PSAT Question HW and Point of View Writing

After sharing some entries, we then discussed the different types of point of view.

• · Point of View.
• Think perspective.
• What is seen through a characters eyes, what they think, what they feel, what they know, what they hear etc...
• A clever writer can use point of view to establish sympathy or ignorance/suspense, as necessary.
• · First Person.
• o Written or told by one who is directly involved or actually participates in the event or situation being written about.
• o Look for I said, “You look nice today.” You said, “Thank you very much for noticing.”, we, us, etc...
• o Think about the following: This is an A & B conversation, C your way out. First person is the A or B telling or writing the story.
• o EXAMPLE(S): Think of "Saving Private Ryan" (alternate link )where the camera gives you the view and perspective of an actual person there. Particularly, in the beginning when they put the camera underwater and you see people drowning or struggling to free themselves and breathe. Also, they let the camera bob in the water and you hear the splashes and deafness caused by the water as opposed to the deafening roar of mortars and machine gun fire above the surface.
• § In this case we get to really experience what it feels like to be in the war. We are dunked in water, dirty, and shell-shocked just like the soldiers.
• § FYI. The director, Steven Spielberg, even took out 60% of the color in the movie to give that old, gritty, dirty feel throughout the film, reinforcing the effect war has on its participants.
• · Third Person Limited.
• o Written or told by one who is simply a bystander or witness of the event or situation being written about.
• o Look for he said, she said, they, them, etc...
• o Think, this is an A & B conversation, C your way out. The audience in this story or movie is C, they are just there, not involved.
• o EXAMPLES: Think of "Waist Deep" (alternate link). In this movie, there was nothing seen, experienced or heard that was outside of the perception of the main characters, O2, Coco, Lucky, or Junior. We did not see Meat (the bad guy) unless one of those main characters was there.
• § In this case we get to experience events as a witness of what happens in those main characters lives.
• · Third Person Omniscient.
• o OMNI meaning all-scient meansknowing.
• o Most popular point of view.
• o Written or told by one who is all knowing.
• o This story gives everyone's perspective or everyone's point of view. We see, feel, hear, what any particular character experiences.
• o Look for *name* said, *character* said.
• o EXAMPLE(S): Think of the "Matrix", (alternate link) we saw and felt the experiences of all people involved. We saw the story from the perspectives of Morpheus, Trinity, and Neo. We learned/ were exposed to the thoughts of the Oracle and Agent Smith, even though either of the main three characters was not there.
• § In this case the audience is completely and thoroughly submerged in the story, we get to see the traps set by the enemy/villain and can admire their resourcefulness first hand. This eliminates ignorance in the audience, but provides a more convincing experience, because they usually have no unanswered questions.

Finally for the remainder of class and for homework we performed the following task, found here.

HOMEWORK/CLASSWORK
Rewrite the story of the three little pigs from just one point of view instead of third person. This can either be the Wolf’s, one of the pigs, the mother, real estate agent, insurance salesperson, nosy neighbor, etc…
BE CREATIVE AND HAVE FUN! Also, explain why you wrote it from that point of view.
Food for Thought. (Pun intended)
Since the Wolf ate the last Pig’s brothers, and the last Pig ate the wolf, does that then make the last Pig a cannibal, a “revenge-eater”, an opportunist, or just hungry? What do you think?
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PSAT QUESTION ASSIGNMENT

You need to identify and explain the following four items in the PSAT booklet:

• 1. Keywords, words that are important like verbs, nouns, and their adjective and adverbs, and, lastly, words like, even, although, nevertheless, etc. which indicate opposite meanings.
• 2. Translations, synonyms, definitions, or smaller/more familiar versions of those keywords. That way, we understand exactly what is being asked.
• 3. Finally, all those need to be put together so that you have a fluid sentence that you can now understand.
• 4. Compose a short answer where you explain why the wrong answers are wrong and why the right answer is right.
  
  

Innocuous= innocent
The PSAT question to answer:

Although the poet’s status as a modernist master is by now all but ____________, her unsavory politics continue to _____________ many who study her works today.

• (a) canonical .. berate
• (b) incontrovertible .. trouble
• (c) undeclared .. instigate
• (d) hypothetical .. polarize
• (e) inconclusive .. provoke