1. Minimalism

2. Traits of Minimalism An economy of words
A focus on surface description rather than interiority
Context determines meaning, rather than directions from the writer
For example, a minimalist writer would avoid adverbs, such as “He laughed sneeringly.” The reader would be expected to know based on the context that the character was sneering. A minimalist writer would just write, “He laughed.”

3. Omission
“If a writer of prose knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of an ice-berg is due to only one-eighth of it being above the water. A writer who omits things because he does not know them only makes hollow places in his writing.”
Ernest Hemingway, Death in the Afternoon

4. Some Writers Who Use Minimalism
Ernest Hemingway
Cormac McCarthy
Amy Hempel
Grace Paley
Tobias Wolff
Raymond Carver

5. The Road won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Literature
About the Author
The Road won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Literature
Research fellow in mathematics and science at the Santa Fe Institute
According to McCarthy, his son helped him write The Road.
He uses simple sentences and minimal punctuation.

6. Raised Roman Catholic
First published sometime around 1957
Very private—has only submitted to one interview
Recipient of many grants, which he lived on while he wrote.
Also had various jobs—auto mechanic, Air Force, radio show,
Did find not find huge literary success until 1992, with All the Pretty Horses.
Has published 10 novels, including All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing, Cities of the Plain, No Country for Old Men, and The Road.

7. Hills Like White Elephants
The man and the girl are having an argument. What are they arguing about? How do you know?
What does each character want? How does each feel about the topic? How do you know?
Who won? How do you know?
How does this piece embody traits of minimalism?