presentation

1. ELAGSE5RL6.IDENTIFYING POINT OF VIEW

2. PRIOR KNOWLEDGE QUESTION:
• What does identifying the point of view mean?
• Point of view refers to who is telling or narrating a story. A story can be told from the
first person, second person, or third-person point of view (POV).

3. DEFINITION:
• Point of view (POV) is what the character or narrator telling the story can see
(his or her perspective). The author chooses “who” to tell the story by
determining the point of view. Depending on who the narrator is, he/she will be
standing at one point and seeing the action. This viewpoint will give the
narrator a partial or whole view of events as they happen. Many stories have the
protagonist telling the story, while in others, the narrator may be another
character or an outside viewer, a narrator who is not in the story at all. The
narrator should not be confused with the author, who is the writer of the story
and whose opinions may not be those written into the narrative.

4. EXAMPLES OF POINT OF VIEW:
• Sandra Cisneros wrote a story called “Eleven.” The point of view is the
perspective of 11-year-old Rachel. The story takes place at school during her
birthday and is about her humiliation of receiving an old sweater. Throughout
the story, she speaks in the first-person point of view, sharing her thoughts as
events unfold.
• “Only today I wish I didn’t have only eleven years rattling inside me like
pennies in a tin Band-Aid box. Today I wish I was one hundred and two instead
of eleven because if I was one hundred and two I’d have known what to say
when Mrs. Price put the red sweater on my desk” (Cisneros).

5. YIA-YIA’S DANCE
BY LAURIE HALSE ANDERSON

6. PASSAGE:
The night she was born, everyone danced.
My Yia-Yia, my beautiful grandmother-she dances like a ribbon, like a smooth, sun-glinting, wind-tossed ribbon.
Yia-Yia was born in a tiny village in Greece. Her four brothers, her grandparents, and all the aunts, uncles, and cousins
danced around a bonfire long into the night when she was born. Her mother and father had waited many years for a girl
child. Their love for her was as deep as the sea. Her father took her outside to the happy relatives when she was only one
hour old. She opened her eyes. She watched the firelight and smoke curl up to the stars that hung above their village.
Just as she was learning how to walk, the family packed up everything they owned and crossed the ocean in a ship. The
sailors taught her how to dance to the music of a pipe, while seagulls sang overhead.
When she got bigger, she twirled and whirled on her way to school in the morning. She snapped her fingers and clicked
her heels on the way home in the afternoon. There was always work to be done at her house-floors to scrub and pots to
wash and clothes to iron and schoolwork to finish late into the night at the kitchen table. She held a tune in her heart and
tapped out a beat with her toes, so the time passed quickly by.

7. PASSAGE:

8. PASSAGE:
• When she got bigger, she twirled and whirled on her way to school in the morning. She snapped her fingers and clicked her
heels on the way home in the afternoon. There was always work to be done at her house-floors to scrub and pots to wash
and clothes to iron and schoolwork to finish late into the night at the kitchen table. She held a tune in her heart and tapped out
a beat with her toes, so the time passed quickly by.
• Back then my Papou stood tall and strong. He fell in love with the way Yia-Yia’s black hair glowed in the candlelight. He talked
to each one of her four brothers and her father and then her mother to get permission to sit next to her on the stoop and drink
lemonade. They ate sweet cakes she made with her slender hands. When he asked her to marry him, he had a spot of honey
on his chin.
• At their wedding, her feet barely touched the ground. The voices of the singers and the perfume of the incense coiled around
her heart and made her eyes wet. Wearing their wedding crowns, she and her beloved became partners for life.
• Later came babies-my mom, my Aunt Helena, and my Uncle Costas. Yia-Yia danced with them all so they wouldn’t fuss. She
played old records and whispered stories of a faraway village. With a baby in her arms, she hummed the tunes of far away.
She tied back her long hair with scarves of blue and green.

9. PASSAGE:
• When the children grew older she taught them the right steps: chin up, back straight, eyes clear and steady. She kissed
Papou on the chin when he came home in the evening, tired from the mill. She pulled him to the soft chair and served him
thick coffee and figs while dinner cooked.
• Uncle Costas married Aunt Tessa, Aunt Helena married Uncle Roy, and my mom married my dad. Then came the
grandchildren-roly-poly grandchildren who loved pastries and cookies and a spinning grandmother who hummed.
• These days the best place to see my Yia-Yia dance is at the festival. The guitar music rings in my ears, and the salty-sweet
tastes of Greece fill my mouth. Yia-Yia and Papou sit at the end of a long table. They watch the young people dance in
graceful lines that snake in and out of the room. They smile at their friends and wave to their children and grandchildren, but
Yia-Yia does not dance . . . until the band plays the sailor’s song. She takes the snow-white handkerchief from Papou’s jacket
pocket and slides the scarf from her hair. Everyone in the room stops to watch her.
• She dances. Her arms glide like the wings of a swan. Her feet stomp and her legs leap, harder and higher than the youngest
girl. Her proud face is strong, like the faces in the paintings in the church. The music grows louder, and her children and
grandchildren cheer. She throws back her head. Her dark, silver-streaked hair comes alive like a moonless night lit by the
shimmering silver stars. And it curls in the air like the smoke rising from a village bonfire.

10. CFU’S
1. Where was Yia-Yia born and with whom?
Yia-Yia was born in a tiny village in Greece. Her four brothers, her grandparents, and all the aunts,
uncles, and cousins danced around a bonfire long into the night when she was born.
HINT:
1. What is the birthplace of Yia-Yia, and who was born with her
2. Where did Yia-Yia leave, and who were the people born with Yia-Yia?
2. How did Papou fall in love with Yia-Yia?
Back then my Papou stood tall and strong. He fell in love with the way Yia-Yia’s black hair
glowed in the candlelight. He talked to each one of her four brothers and her father and then her
mother to get permission to sit next to her on the stoop and drink lemonade.

11. CFU’S
•
HINT:
• Why did Papou take permission from each one of her brothers, mother, and father?
• How did Papou feel about Yia-Yia when Papou stood tall and strong?
3. How did Yia-Yia dance?
Yia-Yia dances like a ribbon, like a smooth, sun-glinting, wind-tossed ribbon. She played old records and whispered
stories of a faraway village. With a baby in her arms, she hummed the tunes of far away. She tied back her long hair with
scarves of blue and green.
HINT:
• How did Yia-Yia dance with them so they wouldn't fuss?
• Why did Yia-Yia play the old record?

12. WHAT IS THE MAIN IDEA OF THE PASSAGE?
• The narrator describes his or her grandmother, Yia-Yia. Yia-Yia was born in
Greece and always loved to dance. Papou fell in love with Yia-Yia because of her
long black hair. She danced at her wedding. When her babies grew, she danced
with them. Yia-Yia danced when she had grandchildren and is still a beautiful
dancer.

13. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS TEXT?
INFORM
PERSUADE
ENTERTAIN

14. OPEN-ENDED QUESTION
•What is the inspiration constructed by the dance in the passage?
Now, you will answer this question based on the passage you read. Please use the text tool
and write your answer on the board.
Highlight the details that support your answer in PINK.
Click submit once you have completed your answer.

15. PERFORMANCE TASK QUESTION
• By whom the story is narrated in the passage?
• Yia’s-Yia’s Grandchild
• One of Yia-Yia’s sister’s
• Someone who lived in the village
• Someone who is outside the family