Globalization and the Information Age: Postmodernism into the Twenty-First Century — Test
Question 19 • Literature and Composition III
Read the excerpt from David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest . I have committed to crossing my legs I hope carefully, ankle on knee, hands together in the lap of my slacks. My fingers are mated into a mirrored series of what manifests, to me, as the letter X. The interview room’s other personnel include: the University’s Director of Composition, its varsity tennis coach, and Academy prorector Mr. A. deLint. C.T. is beside me; the others sit, stand and stand, respectively, at the periphery of my focus. The tennis coach jingles pocket-change. Which of the following best describes the point of view in this excerpt?
Answer
A
This excerpt uses first-person—the reader is led through the story by a character who is in the story and uses the pronouns “I” or “me.”
B
This excerpt uses third-person limited—the narrator is outside the story and only reveals the thoughts and feelings of one character.
C
This excerpt uses objective point of view—the narrator is outside the story and describes what is seen and heard about the other characters.
D
This excerpt uses third-person—the reader is led through the story by a narrator who is outside the story, describing the action and characters.
Explanation
The narrator refers to themself with “I” and “me,” as in “I have committed” and “to me.” The narration also includes the speaker’s own perception of their fingers as forming the letter X, showing that the speaker is a character in the scene. This is first-person point of view, described by choice A.
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