What Makes a Good Story?

I think that my favourite out of the three short stories we worked on was 'The Sniper' by Liam O'Flaherty. I think it was the most interesting as I didn't know anything at all about the Irish civil war, which is the setting of the story. I thought it was interesting to learn about the free staters vs. the republicans and their dispute. I enjoyed the plot of this story and how it really showed how soldiers can change during the war. For example when he shot the old lady because she was giving away information. My favourite part of the story was the climax when the sniper tricked the enemy sniper by making im think he was shot in the head. I also didn't expect the twist at the end of the story. The sniper killing his own brother is a good way to show the story's theme that wars, especially civil wars, can split up families.