Function of Text Structure: Short Fiction Practice Test

A short fiction excerpt is structured as two parallel columns on the page: the left column narrates a wedding ceremony, and the right column narrates a private argument occurring simultaneously in the back of the church. The final lines merge into a single column as the couple says “I do.” What is the most likely effect of this visual-structural arrangement?

Assume the two columns contain contrasting diction—formal vows vs. bitter asides.

A short story excerpt begins with a narrator describing a city blackout. The narrative is interrupted periodically by short, bracketed stage directions like lights flicker and silence, even though the text is otherwise prose. Near the end, the bracketed directions become more frequent than the prose. What is the primary function of importing stage-direction structure into prose in this way?

Assume the blackout coincides with the narrator’s rising panic.