"The Stolen Party" and Other Stories Lesson Plan

What is the "trick" the narrator speaks of in the line, "The trick of stories—the trick of the power of the imagination—lies in the beginning" (Paragraph 5)? What "power of the imagination" is she exploring here? Is there more than one possible meaning of this line? How does each possible meaning influence your interpretation of the story as a whole?

Students might note that the narrator seems to speak both about the chronological "beginning of the beginning" of her own awareness which she seeks and, possibly, about the beginnings of stories themselves. This might lead to a discussion of the craft of storytelling, both within the frame of the narrator telling the story...