Function of Event Sequence: Short Fiction Practice Test

Embedded excerpt: A woman, Yvette, decides whether to sell her childhood home. The story opens with Yvette photographing each room for the listing, then interrupts with a flashback of Yvette hiding under the staircase during a thunderstorm, returns to the present for the realtor praising the home’s “good bones,”, and ends with Yvette deleting the photos one by one, leaving only a blurry shot of the staircase. What does the author’s sequence primarily reveal about Yvette’s decision?

(Events referenced: photographing rooms → hiding under staircase flashback → realtor “good bones” → deleting photos, keeping staircase shot.)

Embedded excerpt: At a funeral, the narrator watches a cousin, June, who was once the family’s peacemaker. The story first shows June laughing too loudly at a whispered joke, then shifts to the narrator remembering June breaking up fights at childhood picnics, then returns to the funeral for June’s hands shaking as she pours coffee, and ends with June stepping to the casket and whispering, “I’m tired,” when no one else is near. What is the primary effect of this sequence?

(Events referenced: too-loud laughter → picnic-peacemaker memory → shaking hands with coffee → private “I’m tired”.)