Examine the opening paragraph of the story.

What literary elements and techniques does Carver employ to establish the setting and mood of the story?: The author employs diction, syntax, and imagery to develop the tone and setting of the story.

• He uses words that make the work very simple and easy to understand, although the work is simple by itself, the lack of strong diction and the use of more imagery builds the character’s emotions throughout the family’s breakup, creating a mysterious atmosphere and tone, there’s no description of the character’s inner thoughts but their actions speaks for themselves.

• The story relies on the author’s imagery from which the reader can infer hidden meanings, such as “snow was melting into dirty water” creating a dark tone or the description of the weather gives an allusion to the couple’s conflict, foreshadowing the dynamic between them. Irony and short, concise sentences create a distant tone that represents the physical and emotional distance between the two characters.

• They not only make the story easier to understand, but they also reinforce the idea that the characters no longer tolerate each other and foreshadow an unavoidable ending. The word choice and short phrases contribute to the aggressive tone and create tension.

What item does the woman take from the bedroom? What are her motivations for taking it?: The woman takes a picture of a baby from the bedroom. Her motivation for taking it is to make sure the man doesn’t have anything of the baby since he is the one leaving.

• Because he is leaving, she wants him to feel more pain than she, and she sees that him trying to take a picture of the baby is wrong.

• This exemplifies the universal conflict of many households' separation process, where negative emotions consume both parties and rationality is abandoned, communication breaks down and it becomes a battle over who gets to keep more stuff.

• The baby's picture is a symbol of what is to come later in the story; the inhumanity of the object represents the inhumanity with which the parents fight over the actual baby rather than worrying about his welfare.

What seems to be the man's motivations for wanting the baby?: It seems like his motivation came from when his wife took the picture off the bed and didn't give it back to him.

• He was fueled by hatred towards his wife and wanted to take it because he knew it would make her feel worse about herself and would leave her with nothing else.

Examine the stark prose.  Why might Carver write the story in such a stripped-down style?: Carver writes the story in such a stripped-down style because it adds suspense to the story and keeps the readers wanting more.

• It keeps the readers engaged and causes them to dive deeper and infer what really happened.

• Carver also writes this way giving him a distinct and unique writing style that can make him stand out from other writers.

What is the effect of all of the characters being nameless?: Since all the characters are nameless, it adds to the effect of the conflict.

• The lack of detail makes the reader focus less on the characters and more on what happened in the plot.

• Since the story is about divorce and trying to take things from each other through the process of divorce, keeping the characters nameless shows a lack of connection between the people in the story.

• Usually, when you add names into the mix, it shows the reader that there is a mutual connection or attempt at communication, and neither is the case in this story.