“The Yellow Sweater” by Hugh Garner.

1. How does Garner show the ebb and flow of power in this story?  Use specific examples and language choices employed by Garner (with page number references) to support your answer.  In a variety of ways, power is such a significant theme for this story.  Why?
2. The physical descriptions of the salesman change over the course of the story.  Find the various descriptions and explain why they shift as the story unfolds.
3. Garner said, “…the writer must imply rather than reveal some things in a short story…  The reader must be allowed to discover for himself some things between the lines of a story, or read them into it on his own.”    What critical aspect of this story does Garner expect his readers to discover on his or her own?  How does he imply it in the story?
4. Anton Chekhov said, “If you describe a gun hanging on a wall at the beginning of a story, that gun must go off before the story ends.”  What is Garner’s “gun hanging on the wall”?  Why does it add an extra dimension to the events and implications of the story?
5. In what ways can dialogue help move a story along?  What function does dialogue serve in “The Yellow Sweater”?  Use specific examples to support your answer.
6. Joseph Conrad said that in a story “the purpose of the journey is compassion.”  Why do we feel sympathy for the businessman?
7. Why is this story called “The Yellow Sweater? 

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