“Hills Like White Elephants”, a short story written by American author and journalist Ernest Hemingway, tells the story of a couple facing a sort of crisis in their relationship. The story continues with a lady and a man named Jig, who are discussing something very important, but they can never quite figure out what they mean. For a story to unfold in this way and for readers to understand it, there must be a clear understanding of the genres of the story. A genre is a type of writing that has particular characteristics that distinguish it from other types of writing (“Learning Genre”). In other words, a genre is a guide to understanding what the story is actually trying to describe. In “Hills Like White Elephants,” Hemmingway's writing style falls into these two genres: minimalism and iceberg principles. “Less is more,” says Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, is the most important part of the minimalism genre. In a minimalism genre story, minimalist writers let the context of the story dictate the meanings. One of the first signs of minimal context was when the girl wanted to try a drink called Anis del toro. The alcoholic drink Anis del toro has a very high alcohol by volume, so a few sips can lead to death. Hemingway evoking this very alcoholic drink is a way of introducing the setting of the story. The drink is best known in Spain. As the story progresses, we realize that Ernest Hemingway never revealed to readers the ages of the characters or their real relationship. All readers know is that it was an American man and a girl. Phrases such as "I love you" and "I care about you" suggest that the two people could very well be a couple. Regarding their ages, we...... middle of paper ......workers cited "A FEW WORDS ABOUT MINIMALISM." The New York Times. Np, and Web. April 19, 2014. “Anis Del Toro.” The dispersion. Np, January 10, 2011. Web. April 19, 2014. “Genre Fictions. » Albemarle County Public Schools. Albemarle County Public Schools, nd Web. April 19, 2014. “Learn more about gender. » Learn more about [email protected]. Np, and Web. April 19, 2014. Littleton, Trent. “Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” – A Critical Analysis.” Yahoo Network Contributor. Yahoo, August 30, 2011. Web. April 19, 2014. “Minimalism.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, nd Web. April 19, 2014. “READING”. Ernest Hemingway's writing style. Np, and Web. April 19, 2014. “The Iceberg Principle (Ernest Hemingway). » Literautas If you like writing RSS. Np, and Web. April 19, 2014. “White Elephant.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, April 18, 2014. Web. April 19. 2014.