While writing Yonnondio, Olsen shaped the entire mood of her story through literary language. She did this by describing the setting in a poor fashion, and misspelling some words purposely. The story was written in such a fashion that it is easy to tell that education is not something the characters within the story have. Olsen described the house a grim dirty setting in the first paragraph by giving the audience an image of the dishes being in the sink, the sound of them getting washed a crucial sound to the house. "Creak of him getting out of bed. The door closed, with yellow light from the kerosene lamp making a long crack on the floor. Clatter of dishes. Her mother's tired grimy voice" (1). She also constructs her language in a contrasting