“Points of View” Short Story Unit

Central Question: How does point of view and choice of narration affect a short story?

Readings and Questions: Because we will be working on our creative writing at the same time as reading
these stories, our unit will be a little more fluid. Some nights we may read a single story, some nights more.
Below are the readings and accompanying questions for each story. Please answer the questions in complete
sentences on a white lined sheet of paper. Each question requires more than just a single sentence. Elaborate
and explain what you mean.

Date Due Page Numbers and Readings

1. ______________ (13-14) Interior Monologue

(15-20) “Telephone Call” by Dorothy Parker
1. Look at Parker’s writing style. (Hint: look at sentence length, repetition, punctuation, etc.) What do
you notice specifically about the way that she writes? How does her style influence how we read the
story?
2. How does God fit into the story? When and why does the narrator bring up God?
3. What do you know about the narrator’s personality? What from the text tells you this?

2. ______________ (30-31) Dramatic Monologue

(41-53) “& Answers” by Joyce Carol Oates
1. What do you know about the narrator from this story? Be sure that you include aspects of her
personality as well as factual things about her.
2. Who is Linda? What happened? How does it affect the character?
3. Compare how the dramatic monologue of this story is different from the interior monologue of the
previous story. How does each type affect how we view the narrator?

3. ______________ (54-55) Letter Narration

(51-61) “Inter-Office” by Rosellen Brown
1. What do you know about Sid’s life and his personality?
2. What are Sid’s purposes for writing the letter to the Mayor?
3. What does this story tell us about the letter as a form of communication? How do we see someone’s
personality in a letter versus something like a dramatic monologue or interior monologue?

4. ______________ (136-137) Diary Narration

(138-154) “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilmore
1. In your opinion, is the narrator sick? Give three reasons to support why you think so.
2. What does the yellow wallpaper represent? Explain what aspects of the text tell you this.
3. What is the narrator’s tone? Remember that tone is created through the images and words that the
author uses.

5. ______________ (179-180) Subjective Narration

(220-226) “A&P” by John Updike
1. Look at the narrator’s description of the girls. What does this tell you about him?
2. Why do you think he quits his job? Support your answer with a quote from the text.
3. Why is this story an example of subjective narration? Be specific.
6. ______________ (237-238) Detached Autobiography
(257-262) “The Circuit” by Francisco Jimenez
1. Why does the author include the Spanish words or phrases? (This is a deeper answer than just that the
main character is Spanish! Think about how this relates to the character and his situation.)
2. This story is in the first person just like the previous story, “A&P”. How is this first person narration
different from the other story?
3. What is the significance of the title? Look up the word “circuit” if you don’t know what it means.

7. ______________ (304-305) Memoir or Observer Narration

(306-319) “The Voice from the Wall” by Amy Tan
1. According to Tan, what are some of the differences between Chinese culture and American culture?
2. What role does fantasy and imagination play in this story? Support your answer with two quotes from
the story.
3. What do you think that Tan gains from writing memoirs like this? Why does she describe her mother
and her interactions with her mother?

8. ______________ (366-367) Single Anonymous Narration

(368-382) “The Five-Forty-Eight” by John Updike
1. Describe Blake’s character.
2. Look at the way that the author describes things within the story. Describe John Cheever’s writing
style.
3. In your opinion, who sees things more clearly- Blake or Miss Dent? Why do you think so?

9. ______________ (447) Dual Anonymous Narration

(448-460) “Sinking House” by T. Coraghessan Boyle
1. Compare Muriel and Meg from their thoughts and their actions.
2. How do Monty and Sonny fit into this story? How do their wives view them?
3. Explain the last part of the story on page 460. Why do you think she turns on the sprinklers?

10. ______________ (508) Anonymous Narration- Multiple Character Point of View

(549-553) “Inez” by Merle Hodge
1. Explain the basic plot of this story. Use the various point of views to figure this out.
2. We don’t see the point of view of Inez, the title character. What effect does this have on the story?
3. One of the subtle themes of the story is the difference in social classes between the characters. What
are three examples you see here that indicate either what class someone is, or how he or she feels about
another class?

11. ______________ (554) Anonymous Narration- No Character Point of View

(564-573) “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
1. How do the people in the town feel about the lottery? How do they respond to rumors that other towns
are getting rid of their lottery?
2. There is a lot of ritual involved with the lottery. What are three details that Jackson includes to show
that this is a ritualistic event for the town and its townspeople?
3. What is Tessie Hutchinson like before the lottery? How is this different from how she is after the
drawing?