Review for Quiz on Short Stories-Collection 3

1. Review for Quiz on Short Stories-Collection 3 Point of View, Narrator, and Voice

2. Point of View Point of view is the perspective from which a story is told. A first person narrator: • Is a character in the story • Can only tell what he or she sees, thinks, feels, etc. • Uses pronouns like I and me in telling the story • May be biased or unreliable

3. Point of View A third person limited narrator: • Is not a character in the story • Focuses on the thoughts and feelings of one character • Uses third person pronouns like he and she

4. Point of View • A third person omniscient (all-knowing) narrator: • Is not a character in the story • Can tell the thoughts and feelings of all the characters • Uses third person pronouns

5. Unreliable Narrator • Always question whether a first person narrator can be trusted • An unreliable narrator may be biased or ignorant about what has actually happened

6. Tone • Tone is the attitude a speaker or writer takes toward a subject, character, or audience. • Tone can be described in one word such as serious, humorous, etc.

7. Voice • A writer’s voice is his or her unique use of language and style. • Style is diction (word choice) and syntax (sentence structure).

8. “In the Family” • First person narrator • Deceased family members live in the dining room mirror. • The narrator’s cousin Clara dies after eating some of the food from the other side. • The narrator is probably crazy and therefore unreliable.

9. “The Interlopers” • Omniscient narrator • Two enemies are trapped in the forest on land which they both claim. Even though the courts have ruled in favor of Ulrich’s family, Georg’s family continues to trespass on the land. • They resolve the feud. • By calling for help, they have attracted the attention of wolves. • The ending is ironic.

10. “Initiation” • Third person limited narrator • Millicent is invited to join a high school sorority. • Her best friend Tracy is not. • After going through pledge week, she decides she would rather be an individual. • Two initiations-the sorority initiation and the personal initiation Millicent goes through as she discovers her own values. • The heather birds-mythological creatures-are symbols of individuality and creativity.

11. “Marigolds” • First person narrator-an adult looking back at events from her childhood • Lizabeth’s family is poor, and her father is out of work. • When Lizabeth hears her father crying one night, she is frightened and confused. • She strikes out at her neighbor, Miss Lotttie, and destroys her marigolds, the only thing of beauty the poor woman had. • Looking back as an adult, Lizabeth regrets what she did. • The marigolds are a symbol of hope in the face of hard times.

12. “The Wife’s Story” • First person narrator • The use of the first person narrator is very effective because it creates suspense. • The ending is a surprise. • The story is a twist on the traditional werewolf story. • The story is told from the point of view of a wolf wife whose husband is turning into a human.