Question

blair wrote these sentences for an english class assignment. she was asked to write something which employed the use of internal monologue.
which sentence correctly uses the narrative technique of internal monologue?

1. “how do i look?” she asked me, shifting her turban from left to right. “fine,” i answered uncertainly.
2. esther clenched her teeth together, glaring at the lines of red lights in front of her. her wipers intermittently smeared the colors together like a child’s finger painting.
3. how could this be happening? she thought to herself, scanning around the car for something to occupy her time.
4. jane had the longest day! it took her a year and a week to finish her homework; then she waited an eternity for her mother to pick her up.

Explanation:

An internal monologue reveals a character's inner thoughts. Option 1 has dialogue between two characters. Option 2 describes actions and a scene without inner thoughts. Option 3 shows the character's thought ("How could this be happening?") as a private internal monologue. Option 4 uses hyperbole (exaggerated time) but no inner thoughts. So Option 3 correctly uses internal monologue.

Answer:

1. How could this be happening? she thought to herself, scanning around the car for something to occupy her time.