Lorrie Moore’s short story “How to Become a Writer” is a second person point of view short story; this point of view helps writer to develop the theme, in this story, which is, as you choose to become a writer, you will probably be isolated from the world.
Second person point of view makes audience feel they are not only reading the stories but also being there and witnessing it. In the story, when Lorrie Moore shows her mom her writing, she describes her mom’s face blank as a donut, and after, her mom says, “How about empting the dishwasher?” Readers at this time, are not only feeling writer’s disappointment and her mom’s carelessness, they can actually also picture her mom’s face and see it as they are there. It is the same when Lorrie Moore describes her classmates and roommates’ faces, teachers’ commons, and people’s misunderstandings. Those are all the descriptions explaining the thesis-If you choose to become a Writer, you will probably be isolated from the world; and thus, second person point of view helps to develop it.
Second person point of view can also create an intense sense of intimacy between the narrator and the reader, causing the reader to feel implicit in and powerless against plots. At the end of the short story “How to Become a Writer”, Lorrie Moore uses a very peaceful tone to narrate her life: dropping law school, breaking up with boyfriend, having meaningless dates, quitting all the jobs. From the writing, even though it seems like the writer doesn’t really care about all those things, readers can still feel a piece of sadness in it. That is because the second person point of view produces an intimacy between the narrator and readers; it makes the narrator become not just a narrator, but more. In the short story, Francie is not only just a strange girl who accidently majors in writing; she becomes someone that readers know and are familiar with. So, at the end, when Francie’s life doesn’t go well, readers could get an impact from the pitiful sad feelings. The second person point of view makes reader feel more about the writer’s world; therefore, it helps the theme.
Lorrie Moore’s short story “How to Become a Writer” uses a second person point of view, and this point of view helps her develop the theme, which is if you choose to become a writer, you probably will be isolated from the world.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
In the story “How to Become a Writer”, Lorrie Moore takes the reader through what seems to be her own journey on how she became a writer. The story is told in Second Person. The way she writes, in second person, she seems to take the reader personally through her journey on “How to Become a Writer”, but you, the reader are the character. Moore writes about how “you” will apply to college, “you” will show up to the wrong class, and “your” mother will not understand this writing gig. Her style seems to draw the reader in hanging on for the next thing that will happen in “your” life. She effectively makes the audience feel like they are at college, in the wrong class or that they are simply standing in their kitchen showing their mom the haiku they wrote at the ripe age of fifteen and she stares at them “Blank as a donut” (Moore p.652) and she says “How about emptying the dishwasher”(Moore p.652).…
- 710 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
9. Danny then falls in love with Adel and wants to marry her back at the mainland, off of the Island.…
- 2061 Words
- 7 Pages
Good Essays -
The point of views for stories and passages are important. The point of view is the way the author allows you to “see” and “hear” what is going on. "The Young Girl in the Fifth" by Aneala Brazil, is told in 3rd person from the narrator’s view where Gwen is excelling in school so the Principal moves Gwen from Upper Fourth to Fifth Form, Gwen is excited and scared. "Phillis's Big Test" by Catherine Clinton, also from an outsider’s view shows Phillis’s love for poems and literature, and how she achieves her goal. The narrator's’ point of view influences how events described by a personally, yet it is from an outsider’s view.…
- 670 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The primary point of view from “Lydia’s story” written by Brideau is in third-person because the story is about other person experiences who is Lydia. The impact from the point of view for me as a reader is, I can imagine clearly what had Lydia face through the horrified situation as the writer use specific detail on what had Lydia gone through.…
- 290 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Chris Street wrote the article, “A Reluctant Writer’s Entry into a Community of Writers.” In Street’s introduction, he describes how he had a student named John who seemed angry, and didn’t seem to like writing. Finally, Street decided to change his ways of teaching his class. He began to let his students talk about what they cared about and what they knew, while he listened. This began to change his students writing.…
- 916 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
For example when talking about the great depression and conveying his feelings about selling paper in “No Gumption” Russell Baker uses first person view to show feelings better as a whole by being to use words like I and me in order to make you feel closer to characters. As well as describing a story in a first person view might get the readers more interested by allowing you to make them feel as if they were actually there whether it’s through very descriptive scenes or you try to connect with them as one human to another through similar events that we might have in our lives. Meanwhile on the other hand if you were to tell a story from a third person view you might have a harder time connecting with the audience because, people might feel less connected to the overall similarities in stories and their lives. As well as when you tell a story in third person you view characters as more of a side show act than an actual story where you care about the people within it due to there not usually being as much descriptive…
- 757 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
The point of view used in a novel plays a vital role in a reader’s experience. When an author chooses to use a first-person point of view, the audience is limited to the experiences and thoughts of the narrator. This results in a one-sided view of the plot. Using a first-person narrator also controls how much knowledge the reader is granted. When the narrator is detached from the conflict in the story, the reader’s information is limited. In contrast, when the narrator is more involved, so is the reader. “The Corn Planting” and “In Another County” both utilize first-person narrators to reveal important information about the hardships and grief of the other characters.…
- 444 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
When a story is told from first-person point of view, the author fades away into one of the characters. The character telling the story may be major or minor, protagonist or observer. The position from which the story is told makes a considerable difference on the thoughts of the reader. Through the use of first person point of view, authors Alice Munro and William Faulkner achieve contrasting effects.…
- 853 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
This style of writing makes the story much more interesting because different points of views tells us what a spectator or narrator cannot tell us. A single narrator cannot explain someone else's emotions better than the character themself. So by constantly switching perspective, we constantly see the inner emotions that cannot be expressed with the help of a single narrator.…
- 246 Words
- 1 Page
Good Essays -
When an author is writing a story, they have many critical decisions to make. One of the first important choices and questions they have to ask themselves are “Which point of view will the story take place? Who is the speaker of the story?” Point of view can basically be described as who is telling the story. It is broken down into three view points, 1st person, 2nd person, and 3rd person. 1st person point of view uses “I”, which means that the story is being told through the character. This can cause a sense of sympathy, and a connection with the character because the reader is listening to the character’s voice and how they are telling the story. Although rarely used, 2nd person point of view uses “you”, as if the writer…
- 686 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Third person objective point of view allows the reader to see and hear everything that is…
- 655 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
First person allows the reader to be able to read the thoughts of the main character. Readers are allowed to to look in the eyes of the eyes of the protagonist. Good authors use first person to feel a way or develop thinking similar to the main character. Ned Vizzini, author of It’s Kind of a Funny Story, uses the first person view to help develop the character and find out what Greg is thinking.…
- 492 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
(Schmoops Editorial Team, par3) A narrative point of view is when the author tells the story instead of using the first person. When a story is being told using the first person, the author uses a character to tell the story. One example of the Narrator's point of view is the knowledge Louise did not really love her husband, because as the story stated, “yet she had loved him – sometimes. Often she had not” (Chopin, par13). The author also uses metaphors, for example. “The Storm of grief” (Chopin, par3) to describe how much pain she must have been feeling. (The Story of an Hour,…
- 1472 Words
- 6 Pages
Better Essays -
Writing is a very important skill for people to possess. People will need this skill throughout their entire life. They will need it for school and even their careers. Even though I am only seventeen years old, I have been writing my entire life and I will continue to write for the rest of my life. Throughout the years, I realized that writing is not an easy task and requires special skills to have the ability to create detailed and interesting stories. Not only will I write for school, but I will need to write when I am pursuing my career, and I will also write for my own personal enjoyment.…
- 685 Words
- 3 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
The point of view in the story is mostly third person. Throughout the story, it continues to…
- 616 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays