Explaining Point of View

I had only been on deck for 20 minutes before Eugenio decided to bore me with another one of his stories. He had as much work to do as I did, but he still felt the need to ruin my morning with his nonsense.

He only had six stories to choose from and among them all, I must have heard those six stories a total of 3,487 times. I heard them so many times, I could recite each one. I had heard them so many times that I could measure time by the length of each one. Eugenio's story about being stuck in a well took fifteen minutes. His story about being related to Robert Kennedy took forty-five minutes. His story about losing his pinky finger to a mako shark could take almost an hour.

I didn't have that kind of time. I was already behind on my duties because I had to pick up the slack for Brecken. He claimed he was too sick to work this morning. It's funny, but Brecken always seemed too sick to work when it was his turn to pull in the crab cages. It's not like he needed to lie. His father was the ship's captain, and whatever the captain said went. If the captain said I was on cage duty because his son was sleeping off another late night, I was on cage duty. It wasn't fair, but this was my last tour with this company.

All I had to show for it were the scars on my hands. They looked like lines on a road map. I also had a pretty bad cough, the kind of cough you get when the ice and cold makes a home on your lungs. It feels like every breath you take is a sword being pulled out of your gullet. The one positive about my cough was that it disrupted Eugenio anytime he tried to tell one of those boring stories. As soon as he started my way, I started hacking and gagging until I saw him lose interest and move below deck. With him gone, I had the entire deck to myself. It was the only time I enjoyed on the Barbara Toome—being alone with the cold and the ice and water and the king crabs.

How does the narrator's attitude and point of view affect what the reader knows of the characters?

• It provides a full understanding of the narrator's duties.

• It provides a distorted view of the characters.

• It provides a well-rounded view of all the characters.

• It provides a balanced view of all the characters.

The month I finished the tenth grade, my parents did the unthinkable—they made me move, not only to a different school but to a different state. For sixteen years of my life, I could look out my bedroom window and see sprawling green grass, moonlit stars, and a fenceless wild garden of bluebonnets and poppies. My parents took all of that away and replaced it with a gray brick wall.

My last day in Texas, I woke up to the sound of my mother—belting out orders to my dad and the movers. Contrary to my feelings, I could see that the weather was bright and sunny. I sat up and gazed out at my beloved backyard one last time, where I had spent many days, reading, writing, and daydreaming. (In Boston, there is no equivalent. The closest haven I've found is a nearby fountain with surrounding patches of green.)

I reluctantly stepped out of bed and into the bathroom, slamming the door behind me, letting my mother know not to worry: I was up.

By the time I opened the bathroom door again, my bed was already gone, packed up and tucked into the moving van outside. I threw my remaining belongings into my backpack and set out to walk through the house that was no longer ours. My footsteps echoed in the empty corridors.

"There you are, Shannon! Good morning, sweetie." Pecking me on the cheek, mother guided me to the kitchen. "I made you some breakfast burritos to eat before we go. Come eat them before they get cold."

The author uses first-person point of view to show the narrator's

• sympathy for Shannon.

• admiration for Boston.

• excitement for moving.

• nostalgia for nature.

You say you are ready for the competition. You say you have trained. You say you have practiced. You've gone over each scenario. What you haven't thought about is the outcome if you lose.

Based upon this, I think you are not as prepared as you think. I see you going into the match calm, cool, and collected. I figure that your opponent is too humble to try and get in your head by talking trash. The biggest thing I sense is that I think since you have never experienced a loss it could get stuck in your head. However, I think this is a good thing. Since you have never lost, you don't know how it feels. I was once undefeated too. I fought 10 men over a year, and in each match I was perfect. Then, I got sloppy. There's one thing you should know—everybody loses. I was so worried about losing that it got in my head too. That's the worst thing because it becomes like a pebble in your shoe. It's distracting. So, the best thing to do is not wear shoes. Eliminate the distraction.

From which point of view is the passage written?

• second-person point of view

• It switches from first person to third person.

• third-person point of view

• It switches from third person to second person.

The Hungry Thief

by Diane Tran

Beef Jerky, cheese, and beans,

The trail mix in John's jeans,

All this and more he steals,

This thief who takes our meals.

Dad hangs the stew up high

and packages the pie,

But nothing he does prevents

These unfortunate events.

Which lines from the poem indicate that it is written in first person?

• "Beef Jerky, cheese, and beans, / The trail mix in John's jeans,"

• "All this and more he steals, / This thief who takes our meals."

• "But nothing he does prevents / These unfortunate events."

• "Dad hangs the stew up high / and packages the pie,"

"I need a break. My arms are about to fall off," said Lycella as she pulled her wheelchair to the side of the trail. Her best friends Goren and Dubber followed her.

"This is the most challenging endurance race I've ever competed in," Dubber commented as he set the brakes on his wheelchair and pulled a bottle of water out of his backpack. He thought back on his previous races and smiled. I'm glad to have my friends with me this time,he thought.

"We're making great time, though," said Goren with a cheerful grin. "If we win the race, we'll have a thousand dollars to give to charity."

"That is a great incentive," Lycella said. "I want to support our local food bank. However, I have to admit that I'm looking forward to seeing the look on Krystal's face when we cross the finish line before her team."

"I am, too," admitted Dubber. "She hasn't stopped making fun of us since we signed up to participate in this race. I'll never understand people like her."

"Good sportsmanship is much more important than winning," Goren said as he wiped his face with a towel. He glanced down the trail, and his eyes widened. Oh, no! he thought in dismay.

"I think I see Krystal's team headed this way," he told his friends. The three of them rolled back onto the track with renewed energy.

"This is it, guys," Lycella said. She felt a rush of determination and excitement. "We've just got to win!"

How would the passage be different if it were told from Lycella's point of view?

• The setting of the story would change from a trail to a local food bank.

• The narrative would shift from the past tense to the present tense.

• The reader would only know the thoughts and feelings of one character.

• The characters would directly address the reader using "you" and "your."

Everyone sat quietly in the class. No one knew each other. All the students came from different backgrounds and different parts of the country. They were the best of the best. They were ten students selected from a group of 20,000. They all submitted books they had written, and they all had one other thing in common—none of them thought they would be finalists.

Amy was from Japan. She had entered the writing competition on a dare. She has only been writing for a few years, but now, she finds herself in the middle of snowy Iowa to learn from one of her favorite authors.

Tony came from Seattle. He was worried that his book was boring. The judges thought differently.

Susan came from New Jersey. Francisco came from Guatemala. Regina came from New Zealand. They all sat there staring each other down like prizefighters before a round of boxing.

From which point of view is the passage written?

• second-person point of view

• first-person point of view

• It switches from third person to first person.

• third-person point of view

I had only been on deck for 20 minutes before Eugenio decided to bore me with another one of his stories. He had as much work to do as I did, but he still felt the need to ruin my morning with his nonsense.

He only had six stories to choose from and among them all, I must have heard those six stories a total of 3,487 times. I heard them so many times, I could recite each one. I had heard them so many times that I could measure time by the length of each one. Eugenio's story about being stuck in a well took fifteen minutes. His story about being related to Robert Kennedy took forty-five minutes. His story about losing his pinky finger to a mako shark could take almost an hour.

I didn't have that kind of time. I was already behind on my duties because I had to pick up the slack for Brecken. He claimed he was too sick to work this morning. It's funny, but Brecken always seemed too sick to work when it was his turn to pull in the crab cages. It's not like he needed to lie. His father was the ship's captain, and whatever the captain said went. If the captain said I was on cage duty because his son was sleeping off another late night, I was on cage duty. It wasn't fair, but this was my last tour with this company.

All I had to show for it were the scars on my hands. They looked like lines on a road map. I also had a pretty bad cough, the kind of cough you get when the ice and cold makes a home on your lungs. It feels like every breath you take is a sword being pulled out of your gullet. The one positive about my cough was that it disrupted Eugenio anytime he tried to tell one of those boring stories. As soon as he started my way, I started hacking and gagging until I saw him lose interest and move below deck. With him gone, I had the entire deck to myself. It was the only time I enjoyed on the Barbara Toome—being alone with the cold and the ice and water and the king crabs.

How does the narrator's point of view affect the credibility of his or her attitude toward Brecken?

• It makes the information more reliable.

• It makes the information less reliable.

• It has no effect.

• It makes Euegino seem more interesting.

I had only been on deck for 20 minutes before Eugenio decided to bore me with another one of his stories. He had as much work to do as I did, but he still felt the need to ruin my morning with his nonsense.

He only had six stories to choose from and among them all, I must have heard those six stories a total of 3,487 times. I heard them so many times, I could recite each one. I had heard them so many times that I could measure time by the length of each one. Eugenio's story about being stuck in a well took fifteen minutes. His story about being related to Robert Kennedy took forty-five minutes. His story about losing his pinky finger to a mako shark could take almost an hour.

I didn't have that kind of time. I was already behind on my duties because I had to pick up the slack for Brecken. He claimed he was too sick to work this morning. It's funny, but Brecken always seemed too sick to work when it was his turn to pull in the crab cages. It's not like he needed to lie. His father was the ship's captain, and whatever the captain said went. If the captain said I was on cage duty because his son was sleeping off another late night, I was on cage duty. It wasn't fair, but this was my last tour with this company.

All I had to show for it were the scars on my hands. They looked like lines on a road map. I also had a pretty bad cough, the kind of cough you get when the ice and cold makes a home on your lungs. It feels like every breath you take is a sword being pulled out of your gullet. The one positive about my cough was that it disrupted Eugenio anytime he tried to tell one of those boring stories. As soon as he started my way, I started hacking and gagging until I saw him lose interest and move below deck. With him gone, I had the entire deck to myself. It was the only time I enjoyed on the Barbara Toome—being alone with the cold and the ice and water and the king crabs.

How does the narrator's attitude and point of view affect what the reader knows of the characters?

• It provides a balanced view of all the characters.

• It provides a distorted view of the characters.

• It provides a well-rounded view of all the characters.

• It provides a full understanding of the narrator's duties.