Question

literary / text elements point of view and perspective date:
directions: read the story excerpt below. then answer the questions that follow.
\i know youre cold, ethan\ i said, trying to keep my tone from revealing my concern. \ill build a fire. that will help.\ ethan shivered visibly.
\when will the heat come back on?\ he asked.
\sorry, kid, but theres no way to know,\ i replied. \it will take a while to repair the gas lines after the earthquake.\ but when will that be?
my thoughts swirled as i gathered newspaper and wood for the fire. theres not much firewood left, and im not sure i can find any more until the roads open up. then what will i find? how bad is the damage? will we get stuck here without enough food? will i be able to keep ethan safe, warm, and fed? were okay for a while, but i dont know how bad the situation is yet.
\im scared, dad,\ ethan said finally.
\try not to worry, ethan. we have a fire to keep us warm tonight, and tomorrow, when its light, things will seem a lot less scary. i promise.\ i just hope thats true, i thought to myself.
\youre right, dad,\ ethan replied. \im sure it wont be that bad.\
i finally got the fire started, and ethan and i pulled the sofa nearer to the fireplace and huddled together under the quilt. i just hope things arent too bad for us or any of our neighbors, and that we can get our heat back soon.

1. h
2. how might the excerpt be different if it were told from ethan’s perspective?

Explanation:

To answer this, we analyze the current point of view (first - person from the dad) and consider Ethan's perspective. Ethan is a child, so his thoughts would be more focused on his fear, confusion about the situation, and his reliance on his dad. For example, instead of the dad's thoughts about firewood and repairs, we'd get Ethan's worries about being cold, not understanding why the heat isn't back, and his trust in his dad to fix things. The dialogue would also change as Ethan's speech and internal thoughts would reflect his younger, more vulnerable viewpoint.

Answer:

If told from Ethan's perspective, the excerpt would focus more on his fear and confusion. We'd see his internal thoughts about being cold, not understanding the delay in heat, and his trust in his dad. The dad's actions (like gathering firewood) would be seen from Ethan's eyes, and Ethan's dialogue would be more child - like, with more emphasis on his emotions (e.g., “I’m so cold, Dad. Will we be okay?”) rather than the dad's practical concerns about resources and repairs.