10.17 Point of View and Cultural Perspective in World Texts Worksheet

Excerpt 1 (tour brochure): "Join the colorful ritual and watch locals celebrate with joyful chants. Experience a timeless tradition!" Excerpt 2 (elder speaking to youth): "When we chant, we are not performing happiness. We are counting who is missing. We chant so the names do not fall through the cracks. Outsiders hear rhythm; we hear responsibility."

In the essay, the narrator writes, "We learned to be quiet in two languages." She describes immigration forms, school hallways, and family dinners as parts of the same lesson. When a teacher tells her to "speak up," the narrator thinks of her parents lowering their voices at the grocery store when strangers stare. The narrator never separates her own experience from her family's. Even her achievements are described as plural: "We got the scholarship." The essay ends with, "If I say my name loudly now, it is because you are all behind it."

Throughout the story, the narrator never names the invading army. She calls them only "the boots" and "the voices." Streets are described in detail, as are family recipes and jokes, but the soldiers remain faceless. When asked in an interview why, the narrator says, "I wanted the reader to live in our rooms, not in their uniforms." The absence feels deliberate, like a door kept shut.