Kew Gardens by Virginia Woolf

When I was younger, there was a particular tree at the park near my house that I would climb whenever I was scared or worried or stressed about things. From up in the branches of that willow tree, I could look over the pond below and enjoy some nature without really having to think about what was bothering me. The only downside, however, was people not expecting someone to be concealed behind the dangling limbs. I would hear the strangest snapshots of conversations from this vantage point, always wondering whether I should try to leave to give them privacy and thus most likely startle and alarm them, or if I should just stay put and let them remain ignorant of my imposition. Most often, I'll be honest, I stayed in the tree. It was always very interesting trying to piece together the context and meaning of the words I heard, to build a mental world around these characters I knew nothing about.

In many ways, this piece is very similar to my experiences in the tree, which is most likely one of the reasons I found it so enjoyable. While the focus is often on the snapshots of these groups passing by these particular flowers and the questing snail, the setting remains the center of the scene while the characters shift around it, the opposite of what is seen inmost stories. The reader is left to try to tease as much as they can from the dialogue they are given before the focus switches to the next subjects passing by. While the dialogue is often very specific, using specific names and experiences of the characters, it still leaves room for speculation and interpretation, leaving a great deal up to the imagination. Through its irregular and somewhat experimental style, it is able to capture the feeling of the variety of people in this garden, all with their own hopes and dreams and experiences, without having to go into great detail on anyone. In short, it is a fantastic example of the "show, don't tell" rule of writing that we all strive to accomplish in this course.