7.14 Point of View and Unreliable Narrators Worksheet

The narration alternates between two close third-person perspectives: Lio’s and Cass’s. Lio remembers the same joke as harmless. Cass remembers it as cruel. In the final paragraph, an omniscient narrator briefly appears and notes that both memories have been edited by shame, like photos with the background cropped out. Then the story ends without saying what the joke actually was.

The narrator describes a courtroom scene in first-person, insisting they are “only a witness.” Yet they narrate the judge’s private doubt, the lawyer’s hidden strategy, and the jurors’ shifting opinions, as if they can see inside everyone’s head. At the end, the narrator says, “I know because I was paying attention,” equating attention with mind-reading.

I am certain about the ending: I walked away alone. But when I replay the middle, faces blur. I remember a hand on my sleeve—unless that was my own sleeve catching on the fence. I remember someone saying my name—unless that was a speaker announcement. I remember choosing to leave—unless I was pushed by the crowd. If you need a single version, choose the one that makes me look strongest.