Few books in recent years are as helpful to English teachers as A Swim in a Pond in the Rain (in which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading and Life) by George Saunders. His analyses of how stories ‘escalate’ is indeed masterful, and he suggests Hemingway’s story ‘Cat in the Rain’ for classroom use. As Saunders does with Chekhov’s ‘In the Cart’ at the start of his book, I hand out short sections of the Hemingway, and we discuss each before moving on to the next one:
This little story offers a great chance to talk, in particular, about escalation. It’s quiet but never sits still. There’s a subtle escalatory development in just about every paragraph.
This is a wonderful way for young people to explore the shape of a story.
First published in In Our Time, Boni and Liveright, 1925
A Personal Anthology 