Can someone please help me with understanging The Ponder Heart and One Writer's Beginning by Eudora Welty?

Question

I want to understand it more so I can give a speech (I do not feel really secure about it). Also what would be some good excerpts to present? In one Writer's Beginning her writing seems scattered. Is that because she said she likes to mention things in order of what is more important to her? What do you think?

Answer 1

Yes, I think One Writer's Beginnings could seem scattered because she's just telling what's important to her--she's not trying to tell the "whole" story of her life in chronological order; she just wants to give some info about what was important to her in starting out to become a writer.

Welty wrote a lot about people in small towns in the South.  She wrote about interesting characters, probably inspired somewhat by people she knew and experiences she had.  She wrote in pretty realistic way, but she also experimented with using voice, symbols, etc.  This article has some neat ideas about how experimental she really was:

http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/english/ms-...

Good luck with your speech--Welty is a great writer!  If you haven't yet, check out her short story called "Why I Live at the P.O."  :)