The short fiction readings are grouped according to narrative style with ancillary poetry readings chosen for either their narrative style or thematic relation to the stories. For each story or poem you read, please consider the following broad questions as a framework for your close reading. The individual guide questions provided for each story or poem will direct you to examine its more specific aspects.

• Why has the author chosen a particular narrative point of view?
  
• Why does the point of view suit the subject of the work?
  
• How can the reader differentiate between the narrator’s purpose and the author’s purpose?
  
• What role does irony play in each work?
  
• What literary elements and devices does the author use and to what effect?

In these Subjective Narration selections, "My Side of the Matter" by Truman Capote and "A&P" by John Updike, the narrator is speaking to an unspecified, general audience at some time after the conclusion of the events in the story. The overall effect of both stories is an air of subjectivity; the narrators seem unreliable or assume attitudes and values the audience most likely doesn't share.

Subjective Narration is difficult to clearly distinguish from other kinds of first person narration because all first person story telling is, by definition, biased. The audience must therefore attempt to distinguish between a narrator who does not seem to be aware of his or her biases, and is therefore telling a different story than the one he or she intends, or a narrator who consciously makes his or her biases so blatant that the audience simply accepts them as such. Ultimately, the reader must measure the narrator's perspective against his or her own. Only the differences between the narrator's value system and that of the reader will signal to the audience that the story is "subjective."

There are many ways a writer can reveal what a character is. The simplest way is to use direct characterization; to simply tell the reader what a character is like. When a writer uses this kind of characterization, the reader doesn't have to interpret the nature of the character for himself or herself. The writer has done all the work.

A more subtle way to reveal character is to use indirect characterization whereby the reader is allowed to form his or her own impression of a character based upon various details the writer shows to the audience. Indirect characterization requires that the reader evaluate a character's appearance, speech, actions, thoughts (if revealed) and effect on other characters in order to make an assessment.

For both stories, please consider and take notes on the general questions listed at the top of the page. In addition, please evaluate the narrator through the authors' use of indirect characterization. Finally, write a brief response to the following questions.

1. In Truman Capote's short story, "My Side of the Matter," how can the reader form a more impartial view of the facts when the story is narrated from a subjective point of view?
   
   
2. What is the narrator's purpose for telling his story in "A&P" by John Updike? How is it similar or different from the narrator's purpose in "My Side of the Matter"?