The Narrative Voices Between The Works of Lucine Finch and Gladys Marie Fry - Book Report/Review Example

The narrative voices between the works of Lucine Finch and Gladys Marie Fry Before we compare and contrast the narrative voices between the works of Lucine Finch and Gladys Marie Fry, it will be worthwhile to understand the different narrative voices so we can use them aptly. Narrative voices can be first-person point of view, second-person mode, third-person limited, third-person objective and third-person omniscient. The first-person point of view “is usually subjective” as “we learn the narrator’s thoughts, feelings and reactions to events” (Kilian).

There is also the objective first person point of view in which the “narrators don’t delve into thoughts or feelings, but only tell what was said or done without further comment” (Kluz). In the third-person objective narrative voice, the narrator has “no entry to anyone’s thoughts or feelings” (Kilian). In this, the author simply describes what the character is doing or saying (Kilian). The narration of Gladys Marie Fry in "A Sermon in Patchwork: New Light on Harriet Powers" is more of the third-person objective.

In this narration she just simply described the characters of Harriet Powers. This is evidenced when she described the personality and the achievements of the African-American quilter. Among these facts is that her life has been a subject of an off-broadway play by Grace Avaleri with a title “Quilting the Sun”. Although Fry mentioned some personal things about her such as describing her as “an artist with a considerable power and ingenuity and worthy of critical attention that she received”, Fry did not delve into the subjects emotions neither did she voiced out her own thoughts and emotions.

The narration was purely descriptive which therefore falls under the “third-person objective” voice. In contrast, Lucine Finch played the “editorial commentator” in her essay “A Sermon in Patchwork”. Editorial commentator is one of the paths that an author may take under the third-person omniscient narrative voice. In the editorial commentator style, “the author’s persona has a distinct attitude toward the story’s characters and events, and frequently comments on them” (Kilian).

Lucine Finch described the work by first saying that it was made by “an aged Negro woman, who put into it the reverence, the fantastic conception of sacred events, and the passion of imagination of her people”. In this line, she was already adding in more observations about the character’s thoughts. She has shown an attitude towards the Negroes and their religion by saying that “the religion of the Negro of the older type is a curious blend of blind superstition wrought out in imagination generally unreserved and not self-conscious, hysterical and ecstatic in its manifestation”.

This is in contrast to the essay of Gladys Marie Fry, wherein there is limited show of personal opinion about the topic being discussed. Often, Finch would quote words from her main character, such as “preach de Gospel in patchwork, ter show my Lawd my humbility.” And again, “Dis heah quilt gwine show where sin originated, outen de beginnin' uv things.”As the author has said, she made the efforts to use the character’s own words in her essay. More often she would give comments after quoting the character, which reflects her attitude.

This is evidenced when she described the stitches and colors of the patchwork. We can say that Fry’s essay was rather bland, and divested of emotions and subjectivity, while Finch’s work was rather subjective. The former was more descriptive while the latter did not restrain herself from conveying her own admiration over the work and the person that she described. Both works popularize African American quilting, particularly revealing the depth of thoughts that it can convey. Works CitedKilian, Crawford.

http://crofsblogs.typepad.com. 17 April 2009 .Kluz, Carol. http://www.artisticnetwork.net. 4 June 2005. 17 April 2009 .