Point of View | FAST Practice Quiz

The Science Fair

I stared at my volcano, hoping the baking soda mixture would work this time. All week I had been perfecting the formula, and now everything depended on the next three minutes. My hands trembled as I poured in the vinegar.

Next to me, Aiden was setting up his solar system model. I wondered if he was nervous too, but his face gave nothing away. The judges were approaching our section now.

"Impressive setup," one judge said to Aiden, and my stomach dropped. What if my volcano didn't even work? What if I embarrassed myself in front of everyone?

I took a deep breath and focused. The mixture started bubbling, rising up through the crater. Red foam erupted over the sides, and gasps filled the room. For the first time all day, I smiled.

Which detail BEST shows the limitation of this point of view?

"I stared at my volcano, hoping the baking soda mixture would work."

"I wondered if he was nervous too, but his face gave nothing away."

"My hands trembled as I poured in the vinegar."

"Red foam erupted over the sides, and gasps filled the room."

How does the first-person point of view influence the reader's experience?

Readers feel objective about all characters equally.

Readers experience the narrator's anxiety and uncertainty directly.

Readers know exactly what Aiden and the judges are thinking.

Readers learn about events before the narrator does.

The Last Slice

There was one slice of pizza left, and both Maya and her brother Jackson wanted it. Maya thought she deserved it because she had set the table. Jackson believed it was his because he was older.

Their mother watched from the doorway, amused by the standoff. She remembered having similar arguments with her own sister years ago. Neither child noticed her there.

"I'll flip you for it," Jackson offered, already planning to use the double-headed coin he had found last week.

Maya narrowed her eyes. She didn't trust him - Jackson always had some trick up his sleeve. But she was also too hungry to argue.

What neither sibling knew was that their mother had already ordered another pizza. It would arrive in ten minutes. She decided to let them work it out themselves, curious to see what they would do.

Which sentence provides the BEST evidence for this point of view?

"There was one slice of pizza left."

"Jackson believed it was his because he was older."

"Their mother watched from the doorway, amused" AND "Maya narrowed her eyes. She didn't trust him."

"I'll flip you for it."

How does the omniscient point of view create irony (when the reader knows something characters don't)?

The reader doesn't know who will get the pizza.

The reader knows another pizza is coming, but Maya and Jackson don't.

The reader feels Maya's hunger intensely.

The reader thinks Jackson will win the coin flip.

If "The Last Slice" were rewritten in first person from Maya's perspective, which information would readers NO LONGER know?

That Maya set the table.

That Jackson plans to use a trick coin.

That Maya doesn't trust Jackson.

That there is one slice left.

Compare the two passages. How do their different points of view create different reader experiences?

In "The Science Fair," readers feel one character's emotions; in "The Last Slice," readers have a wider view of the situation and know secrets characters don't.

Both passages give readers the same amount of information about all characters.

"The Science Fair" tells readers more about multiple characters than "The Last Slice."

Neither passage allows readers to know any character's thoughts.

Using evidence from "The Science Fair," explain how the first-person point of view shapes the reader's understanding of the narrator. What do we know about the narrator that we might not know if the story were told differently?

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