 Single paragraphs began to run for page after page, in which an initial noun would be succeeded by pronouns surrounded by clouds of adjectives and prepositional clauses, far from their original referents, and verbs would be deferred and then preceded by a series of adverbs.The overall effect could be a vivid evocation of a scene as perceived by a sensitive observer.It has been debated whether this change of style was engendered by James's shifting from writing to dictating to a typist, a change made during the composition of "What Maisie Knew."