Popular Mechanics
By: Raymond Carver

In this short story, a couple is in a major argument.  It is such a bad fight that the man is packing a suitcase to leave.  The couple has a baby together, and they are fighting over who gets to have the baby.  Because of this, I assume that the baby is the only thing that was keeping them together.  They are arguing so much that they are tugging at the baby from each other.  They got so caught up in their fight that they didn't pay attention to the fact that they were hurting the baby.  The baby was screaming and crying, but the couple continued to fight.  This leads to a surprising ending, and it can be classified as dramatic irony.  The man and woman are fighting over who gets to have the baby.  However, it turns out that neither gets the baby.  They tug so hard at the baby that they rip it in half.  "He felt the baby slipping out of his hands and he pulled back very hard.  In this manner, the issue was decided" (Carver).  This shows that the argument ended up leading to neither one getting what they wanted.