Short Fiction · Chapter
A Sure Method explained
An editor uses a $20 bill to kill poets who submit poor work, finding it more effective than a gun or club, with the coroner always ruling heart failure.
What happens
An editor uses a $20 bill to kill poets who submit poor work, finding it more effective than a gun or club, with the coroner always ruling heart failure.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
This excerpt marks the dramatic climax because it captures the precise moment the protagonist’s humor shifts f…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Humor and Irony
The darkly comic premise of killing poets with a $20 bill highlights the absurdity of editorial power and the value placed on poetry.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
The narrator describes the editor's actions and the fate of the poet.
Key passages
“The editor sat in his palatially furnished sanctum bending over a mass of manuscripts, resting his beetling brow upon his hand.”
The editor was in his luxurious office, hunched over a pile of manuscripts with a furrowed brow.
Sets the scene of the editor's workspace and his burden.
“He then drew from his pocket a $20 bill and held it toward the poet. A heavy thud was heard, and at the tinkle of an electric bell the editor’s minions entered and carried the lifeless form of the poet away.”
He pulled out a $20 bill and offered it to the poet, who immediately fell dead; the editor's assistants then removed the body.
Illustrates the editor's lethal method of rejecting poetry.
“It works better than a gun or a club and the coroner always brings in a verdict of heart failure.”
This method is more effective than violence, and the coroner always rules the death natural.
Reveals the editor's cynical justification for his actions.
