Developing P.O.V
This method of development uses a character's spoken words to reveal their feelings or opinions to other characters.
What is Dialogue?
This term refers to the different ways that people see or understand the world based on their own life experiences.
What is Perspective?
This text structure is used when an author explains why something happened and what occurred as a result.
What is Cause and Effect?
In Paragraphs 1-2, the author contrasts Mary Ann’s reaction of wonder ("Ooooh!") with this specific physical reaction from Betty.
What is her stomach muscles tightening? (Revealing her fear vs. Mary Ann's innocence).
In Paragraph 1, the author uses a simile to describe the air clinging to Elara's skin like this, emphasizing its heavy, uncomfortable weight.
What is wet wool?
In "The Science Fair Project," Elias tightening a bolt with "the precision of a surgeon" is an example of this method of development.
What is Action (or Body Language)?
When the air is blurry and unclear due to dust, smoke, or mist, it is described using this word.
What is Hazy?
Words like however, similarly, and on the other hand are signal words for this specific text structure.
What is Compare and Contrast?
In Paragraph 3, Betty says, "It’s another dust storm," to stay calm for her sister, but her internal thoughts reveal this conflicting feeling.
What is worry/despair? (She wonders "How many more would there be?").
The author uses this metaphor in Paragraph 5 to describe the vast amount of knowledge held within the library scrolls.
What is a sleeping giant?
This method allows the reader to see a character's true feelings that they might be hiding from others in the story.
What are Internal Thoughts?
This verb means to gently talk someone into doing something using kind words or a soft voice.
What is Coaxed?
An author uses this structure to present a conflict or issue and then provide one or more ways to fix it.
What is Problem and Solution?
The author contrasts the usual purpose of a clothesline (laundry) with Betty’s perspective of the rope as this during the storm.
What is a lifeline (or a safety rope)?
In Paragraph 3, the author notes that discovery was "an electric current running through her veins." This word choice suggests a connotative meaning of this feeling.
What is excitement (or thrill/adrenaline)?
When Sarah taps her cleats and repeatedly checks her watch, the author is using Actions to develop this specific perspective.
What is Impatience (or Urgency/Anxiety)?
To look at two or more things specifically to see how they are different from one another.
This is the primary reason an author chooses a Description structure—to provide the reader with these specific details.
What are Sensory Details (or Characteristics/Features)?
In Paragraph 34, the parents say they were "so worried" because they were away; meanwhile, the girls’ giggle reveals they feel this way instead.
What is safe/relieved? (Or knowing a "secret" the parents don't know yet).
In Paragraph 4, the author uses personification when describing the door's movement by saying it did this.
What is groaned in protest?
To fully analyze how a point of view is developed, a student must look for a combination of these three specific literary elements
What are Actions, Dialogue, and Thoughts?
These are the specific ideas or feelings inside a character's mind that help a reader understand their "secret" point of view.
What are Thoughts?
Read this excerpt: "If the flowers bloom early, but the bees hatch late, they miss their main food source... these shifting conditions place immense stress on bee colonies."
How does this Cause and Effect structure contribute to the meaning of the text?
What is it illustrates the dangerous connection between climate change and bee survival (or it emphasizes the urgency of the crisis)?
This is the "Pivot Point" in Paragraph 36: The Father stops talking because he thinks Fancifoot is lost, while the girls giggle because of this.
What is dramatic irony? (The girls know Fancifoot is safe in the house, but the Father does not).
Analyze the impact: The author describes the staircase as a "silent serpent" and the jungle as "holding its breath." How do these specific word choices impact the tone of the passage?
What is creating a mysterious and reverent (or hushed/anticipatory) tone?