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Analyze Characters and Point
of View
When you read, look for details that help you determine what the characters are like.
Characters are the people in a story, folktale, fable, or fantasy. An animal or even an object
can sometimes be a character if it talks or acts like a person. Characters in realistic stories
tend to be like people in real life. Science fiction, fantasy, folktales, and myths may also
contain fantastic characters.
The most important character in a story is the main character. Characters who play a
smaller part in the story are called minor characters.
The way the author creates and develops the characters is called characterization. An author
will sometimes use direct characterization and tell you exactly what a character is like.
Sometimes an author will use indirect characterization. Instead of telling you what to think
about a character, the writer describes the character’s quirks, mannerisms, and appearance.
The author shows what the character does and describes any conflicts the character has.
In addition, the author provides dialogue to show what the character says to others and
what others say about the character. The author shows the character expressing opinions or
points of view about other characters and issues.
Sometimes a character in the story narrates it. The narrator tells you about the events and
what he or she is thinking or feeling. This is called first-person point of view, since the
narrator uses the first-person pronoun I to tell about himself or herself.
Sometimes an outside narrator tells the story. This narrator, or storyteller, may limit the
perspective to one character and show the events from only this character’s vantage point.
The narrator may deal with many characters and show what each of them is thinking or
feeling. This is called third-person point of view since all the characters are identified by
the third-person pronoun he or she. If the narrator takes you inside the mind of all the
characters, we say the narrator is omniscient, or all-knowing.
You can use clues in a story to figure out the character’s motives, or the reasons behind his
or her actions. Just as in real life, characters are often motivated by basic needs such as
food, shelter, and love, or by emotions such as fear, anger, or envy. You can learn a lot about
a character’s motivation by noticing how he or she relates with other characters and what
changes the character goes through in the story.
You can analyze characters by adding together all these details—appearance, actions,
conflicts, dialogue, motives. You figure out the character’s traits, such as whether he or she
is brave, self-confident, shy, or quiet. You get to know what the
Test-Taking
characters are good at, what they are not so good at, what
Tips
they like, and what they dislike. As you analyze characters,
Comprehension Notice how
you get to know them and understand the reasons for their
a character may change as
a result of something that
actions. You can also discover connections between the
happens in the story.
characters in stories and people in real life.
TM
Peoples Education
Measuring Up MyQuestTM Lesson and Practice
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1
Practice
Analyze Characters and Point of View
Read this selection. Then answer the questions that follow it.
At My Parents’ Grocery
by Leonard Chang
1
2
3
4
5
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9
10
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2
Peoples Education
Every morning at three-thirty my father wakes up to buy the fruits and
vegetables he will sell in his store that day. I hear his clock radio burst to life,
Korean announcers talking quickly. We live in a small apartment above the
store, and his alarm wakes everyone.
By four o’clock my father has showered, and he meets the trucks that drop
off crates of apples, oranges, grapefruits, and tomatoes. Sometimes if I can’t
fall back to sleep, I look out the front window and see him checking the fruits,
holding them in his hands, smelling them. He nods, and the men load the rest
onto the cement. My father then carries them into our store. The truck drives
away with a loud rumble.
My mother wakes up at five, and she makes breakfast. Since this is summer
and there is no school, I help my parents at the store. Sometimes I wish I could
go out and play, but whenever I ask, my mother tells me in Korean, “You can
play when you’ve finished helping.” I work in the mornings. After that, I can go
play with Chris, who lives in a building down the street. My father even pays
me fifty cents each time I help.
The morning two weeks ago was different, because it was the first time I saw a
customer stealing.
She wasn’t really a customer, but the daughter of a customer. I had seen
her in the store with her mother, Mrs. Diaz, before. I noticed that Mrs. Diaz
spoke Spanish to her daughter the way my parents speak Korean to me. I
answer back in English, and so did the girl.
I was stacking soup cans on the shelves when I saw this girl looking
through the comic books in the magazine section. I heard my father talking
with Mrs. Diaz.
The girl didn’t see me, but I saw her.
She put one of the comic books underneath her shirt.
My heart pounded so loudly that I couldn’t hear my father and Mrs. Diaz
talk anymore. All I heard was thump-thump-thump. I didn’t know what to do.
I saw the girl walking to her mother. I couldn’t let her get away! But I couldn’t
move my legs. I could only watch her walk with her mother closer and closer
to the door.
“Abojee! Father! She took a comic without paying!” I yelled.
My father looked surprised. Before the girl could say anything, her mother
grabbed her arm and shook it. “Verdad? Is it true? You stole? Digame! Tell
me!”
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Practice
12
13
14
15
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18
19
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Analyze Characters and Point of View
Everyone was quiet. The girl looked at me, then at my father. She began to
cry, and she nodded her head. She pulled out the comic book from underneath
her shirt.
“Oh, Mr. Kim. I am sorry! My Sarita made a big mistake!” Mrs. Diaz told
my father. “She gives back!” She tried to take the comic book, but Sarita didn’t
let go, and it ripped.
“Ay de mi!” Mrs. Diaz cried. “Look what you did to the comic!”
My father said, “Kenchanoh. It’s OK. She can keep. You good customer.
Your daughter can keep.” He smiled at Sarita, who was still crying.
“Oh no,” Mrs. Diaz said. “Let me pay right now. . . .” She dug in her purse.
“How much?”
“Three seventy-five.” Mrs. Diaz’s eyes widened, and she dug deeper. I saw
her mouth make a small line. “Three seventy-five?” she asked.
“It’s OK. You can pay later,” my father said. “No,” Mrs. Diaz said. She kept
looking in her purse. “I have money here.”
I realized that Sarita had tried to steal the comic because she didn’t have
the money. I felt bad for yelling. Maybe she needed a job, I thought.
I had an idea.
“What if she worked with me?” I asked. They turned to me.
I said, “She can work with me to pay for the comic.”
My father and Mrs. Diaz looked at each other. My father nodded. Mrs. Diaz
said, “Yes. It is a good idea.” She turned to her daughter, shaking her finger.
“You hear? You will work and buy the comic!”
“Yes, Mama,” Sarita said, hanging her head.
“Jowah. Good,” my father said. “She come tomorrow, and my son will
show her.”
As they left, Sarita looked back, and though she still seemed sad, she stuck
out her tongue at me.
Sarita has been working here with me for two weeks. She has paid for the
comic, but my father says she is such a good worker that she can work with
me for as long as she wants. Fifty cents every morning. Sarita’s mother says
it’s fine with her.
Every morning at eight o’clock Sarita comes in, puts on an apron, and
helps me stack cans, load fruit, and sweep and mop. Sometimes she teaches
me Spanish words, and I teach her Korean words. We are friends now. We are
amígos. We are chingoos.
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3
Practice
1
Analyze Characters and Point of View
Which statement best describes Mr. Kim?
A
He is unfair and mean.
B
He is hardworking and compassionate.
C
He is harsh and unforgiving.
5
D He is thoughtful and greedy.
What does the fact that the Kims live in a
W
ssmall apartment above the store tell the reader
about them?
A
They are probably a poor family.
B
They do not have a car.
C
They like to get to work early.
D They used to live in a large house in Korea.
2
From the details in paragraph 9, the reader can
tell that Mr. Kim’s son is —
6
F
nervous
G angry
Which
of these statements most likely explains
W
why
w Sarita and the narrator usually respond
to their parents in English rather than in their
native languages?
H frightened
J
3
F
embarrassed
Why
W does Mr. Kim’s son suggest letting Sarita
work
at the grocery store?
w
A
He wants Sarita to know that he is sorry.
B
He thinks it’s a good way to punish Sarita.
C
He is angry at Sarita for stealing.
They do not know how to speak their
native languages.
G They want to emphasize that they are
Americans now.
H They are ashamed of their parents.
J
They want to teach their parents to speak
English better.
D He wants to help Sarita.
4
Based on Sarita’s actions in paragraph 13, the
reader knows that she is —
F
angry at Mr. Kim
G eager to give back the comic book
H nervous and frightened
J
4
upset with her mother
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Analyze Point of View
When you read, pay attention to how the story is told and how this point of view affects
what you learn.
Point of view is the angle, or vantage point, from which a story is told. To identify point of
view, ask yourself:
• Who is telling the story?
• Through whose eyes am I seeing the events unfold?
A story can be told from the first-person point of view or the thirdperson point of view.
TM
Test-Taking
Tips
Comprehension Pay attention
to the specific pronouns used
in the story. This will help
identify the point of view.
First-Person
Sometimes one character in the story tells about what happens. This character is called the
narrator. The narrator uses the first-person pronoun I to speak about himself or herself.
When a story is told in the first-person, you see events unfold through this character’s eyes.
You often see into the narrator’s mind and learn what he or she is thinking and feeling. You
learn about other characters, too, but you see them from the narrator’s perspective. You
don’t learn directly what they are thinking or feeling.
I’m good at gymnastics, so everyone thinks I love spending my time perfecting back
flips and handstands. In fact, I’d rather be lying on the sofa reading about knights and
their adventures.
Third-Person
Sometimes a story is told by someone who is not a character. This narrator stands outside the
story, but does not take not part in it. The events in the story do not happen to him or her. The
narrator identifies the characters in the story by the third-person pronouns he, she, or it.
Omniscient The narrator may appear to be all-knowing, or omniscient. This narrator tells
what all the characters are thinking and feeling.
The Henderson family has lived by the big racetrack for as long as anyone could
remember but they have never been interested in horse racing. Mr. Henderson saw
no value it it, while his son Jared was terrified by the animals. When Amanda came to
stay with them one summer, her love of horses made them change their minds.
Limited Sometimes the narrator focuses on one specific character and tells the reader what
that one character is thinking and feeling. The reader sees the story’s action only through
the eyes of this character.
Rosalie was upset. She wanted Daria to like her, but Daria paid no attention to her.
Peoples Education
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1
Practice
Analyze Point of View
Read this selection. Then answer the questions that follow it.
The Sighting
by Joyann Dwire
1
Eddie nudged Cathie closer to the corner of the barn.
2
“I can’t see,” Cathie said.
3
“Shh. Just listen.”
4
The kids knew it was impolite to listen to other people’s conversations, but
the topic captured their attention.
5
“I’m telling you, Tom. If it wasn’t Bigfoot, it was something just as big. It
broke trees in half like they were nothing.” Mr. McAfree was having trouble
convincing their dad. “But it was the scream that got to me. It was the most
inhuman thing I’ve ever heard.”
6
Dad laughed. “I don’t mean to doubt you, Fred. It’s just that every few
years there’s a Bigfoot sighting on this mountain, and people’s imaginations
start running wild.”
7
He slapped Mr. McAfree on the back. “Well, thanks for delivering that
corn, Fred.”
8
Mr. McAfree got into his pickup truck and rolled down the window for one
last warning. “You mind what I said, now. Be careful up by the dam.”
9
Dad stepped away from the truck, still laughing as Mr. McAfree drove
off.
10
11
“Bigfoot. Is he like the abominable snowman?” Eddie couldn’t disguise his
excitement.
12
Cathie nodded. “A huge hairy creature. Ten feet tall and three feet wide.”
13
That description caused Eddie’s eyes to grow even larger, not with fear but
with interest.
14
15
16
2
Eddie and Cathie looked at each other, their eyes wide.
“Let’s go see for ourselves,” he said.
Cathie hesitated before answering. She didn’t want to be outdone by her
little brother, but she wasn’t so sure she wanted to see Bigfoot.
“Come on,” Eddie insisted. “We’ll get Marie to go along.”
17
Their older sister was fifteen and wasn’t afraid of anything. Or at least
that’s what she liked people to think. Eddie played on this pride to talk Marie
into going along for the adventure.
18
“This is silly,” Marie insisted as they walked up the hill toward the dam.
“There’s no such thing as Bigfoot.”
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Practice
Analyze Point of View
19
She did her best to sound bored with the idea, but her eyes darted back and
forth, watching for any sign of danger.
20
Eddie and Cathie walked ahead until they reached the darkest and scariest
part of the road just before the dam. The trees on both sides of the road grew
close together, and the underbrush was so thick it was impossible to walk
through. Cathie hung back to walk with Marie.
21
Suddenly there was a loud crack. The kids froze in horror.
22
“What was that?” Marie’s voice was shrill.
23
“It sounded like something big,” Cathie whispered.
24
Eddie felt a lump in his throat, but curiosity got the better of him.
25
“It . . . it was just a branch breaking,” he said as he walked to the side of
the road and peered up through the trees. He could barely make out a large,
dark shape. . . .
26
The squeal made him jump straight into the air. It was just as Mr. McAfree
had described it—a howl, a growl, a moan, and a scream all wrapped into
one.
27
Then the worst happened. The creature started crashing through the trees
right toward them.
28
“Run!” Eddie yelled.
29
Cathie had already abandoned Marie and was running as fast as she
could down the road. Eddie soon caught up to her. He was sure the thing
was snapping oak trees in half as it came, but he didn’t look back until they
reached a curve in the road.
30
Then he suddenly remembered Marie and grabbed Cathie’s arm. They
stopped and turned. Marie was nearly paralyzed with fear as she stumbled
down the road toward them and waved her arms wildly.
31
“Help me!” she cried in a feeble voice.
32
Cathie and Eddie looked at each other. They had to go back.
33
The noises were fading away as Cathie and Eddie ran back. Each one
grabbed an arm and practically dragged Marie down the road.
34
When there was no sign of pursuit they slowed down, but none of them
spoke. They walked home quietly, each convinced that they’d had an encounter
with Bigfoot.
35
When they reached their driveway they noticed Mr. King’s pickup. He
was standing by the corncrib talking to Dad. They tried to slip into the house
unnoticed, but Dad motioned for them to come over. Reluctantly they obeyed.
36
“Were you kids walking up by the dam?” he asked.
37
They nodded slowly.
38
“You didn’t see anything up there, did you?” Mr. King asked.
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Practice
39
40
1
Analyze Point of View
Eddie glanced at his sisters. Neither of them looked willing to reply, so he
squared his shoulders and spoke up.
“Um, like what?”
41
“My prize pig broke out of the barn two days ago,” Mr. King said. “You
wouldn’t think a six-hundred-pound boar would be so hard to find, but no one
seems to have seen him.”
42
Dad laughed. “Maybe you should go see Fred McAfree. Something tells me
he saw your pig.”
43
He glanced toward the kids, almost as though he knew what had happened.
Cathie smiled lamely.
44
“How silly,” she said. “Who could mistake a pig for Bigfoot?”
45
Marie jabbed her with an elbow.
46
Dad cocked an eyebrow. “Who said anything about Bigfoot?”
Which item below best describes how this story
is told?
3
What is the main reason why Eddie is able to
convince Marie to come along?
A
Eddie tells it in the first person, describing
only the events that happen to him.
A
She wants to protect her younger brother
and sister.
B
It is told by each character in the first person.
B
She is excited by the idea of seeing Bigfoot.
C
An outside narrator tells it in the third person,
moving from one character to another.
C
She wants to prove that Bigfoot doesn’t exist.
D She likes people to believe she is brave.
D An outside narrator tells it, focusing on Cathie.
4
2
In paragraph 19, how is Marie really feeling?
B
Based
on what Dad says to Mr. McAfree in
p
paragraph 7, the reader can conclude that
he is —
F
F
H Annoyed
imaginative
G practical and sensible
Bored
G Scared
J
Curious
H not very friendly
J
4
angry at what Mr. McAfree has said
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Practice
5
Analyze Point of View
Which of these sentences from the story shows
the narrator taking the reader inside the mind of
a character?
6
Most likely, the ending of this story would not
have been a surprise if it had been told by —
F
A
He was sure the thing was snapping oak trees
in half as it came. but he didn’t look back
until they reached a curve in the road.
B
The noises were fading away as Cathie and
Eddie ran back.
C
He was standing by the corncrib talking to Dad.
Mr. McAfree
G Mr. King
H Bigfoot
J
Marie
D Cathie had already abandoned Marie and was
running as fast as she could down the road.
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5