STORY MAP

Characters: Setting:

“Popular Mechanics” by Raymond Carver The setting was inside the house in the bedroom and the
features three unnamed characters: kitchen.

1. A woman
2. A man
3. A baby Problem:

Title and Author: An argument between a man and a

woman that suddenly turns into a
Popular physical conflict over their baby.
Mechanics by
Raymond Carver

Beginning: Middle: Ending:

Outside the house, it's slushy and
getting dark. Inside, a man is quickly
packing his suitcase in the bedroom
while the woman watches. The
woman expresses her gladness that
he is leaving, but then starts to cry as
the man went out to the living room,
living the woman.
As the woman stands in the kitchen
doorway, carrying the baby, the man
wants to take the child but she
refuses which leads the baby to cry.
The man grabs the baby from the
woman which started their argument
over the baby, leading to hurting and
making an injury for the baby.
Both parents want the child, as seen
by their arguing over him. However,
the last sentence in the story, “the
issue was decided,” assumes that
neither parent was successful in
taking the child where none of them
wants to let go of the baby, which led
in happening something even worse
for the baby.

Resolution:

The man will win the fight between them and will take the baby,
making the woman cry loudly. That is the ending of the story, where
the baby is now at the hands and arms of the man.