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Reading and Writing 6-8 / Week 05 / Wednesday
3/6
Week 05 · Structure and Point of View

Wednesday

Writing Lab: two narrators
// Who tells it, and where each scene sits
⏱ about 20 min

Wednesday: Writing Lab

Raven sets her page beside Rocket's on the Signal Desk. "Same morning. My turn."

Rocket reads the first line and laughs. "You started with the cards?"

"The cards are how I know what goes where," Raven says. "You started with your alarm."

They read both pages side by side. The rain is in both. The box is in both. The door is only in one.

"Two narrators, one morning," Nova says. "What do you notice about the gaps?"

"My story has a hole where Raven did her work," Rocket says slowly. "And hers has a hole where I ran."

Raven picks up a pencil. "Writing Lab," she says. "Let us give Nova the third version."

Learn it: contrasting points of view

When two narrators tell one event, the author shows how each one thinks by what each one notices.

Rocket notices speed and himself. Raven notices cards, counts and other people. Their word choices build two voices.

Raven thinks aloud: "Rocket's version skips the door, and mine skips the running, so each narrator values different things."

Reading both gives the reader more than either narrator has alone.

  • List what each narrator notices first.
  • Find the same moment in both versions and compare the words.
  • Find a moment that only one narrator includes.
  • Ask what each narrator cares about most.

Read it

Read it
Press Day, by Raven
I got to the Signal Desk at ten past seven. Rocket was already folding, and already talking about how fast he was.
I went to the corkboard first. Twelve cards for the near end of Maple Street, and nine for the far end.
The far end has fewer porches but longer walks between them. I took the far end on purpose.
The sky turned the color of pencil lead. I had the door propped open with my foot before the first drop fell.
Rocket ran straight into it anyway. He was holding the box too high to see.
"Thanks," he said. I did not mention the foot. There was no time, and he was already outside.
Nova checked the street and came back with a report: wet steps, dry porches, one dog loose.
The loose dog was Scout. I walked the far end with him beside me, which made the longer walks shorter.
When we got back, I took down the twenty-one cards one by one. Every porch had its Signal.
Rocket was already talking about next week. That is his gift. Mine is the cards.
Two people, one morning, both telling the truth. Put the pages side by side and you can see the whole porch.
CHECK IT: PRESS DAY, BY RAVEN
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
What does Raven notice first at the Signal Desk?
How does Raven explain the door that Rocket bounced off?
Why did Raven take the far end of Maple Street?
Which line shows Raven values something different from Rocket?
COMPARE THE TWO NARRATORS
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Both narrators include the rain. Who includes the propped door?
Rocket says he handed out every issue himself, almost. Raven says
Which word best describes Rocket's voice?
Which word best describes Raven's voice?
SAME MOMENT, TWO TELLINGS
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Rocket: I bounced off it. Raven: He was holding the box too high to see. Who explains why?
Rocket: she went straight to the corkboard. I do not know why. Raven explains that she
Rocket: the near end has more porches. Raven: the far end has longer walks. Together they tell us
Which narrator mentions Scout?
Try it
Pick one small moment from today. Say it aloud as yourself, then as someone who was watching you.
Notice which version has the reason and which has the action.
How many cards did Raven take down at the end? Type the number.
WHY THIS EXERCISERaven's narration is full of counts. The number is part of her voice.
SentenceTrue or false?
Both narrators agree that it rained.?
Raven says Rocket was lying about the door.?
Raven thinks both versions are true.?
Scout walked the far end with Raven.?
WHY THIS EXERCISERaven never calls Rocket a liar. She says both are telling the truth from different windows.

Write it: Writing Lab

Checklist
My scene is told by Nova, in first person, using I.
Nova notices things that neither Rocket nor Raven mentioned.
Nova gives a hint somewhere, never an answer.
I included the same rain and the same door, seen from above.
Every sentence makes sense if I read it out loud.

Three narrators, one porch, one truth with three windows. Tomorrow the reader gets a window the characters do not.

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