Structure

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Beginning

The short story “The Splinter” begins in medias res, focusing on the setting of Zion National Park. The description of the road to the camping site helps create an analogy with the long and sometimes co…

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Middle

The rising action is constructed by creating tension points and hinting at the narrator’s inner conflict. For example, a sense of inner conflict is suggested by how the narrator is gradually getting worried about the boy’s limping: “He was limping but he was talking and happy in the afternoon.” (ll. 31-32)

An external conflict between the boy and the narrator is first introduced in a flashback through the narrator’s memory of the previous night: “We had a horrid fight last night when I tried to look at it. He showed me the red place on his arch where it was embedded but he wouldn’t let me, absolutely wouldn't let me, get a…

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Ending

The falling action shows Rick and the narrator feeling relieved that the splinter was removed. The resolution then …