Structure

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Beginning

“A Small, Good Thing” by Raymond Carver begins in medias res on a Saturday afternoon with a woman ordering a cake for her son’s eighth birthday next Monday. In the exposition, the narrator describes the cake and the baker’s physical appearance and conveys his thoughts: “He let her take her time. He'd just come to work and he'd be there all night, baking, and he was in no real hurry.” (p. 1, ll. 12-13)

We learn that the woman’s name is Ann Weiss, as she gives the baker her name and telephone number (p. 1, l. 14). A tension point is created as Ann is made to feel uncomfortable by the baker’s abrupt way of communicating (p. 1, ll. 18-20). Then, she notices the back of the bakery, and a radio playing music (p. 1, ll. 26-29). The presence of the radio is a foreshadowing element for Ann later identifying the mysterious caller by noticing the radio playing in the background during h…

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Middle

In the rising action, Scotty is run over by a car while walking to school, an event which creates an important tension point (p. 1, ll. 38-40). Scotty gets up, seemingly unaffected by the accident. However, h…