Narrative Elements 7th

Why does Gregory Djanikian most likely use the first-person point of view in "How I Learned English”?

• to share directly what the main character is thinking and feeling

• to help readers create a mental picture of what is happening in the story

• to show the conflict between the main character and the other boys

• to better develop the events that are part of the story’s rising action

Read the excerpt from "How I Learned English.”

Someone said "shin” again,

There was a wild stamping of hands on the ground,

A kicking of feet, and the fit

Of laughter overtook me too,

And that was important, as important

As Joe Barone asking me how I was

Through his tears, picking me up

And dusting me off with hands like swatters,

And though my head felt heavy,

I played on till dusk

Which role does the first-person point of view play in this excerpt?

• It helps readers understand how amused Joe Barone feels when he helps the main character.

• It helps readers understand that the main character is beginning to feel accepted.

• It helps readers identify better with Joe Barone’s opinion of the main character.

• It helps readers identify the events that occur during the story’s climax and falling action.

Read the excerpt from "How I Learned English.”

So it was not impossible that I,

Banished to the outfield and daydreaming

Of water, or a hotel in the mountains,

Would suddenly find myself in the path

Of a ball stung by Joe Barone.

I watched it closing in

Clean and untouched, transfixed

By its easy arc before it hit

My forehead with a thud.

How is this excerpt important to the poem as a whole?

• It introduces the problem the speaker has playing his baseball position.

• It shows why the speaker does not like playing baseball.

• It shows how the speaker’s feelings about himself begin to change.

• It develops the idea that the speaker feels like an outsider with the other boys.

Read the excerpt from "How I Learned English.”

I played on till dusk

Missing flies and pop-ups and grounders

And calling out in desperation things like

"Yours” and "take it,” but doing all right,

Tugging at my cap in just the right way,

Crouching low, my feet set.

"Hum baby” sweetly on my lips.

The reader can tell that this excerpt is part of the poem’s resolution, because the speaker

• finally feels a sense of belonging.

• finally learns how to play baseball.

• no longer wants to get home before dusk.

• no longer tries to catch the ball.

Read the lines from "How I Learned English.”

It was an empty lot

Ringed by elms and fir and honeysuckle . . .

In the field, a blue sky above them

Tipped with cirrus.

The imagery in these lines helps readers picture

• how colorful and beautiful the setting is.

• how thick and green the lot’s grass is.

• how windy and warm the weather is.

• how dry and dusty the land is.

Read the excerpt from "How I Learned English.”

And that was important, as important

As Joe Barone asking me how I was

Through his tears, picking me up

And dusting me off with hands like swatters,

What does the imagery in the excerpt best help readers picture?

• the awful stinging sensation of being dusted off

• the quick slapping motion of Joe’s hands

• how roughly the speaker is pulled off the ground

• how loud and hard Joe is laughing