"The Several Blessings of Wang Ta-nien" and "A Worn Path"

I think both stories were really interesting this week. I guess if I had to pick one…I can’t pick one. I’m going to talk about both. They both have different strengths that are equally important to creating a scene. In Hua-Ling Nieh’s “The Several Blessings of Wang Ta-nien,” the dialogue creates the relationships, conflict and subtext in the scene. The dialogue in this piece is pretty straight forward.  Ta-nien wants the Sage to help him in one of numerous and most likely to fail endeavors, but that means the Sage has to give up his goals.  The Sage would be taking a greater risk than Ta-nien. This can be seen in the Sage’s tone when he questions Ta-nien ’s plan. The underlying emotion is seen through the dialogue. In Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path,” the description and opinions of the main character create the scene. The descriptions create a complete scene. I can clearly imagine this old woman traveling a long time on a wild path to get to town. Her opinions on the animals in the woods and the people she encounters also creates another layer to the scene. I don’t just observe, but I also hear her opinions, which creates characterization of her and adds depth to the setting. Both of these short stories use different methods to fully develop a scene.