Somehow, his family ends up with 24 Pepsi-Colas in their refrigerator. The story of what happens next is Mr. Fishman’s short, powerful story:
Around this time I learned that American supermarkets gave back 5 cents for every returned empty. (Some states, like Michigan, its very name like a granite monument, gave you 10 cents.) I decided I would return those cans and give the money to my parents. My secret — a surprise.
Read the essay, focusing on how Mr. Fishman anchors the whole story in this one goal he had at age 10 — to return the Pepsi cans and get money for them.
As you read, you might trace the structure of the story. What does each paragraph do? What does each add to the telling of this small story?
Then, consider these questions:
How do the first two paragraphs set the stage for the story and give some necessary background?
How does telling this story allow the writer to show readers a particular time and place through the eyes of a new immigrant?
How does he pull you into the action, minute by minute, in the three paragraphs that begin “On Saturday afternoon …”?
How is money a theme throughout, in both stated and implied ways? What other ideas recur?
What is the role of the last paragraph?
Now Try This: Find Your Own Short, Powerful Stories
Look back at the writing you did before reading the mentor text. What is strongest about it? Could it become a short essay like the one you just read? If so, what would you need to do to shape it?
What other small stories — or “evocative, particular moments” — from your life might make wonderful short essays?
In a 2010 lesson plan, “Going Beyond Cliché: How to Write a Great College Essay,” we suggest students first make a timeline of their lives, or of one period in their lives, brainstorming at least 20 events, big and small, that were significant to them for any reason.
You might try that, or you can brainstorm answers to this list of prompts — or both:
-A time I took a risk:
-A time I learned something about myself:
-A memory from childhood I think about often:
-Something that happened to me that still makes me laugh:
-Something very few people know about me:
-Something I regret:
-A time when I felt rejected:
-Something I am really proud of:
-Something that changed the way I think or look at the world:
-How I am different from most people I know:
-Some of my fears:
-A time I felt truly satisfied:
-A time I failed at something:
-An object I own that tells a lot about me:
Once you’ve chosen a topic, you might try to free-write for 10 minutes or so, asking yourself as you go: What was most interesting or memorable about this? What images come to mind when you think about this topic? Do you picture a person, a scene, a place? Do you hear a conversation or a bit of music? Do you smell, taste or feel something?
