History Literature / HemingwaysSixWordStory

* TropeCodifier: For Flash Fiction Histories, being one of the most famous examples and was remarkable enough to spawn a sub-genre based around 6 words in total.

* AmbiguousSituation: The words are a six word advertisement that give absolutely no context to the situation behind the words and may or may not even imply characters behind the words, with none appearing or even being described in the words at all. It doesn't tell us whose baby would have worn the shoes, who owns the shoes and why they're selling them, why the shoes haven't been worn or if the shoes were even planned to be worn by a recipient beforehand (i.e. a baby belonging to the owner of the shoes) in the first place. It's entirely up to the reader to decide and interpret the context and details of the words. However, it's frequently assumed to have a tragic context (i.e. a baby died before it could get a chance to wear the new shoes, the parents had a miscarriage, the family is very poor, etc.) since that's pretty much the only way to make a story out of such a vague or otherwise seemingly mundane situation.

* AmbiguousSituation: The words are a six word advertisement that give absolutely no context to the situation behind the words and may or may not even imply characters behind the words, with none appearing or even being described in the words at all. It doesn't tell us whose baby would have worn the shoes, who owns the shoes and why they're selling them, why the shoes haven't been worn or if the shoes were even planned to be worn by a recipient beforehand (i.e. a baby belonging to the owner of the shoes) in the first place. Its entirely up to the reader to decide and interpret the context and details of the words. However, It's frequently assumed to have a tragic context (i.e. a baby died before it could get a chance to wear the new shoes, the parents had a miscarriage, the family is very poor, etc.) since that's pretty much the only way to make a story out of such a vague or otherwise seemingly mundane situation.

* {{Parody}}: XKCD [[https://xkcd.com/1540/ spoofed the poem]].

Compare to "JustForFun/TheUglyBarnacle", another story famous for its minimalist prose. Contrast to JustForFun/TheTropelessTale.

* NoEnding: All that is presented is six words presenting a situation with a completely ambiguous context behind it and no characters are described or present. Because there's nothing present to drive the situation further, there is no resolution, much less any kind of progression, given to this situation.

* DeathOfAChild: A Ambiguous case, but it’s one of the reasons the shoes may be for sale.

* AmbiguousEnding: Were the shoes sold or not?

* DownerEnding: If you go by the interpretation that the story is about a deceased baby, then the story does have a tragic end to it.

A piece of FlashFiction allegedly written by Creator/ErnestHemingway. It probably isn't: The idea of an ad that indirectly hints at the death of a baby is at least as old as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_sale:_baby_shoes,_never_worn#History a human interest story in a 1910 newspaper]], and has been tossed around as an anecdote or story idea long before it was connected to Hemingway.

* BasedOnATrueStory: It’s based around a real journal article from The Spokane Press with the title “Tragedy of Baby's Death is Revealed in Sale of Clothes“.

* MacGuffinTitle: The “plot” is about the baby shoes, and guess what the title describes?

* EmptyRoomPsych: The lack of anything but informal content is what draws people to try and find meaning in the story.
%%* FictionalDocument

* TragicKeepsake: If one goes by the theory of the story being about a deceased baby, them the shoes are this to those who are selling them.

* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: It’s a story about baby shoes that were never worn and are for sale!

* NamelessNarrative: There are no characters described in the story, and the words are clearly from an advertisement--there isn't even a narrator or reader implied. The story entirely depends on the how the reader interprets the context of the ad.
* NoAntagonist: There's no villain in the story, [[NamelessNarrative or any other characters for that matter.]]

Compare to "Literature/TheUglyBarnacle", another story famous for its minimalist prose. Contrast to JustForFun/TheTropelessTale.

* TheLawOfConservationOfDetail: What little the story has gives you ''just'' enough information to imply that there's something going on behind the baby shoes ad, and leaves the rest to the readers imagination.
* {{Minimalism}}: The point of the story is to show that even with the barest minimum of words, you can still come up with a story, or at least a situation, that hooks people into it by using the right words and letting the readers imagination fill in the blanks for themselves.

* NoEnding: All that is presented is six words presenting a situation with a completely ambiguous context behind it and no characters are described or present. Because theres nothing present to drive the situation further, there is no resolution, much less any kind of progression, given to this situation.

Compare to Literature/TheUglyBarnacle, another story famous for its minimalist prose. Contrast to JustForFun/TheTropelessTale.

* NoPlotNoProblem: There is no plot given to the reader, only an ambiguous situation at best.

Compare to Literature/TheUglyBarnacle, another story famous for its minimalist prose.

* BeigeProse: The entire story is only six words long. That's probably about as concise as a story can get while still having, or at least implying, content.
%%* DownerEnding

* EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory: The mere vagueness of the text is enough to make people deduce that there's an implied meaning and context to the words, with most assuming its implying the shoes were meant for a baby who had died.