The word "texture" in paragraph 20 of "A Mother in Mannville," by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, is used to describe Jerry's wood chopping. The first two lines of the paragraph read,
At daylight I was half wakened by the sound of chopping. Again it was so even in texture that I went back to sleep.
Texture is commonly used to describe something we physically touch, and it's an important part of how we identify the things around us. We know that sandpaper is rough and silk is smooth.
However, texture is also a characteristic used in music and literature to create a feeling. In paragraph 20, the texture, or regularity and evenness, of Jerry's chopping is calming and soothing to the narrator, and she goes back to sleep. At the beginning of the story, the narrator tells us she is looking for "quiet, isolation" in which to work. Jerry's chopping isn't a distraction; it is part of the peaceful environment of the isolated cabin. This type of texture contributes to the mood and setting of the story.
In Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings's short story, "A Mother in Mannville," the word texture in paragraph twenty is used to describe the rhythm of chopping wood when Jerry returns after the first morning. Here is the quote:
At daylight, I was half wakened by the sound of chopping. Again it was so even in texture that I went back to sleep.
The first time Jerry chopped wood for the narrator, it is described it as rhythmic and even.
I went back to work, closing the door. At first the sound of the boy dragging the brush annoyed me. Then he began to chop. The blows were rhythmic and steady, and shortly I had forgotten him, the sound no more an interruption than a consistent rain.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, texture comes from a Latin word meaning to weave. In using the context clues surrounding the word, readers understand that Rawlings is referring to the steady rhythm that Jerry is weaving with his skillful chopping.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/texture
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