What is Swanson's central narrative device?

• A. An experimental, non-linear collage
• B. A diary-first-person narration
• C. A chronological, documentary-style narrative drawing on primary sources
• D. A fictionalized saga

Answer: (C)

The main idea here is that the work tells its story in strict time order using sources from the time itself. Swanson constructs a chronological, documentary-style narrative grounded in primary sources—eyewitness accounts, official records, letters, and contemporary newspapers—so the events unfold in the sequence they happened, with evidence woven in to show what occurred and when. This approach gives a factual, reconstruction feel, rather than a fictionalized tale or a diary from a single viewpoint.

It isn’t an experimental, non-linear collage, since the events flow forward in time rather than jumping around in structure. It isn’t told as a diary-first-person narrative, since the voice isn’t confined to one diary-like perspective. It isn’t a fictionalized saga, because the emphasis is on documented facts and a straightforward timeline rather than invented storytelling.