Structure

The short story “What We Talk about When We Talk about Love” by Raymond Carver is structured chronologically and follows two couples who talk about love. The story is also structured in different scenes, which are marked by breaks. 

The story begins in media res, with the narrator presenting the context of the events: “My friend Mel McGinnis was talking. Mel McGinnis is a cardiologist, and sometimes that gives him the right” (p. 111, ll. 1-2). The beginning of the story also introduces the main characters (p. 111, ll. 5-6). 

When the two couples begin talking about love, a flashback describes Terri’s abusive relationship with her ex-husband, Ed: “He beat me up one night. He dragged me around the living room by my ankles. He kept saying, ‘I love you, I love you, you bitch.’ ” (p. 111, ll....