Critique: “A Small Amount of Darkness”

Melisa Miller’s story, “A Small Amount of Darkness”, one of the best stories that have come out of this class. There is smooth flow and great descriptions that are not too wordy and give a great display of what is occurring in the story. The plot is also very unique and pressures the reader forward. There are also bits of humor that add more to the entertainment and joy of reading.
I find the best trait in this story to be it’s simplicity. There is not much symbolism and poetry that can sometimes bring down what is actually trying to be said. Instead of that, there is this easy readable tail about a girl and her black mysterious box that then sends a message about what it means to be special. What makes this story simple is how the details are efficient, they explain what needs to be explained and they are descriptive enough to give the reader a great specific idea of what is taking place. One great part I like a lot from this story was when Wanda had a ketchup stain on her shirt and her mom said “Oh Wanda, everyday.” I found this to be just some simple funny dialogue that is something a mother would say. Other great details are how the kids make fun of Wanda, such as when the boys “accidentally” kick a ball at her and then make a crack a the rocks she losses. Miller does a really great job at staying within the boundaries of youthful dialogue, even though the narrator reads in a much more adult voice.
Some small issues that can be added to the story that really did not play much of the focus to the entire message of the story was the that the mother does not seem to be depreciated as much as the ending seems to open up to. I find this reasoning to be true because Wanda still goes to her mother for advice and sees her as an important person in her life. There is no lack of that parental value with Wanda so it does not make much sense as to why there was some reason why Wanda needs an urge to hug her mother, someone who she already values her opinion.
This story impresses me in how well written and thought out the details are. What I will take from this story and try and add to my own is the attention to efficient and simple detail that gets the point across and is short so that the reader is not spending all day getting a little aspect. I must say that there many other ways to creating details for a character and I’m not sure if I want to use Miller’s example because a lot of my details I like to give also tell other stories and are explained through past actions. As for descriptions of actions Miller holds the best examples, which makes this story so great.