“In Berlin” is a _tour de force_ of short-story construction. Miss
O’Reilly has followed the well-known principle of beginning near the
climax, that the story may gain intensity. The result is excellent for
this one principle. But the whole composition of 125 or 150 words in
reality plays up a single dramatic moment--not a single Incident.
The advantage to the student in reproducing similar “dramatic moment”
stories will be to show the value of material in magnitude and worth,
to teach him to appreciate climax, and to feel the advantages--and the
disadvantages--of economy.
Read Chapter III in “A Handbook on Story Writing,” describing and
illustrating the Anecdote and the Incident.