A Map of Tripoli, 1967 Essay | Critical Essay #1

A Map of Tripoli, 1967 Critical Essay #1

Sanderson holds a master of fine arts degree in fiction writing and is an independent writer. In this essay, Sanderson examines how Wetzel uses senseladen prose to create a vivid setting for her short story and to delineate the choice Carla must make between her previous life and a new life.

From the first sentence of Marlene Reed Wetzel's "A Map of Tripoli, 1967," the setting of Carla's crumbling marriage and concurrent romance with the exotic Mantini is firmly foreign. The tale opens with a symphony of street sounds: "horns and radios, bicycle bells, the voice of a rooster that the pots-and-pans man keeps as a pet. . . . the call to prayer from the Karamanli mosque hangs in the air." This is a scene full of life and activity, echoed a few paragraphs down, when Carla's first appearance in the story is heralded with colors and strong...
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