Ryan Bolles Composition 1020 Critical Essay Professor Adel 4 February 2021 All essays need an original title In the story “Powder,” the mountains and streets covered in the snow play a large role in telling the story as the snow is prominent in the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution, ultimately developing the story with complex meanings and meticulous details. The setting is the place or surroundings of where an event takes place. In Tobias Wolff’s “Powder,” the setting is the ski slopes, massive roads covered in snow, and a diner. Wolff uses the setting to hint at the father's deteriorating relationship with his wife; he uses the rising action Commented [AN1]: No need to explain the meaning or importance Deleted: The setting is essential for storytelling because many events are caused by the surrounding environment. Deleted: massive Commented [AN2]: This works as an intro. As a thesis, though, it is vague. The narrative arc is an element of fiction, not a literary lens. You should develop the thesis – based on what I see here – by identifying the role the snow plays and making a specific, detailed literary claim through the lens of setting. Commented [AN3]: Again, a definition of setting is irrelevant. Commented [AN4R3]: of being blocked from driving home due to the snow so that the father expresses how his "wife Deleted: takes place on will never forgive him." Whenever the father talks badly about his relationship with his wife, the Deleted: Wolff preceding quotes are about the setting or mention the setting. Moreover, the narrator gets more Commented [AN5]: Interesting observation. I think few have made that connection. anxious and worried the further they drive into the snow on the trail. The narrator is portrayed as Deleted: I notice how Deleted: I notice how Deleted: some being an active thinker, so that is why "[he] thought ahead, and that was why I knew that there Commented [AN6]: What does this mean? would be other troopers waiting for us at the end of our ride, if we even got there" (Wolff 1). Commented [AN7]: I added a made-up page number to show you what the citation should look like. These events taking place usually reflect the setting, so Wolff uses the setting as a place marker about where we are in the story. In the beginning, the narrator and his father went skiing, and “as [they] were checking out of the lodge that morning it began to snow, and in this snow, he observed some rare quality that made it necessary for us to get in one last run” (Wolff). This playfully starts the story by describing the rare beauty of the snow. As the story progresses into the rising action, the narrator and his father are skiing down the mountain as the “Snow whirled around [them] in bitter, Commented [AN8]: I am not convinced of this. Partly this is because the narrative arc isn’t a viable place to begin a literary argument, but also, because it is unlikely that an author would ever think of having a place marker, Every word in a published piece is intentional. Commented [AN9]: Only the first citation has the author’s last name + page number. After that, page number only. Formatted: Strikethrough blinding squalls, hissing like sand” (Wolff). Therefore, as the weather gets harsher, the road back Formatted: Highlight home is blocked off. During the climax, the boy and his father move the barricade to get home, and soon they “enter a broad field of snow that ran level for a while and then tilted sharply downward” (Wolff). The storm is extreme, piling snow on top of each other, so there are hills of snow that have sharp drops. As we get to the falling action, the storm starts to calm down since Formatted: Strikethrough the narrator, “Here and there [sees] hints of the road, ditches, fences, and stakes” (Wolff). The snow starts to decline after it starts to get peaceful; also, the narrator gets less anxious and it is throughout the falling action of the storyline. The last line of the story is the resolution and describes snow as “fresh powder” (Wolff). This is the resolution, and the narrator describes snow as something peaceful and calming to resolve the conflict of the story: the setting. Wolff uses the setting to tell the story as the weather pattern correlates with each part of the story in order of exposition to resolution. Settings’ are predominantly overlooked, but they have so much to offer to every story. Without a setting, stories, books and plays would be excruciating to watch, as imagery is nonexistent. The setting also adds characteristics such as mood, tone, characterization, personification, and more. Wolff can perfectly place this element to make “Powder” cohesive and imaginative. Commented [AN10]: Much of this essay is hard to grasp. It is a bit of a struggle to try to understand. The reason for this, in my view, is that you did not start with a clear and feasible thesis/claim/argument. As you can see, the thesis is the backbone of an essay, and without clarity and connection between its parts, it’s hard to write the rest of the essay. Keep that in mind and practice testing out theses. It definitely takes time to develop this part of the process! Commented [AN11]: Where is your Work Cited page? When you cite evidence in an essay – as you must – you must also include this essential page. It is a requirement.
