Structure

The short story “The Osage Orange Tree” by William Stafford is structured around the teenage memories of a boy regarding a girl he met at a new high school. The narrative follows the traditional plot elements: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution, while also including narrative techniques like foreshadowing.

Title

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Beginning

The short story sets off with a clear exposition, introducing readers to the character-narrator,...

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Middle

The longest part of the narrative is represented by the rising action, which presents the way the narrator and Evangeline get acquainted and his efforts to deliver her the newspaper regardless of the weather conditions:

I had to walk down the ruts of the road and leave the paper in the crotch of the tree, sometimes, when it was cold. The wind made a sound through the black branches. But usually, even on cold evenings, Evangeline was there.

Three tension points stand out in the narrative. The initial tension point takes place when the two characters start talking without knowing each other:

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Ending

In the falling action of the short story, the narrator makes a last attempt to see Evangeline by going at her house for the first time. However, he comes across her angry mother who informs him that they are not interested in buying newspapers:

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