Creating the Perfect Story

Ken Jones

Professor …

English

9 April 2013

Creating the Perfect Story

To create the perfect short story you must have the right criteria and organize the criteria in the correct way. A short story must have a powerful opening scene that makes the reader want to continue to read. The first paragraph of a short story has to be prevailing because the length of a short story gives the author more limits than an author of a longer story. When critiquing a short story, one must observe the critical elements of that story such as conflict and symbolism. In both the short stories “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker and “Too Much His Father’s Son” by Genaro Gonzalez, conflict and symbolism are used in such a dynamic way. Both of those criteria make the stories more understandable and give the stories the qualification of being the perfect way to write a short story.

Aliscot defines conflict as being a struggle or problem between two or more forces that creates tension that must be resolved. Conflict can be broken down between man vs. man, man vs. nature or man vs. self. It is important in literature because it helps construct the plot. In the short story by Alice Walker “Everyday Use”, I feel the conflict between the mother and both of her daughters made the story seem as if it was real life. The oldest daughter, Dee (who is also named Wagero Leewanika Kemanjo) seemed to be the diamond of the family. The mother felt as if Dee was too good for the family which consisted of the mother and the younger sister Maggie. As the mother described Dee she stated that she was the child that “made it” in the family. The mother felt as if Dee was ashamed of where she came from and that created a conflict between those two. In the story, Dee began taking pictures of the mother and her younger sister and she did not want to include a picture of the house because she was ashamed of how it looked. That created tension between Dee and Maggie because Maggie felt as if Dee was embarrassed of...