Presentation Type

Poster

Presentation Type

Submission

Keywords

Welty, Ruby, revised, Fisher, self, words, identity, newspaper, abuse, individual

Department

English

Major

English (Literature) and English (Writing and Rhetoric)

Abstract

Eudora Welty’s “A Piece of News” presents the question, how does one achieve self-actualization? For the protagonist Ruby Fisher, the answer is language, although that answer is not clear in the original 1937 published version of the story. That story’s focal point is Ruby’s tumultuous and complicated relationship with her husband, Clyde. In contrast, the revised 1941 version from Welty’s collection A Curtain of Green shifts the focus from Ruby’s abusive marriage to her interiority. The subsequent increase in word count, shifts in narration, and emphasis on Ruby claiming her name when she reads it in a newspaper elevates the narrative to something more profound. Overall, these textual variants reveal that Welty’s extensive revisions changed not simply the storyline but also the text’s fundamental concerns. By foregrounding Ruby’s experience of sounding out the words in her name, Welty’s revised story revamps a familiar marital tale into an exploration of language, an exploration that provides a pathway to Ruby’s nascent sense of self.

Faculty Mentor

Dr. Katie Frye

Funding Source or Research Program

Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Location

Waves Cafeteria

Start Date

22-3-2024 1:30 PM

End Date

22-3-2024 2:30 PM

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Mar 22nd, 1:30 PM Mar 22nd, 2:30 PM

Textual Variants in Eudora Welty’s "A Piece of News”

Waves Cafeteria

Eudora Welty’s “A Piece of News” presents the question, how does one achieve self-actualization? For the protagonist Ruby Fisher, the answer is language, although that answer is not clear in the original 1937 published version of the story. That story’s focal point is Ruby’s tumultuous and complicated relationship with her husband, Clyde. In contrast, the revised 1941 version from Welty’s collection A Curtain of Green shifts the focus from Ruby’s abusive marriage to her interiority. The subsequent increase in word count, shifts in narration, and emphasis on Ruby claiming her name when she reads it in a newspaper elevates the narrative to something more profound. Overall, these textual variants reveal that Welty’s extensive revisions changed not simply the storyline but also the text’s fundamental concerns. By foregrounding Ruby’s experience of sounding out the words in her name, Welty’s revised story revamps a familiar marital tale into an exploration of language, an exploration that provides a pathway to Ruby’s nascent sense of self.

 

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