bovvker, i. itfr av y Pi izes and Th eir '>vinners (.Mew York: R, R, cowker' Company , li'b7j, pTTS.' 7 "M. K. Rawlings, The Yearling, Study Guide by Mary Louise Fap>' and F-dith' Ccvles rNVuTcTrk: Charii?.'? Scribner's Sons, 19C2J. a u not cniy fron the coirirrierciai i^arketp.Iace but also fron profess .1 n a 1 s i o >^ r n a I s . In 19 :> 8 , The >iorth Aniei'i c an Rev i^e;> a prestigious prof essioua'; iouriial, considered the work "flawless,"' and the aatho- an ''intelligenc and meticulous craf t.'irn.an . [who] v/ith The Yea rling rightfully takes her place among our most accomplished '/riters of fiction." The ccncepc the public had of this "intelligent and meticulous" craftsperson was often distorted not only b>' the artistic milieu of the 1950's, but also by comrrer- cial publications. For example, a Saturday Eve ning Fcs t article, "Marjorie Rawlings Hunts Her Supper: Menu: Alligator, Turtle, and Sxvamp Cabbage," contributed to the public image of the author as Great V/hite Huntress. This public facade was based upon a contemporary tradition of author -as-hero that her peers deliberately perpetuated: Fitzgerald, the international playperson; Hemingway, the great outdoors person; Faulkner, the country gentleperson. However, behind this appearance v;as a Phi Beta Kappa gra-iuate of the University of Wisconsin, an experienced journalist, and a creative artist who had as h er goal in V r i^ti r.g The Yearling the acc ompl ish.Tient of a predetermin ed, e - effsct achieved by adherence to her p e r s o n 1 a d i e n c oriented ti.eory of composition. In so doing she performs ,lovd Morris. "A New Classicist," The ><o_rth 'V- 246 CSe7;tember, 193S;, ir^-lSi: what Bryant hs.s called the rhetorical functioa of "adjust- ing ideas to people and o£ people to ideas," and illustrates likewise Bitzer's concept or rlietoric as a response to an exigence subject to the constraints of the author's per- sonal theory of composition. In examining Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' personal theory of coTiposition , as well as reader response to it, this study v/ill explore the rhetorical role of the novelist's language manipulations as they con- tribute to suasory (Effectiveness. Uni ve rsal Ine rae or The Ye arl ing As a basis for underscc'-nding this novel as rhetori- cal discourse, recail tnat the Yearling evoked the environ- ment of the Florida "Cracker" and yet, at the sane time, transcended and ui'.ive'-'r.aiizcd this environment.