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Summary Of Eudora Welty's A Worn Path

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Fictional stories are special to many because of their masterful use of literary elements to choreograph a story that captivates readers until the very end. The author, Eudora Welty in a short fictional story titled “A Worn Path,” depicts an astounding literary masterpiece as she submerses readers into a scene of the woods and an elderly women with the glow of life on a chilly December day. Craftly using literary elements to deliver her imagination on paper. Each element working cohesively to articulate a story of melodic rhythm. In this story, Eudora Welty uses specifically Setting and characterization to show readers local color, and to captivate readers to the life of Phoenix, the only physical protagonist. The land is natural and fully grown in emphasizing that setting is integral to the rest of the story. Using setting as a strong foundation for the trajectory of the story, the author seeds the themes of Ignorance and neediness, but also love. A small path winds through this forest giving Ms. Phoenix Jackson a place …show more content…

It is seen sporadically throughout the story and give the reader a sense of falsification as to the realty the Phoenix Jackson lives in. As showcased, “She did not dare to close her eyes, and when a little boy brought her a plate with a slice of marble-cake on it she spoke to him. ‘That would be acceptable,’ she said. But when she went to take it there was just her own hand in the air (Welty 02). This pattern continues as she progresses with talking to a bird and other non-alive setting characters throughout the story. When Phoenix falls over to a wild dog and a hunter comes to help her, she is still out of a unspoken fear of a white man and the reality of color prejudice, but also calm even when he points a gun in her face. This variance in personality continues as she arrives at the

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One could assume that symbolism is the backbone to all literature. Without symbolism the piece of literature is inadequate, lacking representations of objects, people, and situations. However Eudora Welty’s work “A Worn Path” proves the prominence of symbolism in any prose. The short story about a woman’s ability to face nature, mankind, and one’s own self. The protagonist is an woman named Phoenix Jackson who has an unforgettable nature.

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This serves as an example of how a lack of familial ties can prevent an individual from overcoming intergenerational trauma. The relationship between Phoenix and her mother Elsie is portrayed as distant and estranged. This is exemplified in a scene where Phoenix is going to prison and Elsie attempts to reach out to her, but she rejects the gesture by moving away and refusing to touch her mother. Phoenix also expressed disdain for her mother's weakness, “she does not want to look at her, does not want to see Elsie groveling in her Elsie way, being weak. She does not want to feel sorry for her, or feel anything for her” (Vermette 323).

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Right away, the reader learns that “She was a very old and small and she walked slowly in the dark pine shadows, moving a little from side to side in her steps…”(Welty 3-5). Welty’s ingenious use imagery in these three short lines gives the reader a vivid image of an old lady who may have arthritis, as she has a sway to her steps. The reader gets an even more accurate image of Phoenix Jackson when Welty describes her clothing. The reader learns that Phoenix “...wore a

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In the short story Welty’s want the reader to be comfortable with Phoenix as a character. Welty describes Phoenix wearing a long dress reaching her shoe top and a long apron of bleached sugar sacks. When Phoenix talks aloud to herself the author wants the reader to imagine an old woman with characteristics of a warm, comical, young spirited woman side of her. The short story also uses images which evoke from the biblical imagery. Phoenix’s uses biblical connection to show the reader how important her story and the

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Literary Analysis: “A Worn Path” Eudora Welty uses many literary elements in her short story, “A Worn Path,” to allow the reader to stay engaged throughout its entirety. Although there are many literary elements present in this story, there are three that Welty focuses intently on. She uses elements such as imagery, symbolism, and motifs to draw the reader’s attention. It is important for an author to write their story in a way that can be understood but also enjoyed. In “A Worn Path”, Welty focuses in on the elements, such as, symbolism, motifs, and imagery and writes a story that has great meaning and can be discovered by the reader when looked at carefully.

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Phoenix said, “Seem like there is chains about my feet, time I get this far” (Welty 464). This was the first occurrence were Eudora shows the strong desire that Phoenix has to persevere.

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Some references even suggest Phoenix may have once been a slave; such as the chains the old woman feels on her feet as she climbs the path uphill. Racial inequality is unmistakably clear when the old woman falls in the ditch and is confronted by the white hunter. One would believe the hunter calling Phoenix Granny to be a harmless reference to her age; however, Granny is a term coined by southern whites in the thirties and forties and refers to a single elderly black woman: a granny is an old black woman who takes care of the white

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The closure of the story is somewhat questionable, and it isn 't what we would commonly call glad or pitiful. It is a triumph for Phoenix seeing that she demonstrates her quality and assurance to convey... Intense o-Meter On the off chance that you wind up scratching your head a couple of times while perusing this story, don 't stress—you 're not the only one.

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