Narrative Perspective Analysis of The Skating Party by Merna Summers
The Skating Party is a short story narrated by an eleven-year-old girl named Maida Will-Singleton. The writer uses various forms of personal pronouns; therefore, the story is told in first person point of view.
For example: “So my mother and my uncle talked to me, both as a sort of inoculation against life and because, I now believe, both of them liked to talk anyway.”
Instead of telling the whole story, Maida listens to many dialogues carried by her mother, Winnie, and her uncle, Nathan but gives minimal personal opinions.
For example: “‘Maybe it wasn’t every girl who took my eye,’ he told me once.” The ‘me’ in the story is Maida, the narrator but, the ‘my’ is Uncle Nathan
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Some could develop an understanding that Uncle Nathan was a mischievous man while others may think that it was a flashback that brought him joy.
The writer uses dual-perspective when Uncle Nathan and Winnie both talk about the skating incident in their points of views. This method enriches the overall mood in The Skating Party and also creates more mystery for the plot twist in the story to work. Dual-narrative is also able to strengthen a character’s personality trait and adds a level of complexity to the plot itself.
More evidence and foreshadowing that lead to the conclusion will be given if the story only uses one narrator who is knowledgeable about the specific topic, concluding in a less exciting ending for the reader. As an example, Uncle Nathan precisely remembers what happened that night. If Maida listens to his side of the story, she (also the reader viewing the story in Maida’s perspective) would quickly realize that Uncle Nathan never truly fell in love with Eunice and saved Delia, the girl he remained in loved with. Readers will also understand the fact that Uncle Nathan has known who he saved all along, making the ending very
His choice of first-person point of view for the narrator provides a clearer portrayal of his feelings and attitude. Although the husband, the narrator, has
Due to this, the audience will have a better understanding of the Kid's point of view thus, feeling as though the kid was not at fault for his situation. Because the story is told through the eyes of the Kid or first person point of view, the audience is able to directly make an emotional connection with the character. For instance, when the librarian asks about personal information from the Kid, the readers can sense his panic and tenseness through his speech as he frantically runs the other way until "he is back on his bike" (6) back to the Causeway. The readers do not know what might have caused the trigger, but it's clear through his actions that the Kid was uneasy about giving his name and
“So, Lesley.” My friend turned to stare at me with an expectant gaze. “Are you going to go?” How am I supposed to answer that question? What if nobody will end up going?
William Zinsser the author of “How to Write a Memior” gives three key phrases for writing a memoir. “Be yourself,” “Speak freely,” and “Think small.” This is a way to organize your memoir however you want it to flow. Walter Dean Myers author of “Bad Boy” follows these three phrases that Zinsser suggests by writing from a child’s point of view, freely but honest memoir, and vivid memories. William suggests that the best way to write a memoir is from a child’s point of view. ”
Louise Erdrich uses dual narratives in the novel “Tracks,” which gives the reader two perspectives to the story. The author broadens the personal experiences and communal experiences and this way the reader is led to understand what happened from two points of view. However, the two narrators may make the reader question the other narrator’s reliability. Nanapush and Pauline tell their stories differently, depending on what they both see is right.
The overall theme of this short story is there is more to each other than seen on the surface level. The author created two distinct characters that are seen at the beginning as good and evil. “Come back this instant…Bailey Boy!” when the grandmother says this, it shows the grandmas true evil side because of instead of begging The Misfit to spare the family’s life, she keeps calling out for Bailey to save her. “Some fun…
Each character’s story is intertwined with another character, such as Sam and Julie. Both Sam’s and Julie’s story begin separate from each other, but as the stories of both students’ progress, they eventually become a couple. Another example of intertwining stories is CJ and Audrey. The stories of both students also begin apart, but they both run cross-country, so Robbins connects the lives of Audrey and CJ. The flow of the stories is constant, and gradual.
The Skating Party In the story, The Skating Party by Merna Summers, Uncle Nathan had made a hastened choice of saving Delia instead of Eunice. What Uncle Nathan should have done was saved Eunice because Uncle Nathan was betrothed to Eunice, Delia was already married, and that he made his decision in haste which caused him to make the wrong decision. Firstly Uncle Nathan was engaged to Eunice. He said, “it seemed to me that she might be easier to get along with in the long run”, so he knew that Eunice would have been better to get along with than if it were Delia.
Do you ever really know when you will come face to face with a struggle? No, of course not. If you knew you would avoid facing them all together. In fact, given the choice between facing their own hardship or seeing someone else face their’s, no matter how noble an individual you claim to be, you would choose the latter. The Skating Party is a story that depicted a man’s struggles throughout life, seen through his fifteen year old niece, Maida. When faced with a dilema the character Nathan Singleton has to choose between his fiance or the woman he loves, in a battle against time where he can only save one sister.
The use of third person point of view is able to show the conflicting feelings that both characters acquire. For example in the second paragraph the speaker said, “He sat in front of the fire and looked across at his father and wondered just how he was going to tell him. It was a very serious thing. Tomorrow for the first time in all their trips together he wanted to go
The author’s choice of perspective is incredibly influential on the attitude of the writing in the novel. Shusterman’s choice to put “Unwind” in third person perspective, (besides thoughts which are in first person, without personal pronouns), impacts the expression and tone of the statements used throughout the novel to convey the message of value in a life. A key example of this occurs when Connor and Risa untie lev from the tree he was being held ‘hostage’ on, and he does not run away. This causes Connor to think that “Maybe he’s starting to see the sense of staying alive.” (Shusterman, 46).
Long enough to get a feel for the man, Nathan does not need his own narrative because not only is he very well represented by his wife and children, but you receive more dimension to his character without the narrative than one would ever get with
The reader is informed of Hazel’s thoughts when she had forgotten why she had tears in her eyes. Before Harrison Bergeron flashed across the t.v. screen, George was thinking about his criminal son. Therefore, the reader is clued in to the thoughts of both Hazel and George Bergeron. Third person is distinct from other points of view, because the reader can look into the minds of every character, and the story is told unbiased.
Double vision Throughout the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, double vision is used to assist the reader in understanding multiple opinions and perspectives in one situation. An example of this is when Tom, Jordan, and Nick are speaking with Wilson about purchasing the car. In this instance, Wilson is openly expressing his concerns about his wife Myrtle and sharing his desire to leave town as soon as possible. This informs the reader about Wilson’s knowledge concerning Myrtle’s affair with Tom. The reader is also receiving the omniscient perspective from Nick.
Also, although he is not omniscient, Carraway admits that people often tell him about their own lives which he can use to allow the reader to make judgments about the characters. Since he is both a character and the narrator, the reader