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- Transcription of a talk given by Pauline Brace at the Dunnett Day held in Leeds, West Yorkshire, 1996 regarding studies in Dorothy Dunnett's Structure and Style.
- WG158, WG159, WG160
- WG158 - Structure holds the pattern of narrative together - 'How did (Dorothy Dunnett) conceive the huge framework of an eight-part series? How did she guess when to bring (the reader) to that particular point?' The bedrock is history which Dorothy Dunnett uses as a living force, stages in the progress of the narrative, held together by the progress of one man. Style gives the narrative vivid life. Dorothy Dunnett's pictorial imagination of colour, image, and design come to life as in the detailed descriptions of the characters (i.e. Loppe's eyes 'root-dark rimmed with clearest white', SOTR) and action (i.e. the explosion of Katla, TLWL).
- WG159 - A subtle change has taken place following the LC, first in KH then more strongly in the HON, in the attention to setting. Action is alternated with sensory impressions of colour and design, sound and touch. 'This descriptive method produces a union of pictorial and dramatic elements and expresses them in realistic dialogue'.
- WG160 - This installment focuses on character development and Dorothy Dunnett's varying tone of her prose style and speech. The usual introduction of a character who is to be significant in the whole story is often casual, just part of a scene. Then he/she is isolated for a brief time to settle in our memory. Villains, on the other hand, are often introduced with startling suddenness. Women exist in their own right, not just as female companions, and are able to hold back more secrets. Their voices are as strong as the men's. The main character, Nicholas, is a puzzle from the beginning. His character is developed through action and from what others say (sometimes inaccurate to be changed later as story develops). The reader is led, quietly, unobtrusively but definitely, to their opinion. The reader is shown a solitary man, the dyer’s apprentice who is, on the surface, the friend of all the world, but who can never be totally understood by anyone. Dorothy Dunnett's prose style varies from beautifully descriptive passages to flowing narrative which speeds the action. Above all, the style and pace of her writing insures that the reader learns what she wants revealed in her own way and in her own time.
- WG158 - TLWL 3.24, UH 36, NR 9, SOTR 19, UH 4.41, SOTR 6, SOTR 21, NR 12, SOG 23, TLWL 3.29, SOTR 6, TLWL 2.16, SOG 37, TLWL 2.14, various other
- WG159 - ROS 31, ROS 32, UH 19, SOG 2, NR 7, SOTR 1
- WG160 - NR 17, ROS 9, ROS 47, UH 2.28, UH 2.23, TLWL 5.48, UH 1.8, TLWL 4.36, UH 1.20, UH 1.5, UH 2.24, UH 1.6, NR 4, SOG 27, UH 4.40, TLWL 3.25, TLWL 3.22, UH 1.10, TLWL 2.11, SOG 32, TLWL 1.2, UH 4.46, NR 42, SOG 42, TLWL 5.48
- Various found in HON series
- WG158 - 'A young man reading a book..', after Andrea del Sarto, Florence, 1501-03. Copyright: The Trustees of the British Museum.
- WG159 - ‘Study of two young men [sic] running’, Joseph West, 1825–34, after Andrea del Sarto, Florence, 1501–31. © The Trustees of the British Museum.
- WG160 - ‘A youth seated on the ground, looking to right, holding a large open book against his knee’, Battista Naldini, c. 1577, after Andrea del Sarto. © Trustees of the British Museum.
