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first-person point of view is the main character’s, though it can be a minor character’s   In this example, the narrator of the novel If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler involves   1
 1
 instead. Regardless, the first-person narrator gives us a vivid on-the-spot account of   readers in the story by acknowledging exactly what the readers are doing in real time.
 events and internal thoughts. In most cases, a first-person narrator is every bit as much   While some authors create a more fictional world in which to immerse readers, Calvino’s   DIFFERENTIATION  chapter 1
 a creation of the writer’s imagination as any other character, so be careful not to   novel begins inside the reader’s world instead, forging an immediate bond between the
 confuse a first-person narrator with the author.  reader and the story.                    Scaffolding
                                                                                              ®
 Edward P. Jones uses an unnamed first-person narrator in “The First Day” — the             AP  Teaching Tip. You may wish to
 daughter — and she recalls the events of the story as an adult from the perspective of a   Third-Person Point of View  Section 1  /  Elements of Fiction  ask students to explore the 2005 AP ®
 flashback. She says that these events occurred “long before [she] learned to be   A third-person narrator tells the story using the third-person pronouns he, she, and it.   Literature Prose Passage prompt, which
 ashamed of [her] mother” (par. 1). Yet as she’s telling this story, she does not seem   This type of narrator views all events in a story from a distance and does not play a role   also incorporates a second-person point
 Analyzing Short Fiction
 ashamed; she instead seems proud of her mother’s heroic journey and proud that her   in the actual plot. A third-person narrator with a limited point of view tells us what just   of view. The prompt, student essays, and
                                                                                                                        ®
 mother overcame so many obstacles to make sure her daughter had a bright future. As   one major or minor character is thinking and feeling. This perspective both conceals   scoring commentary can be found at AP
                      © Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. For review purposes only. Do not distribute.
 a result, the flashback provides the daughter an opportunity to share a more mature,   and reveals. While it restricts how much readers know, it can also give readers insight   Central. The 2005 prompt includes the
 developed understanding of the day than she could have as a child experiencing it, or   into who a character is and how that character sees the world. In “Miss Brill” by   entire text of the short story “Birthday
 even as an older child who has “learned” to feel ashamed of her mother’s lack of   Katherine Mansfield, we see through the eyes of an aging woman sitting in a park in a   Party” by Katharine Brush. Review the
                                                                                            prompt, retrofit it using the new stable
 education.     vacation town in France and observing others around her. We experience all of the   wording found on p. 138 in the Course
                action and characters through her perspective.                              and Exam Description, and rescore essays
 Second-Person Point of View                                                                using the 6-point rubric.
 Second-person narrators are rare but not unheard of. Second-person point of view
 puts the reader right in the story, but it is rarely used (and is often viewed as a gimmick),
 perhaps because it makes the reading experience too literal — you are not just asked to   from Miss Brill  TRM Annotation Handout
 imagine a character, you are told that you are the character. However, it can be very   Katherine Mansfield  A student handout for annotating this text
 effective at involving the reader in the story and creating intimacy, as in the following   can be found in the Teacher’s Resource
 example from Italo Calvino’s novel If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler.  Oh, how fascinating it was! How she enjoyed it!   feeling at telling her English pupils how she spent   Materials.
                How she loved sitting here, watching it all! It was   her Sunday afternoons. No wonder! Miss Brill
                like a play. It was exactly like a play. Who could   nearly laughed out loud. She was on the stage.
                believe the sky at the back wasn’t painted? But it   She thought of the old invalid gentleman to
 from If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler  wasn’t till a little brown dog trotted on solemn   whom she read the newspaper four afternoons    CLOSE READING
                and then slowly trotted off, like a little “theatre”   a week while he slept in the garden. She had    Ask students to take notes about how the
 Italo Calvino
                dog, a little dog that had been drugged, that    got quite used to the frail head on the cotton   narrator’s use of punctuation (exclama-
 You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino’s new   Find the most comfortable position:   Miss Brill discovered what it was that made it    pillow, the hollowed eyes, the open mouth, and   tion points, rhetorical questions, dashes,
 novel, If on a winter’s night a traveler. Relax.   seated, stretched out, curled up, or lying flat.   so exciting. They were all on the stage. They   the high pinched nose. If he’d been dead she   etc.) throughout the excerpt conveys the
 Concentrate. Dispel every other thought. Let the   Flat on your back, on your side, on your   weren’t only the audience, not only looking on;   mightn’t have noticed for weeks; she wouldn’t     narrator’s opinion about Miss Brill. Then,
 world around you fade. Best to close the door; the   stomach. In an easy chair, on the sofa, in the   they were acting. Even she had a part and came   have minded. But suddenly he knew he was   ask students to share these observations
 TV is always on in the next room. Tell the others   rocker, the deck chair, on the hassock. In the   every Sunday. No doubt somebody would have   having the paper read to him by an actress! “An   with the whole class.
 right away, “No, I don’t want to watch TV!” Raise   hammock, if you have a hammock. On top of   noticed if she hadn’t been there; she was part of   actress!” The old head lifted; two points of light
 your voice — they won’t hear you otherwise — “I’m   your bed, of course, or in the bed. You can   the performance after all. How strange she’d   quivered in the old eyes. “An actress — are ye?”
 reading! I don’t want to be disturbed!” Maybe they   even stand on your hands, head down, the   never thought of it like that before! And yet it   And Miss Brill smoothed the newspaper as   DIFFERENTIATION
 haven’t heard you, with all that racket; speak   yoga position. With the book upside down,   explained why she made such a point of starting   though it were the manuscript of her part and
 louder, yell: “I’m beginning to read Italo Calvino’s   naturally.   from home at just the same time each week — so   said gently: “Yes, I have been an actress for a   Mode of Expression
 new novel!” Or if you prefer, don’t say anything;   1979  as not to be late for the performance — and it   long time.”   Ask students to rewrite the Katherine
 just hope they’ll leave you alone.  also explained why she had quite a queer, shy   1920
                                                                                            Mansfield passage using a first-person
                                                                                            point of view. After students have
                                                                                            completed this, ask them to share their
 14                                                                                 15      versions with a partner. The pairs can then
                                                                                            discuss the different effects achieved by
                                                                                            the shift in point of view.


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                    chapter 1 / Elements of Fiction                                                                      15






          02_SheaTEL&C3e_40437_ch01_001_053.indd   15                                                                  18/02/22   1:40 PM
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