Read the excerpt from “How I Learned English.” It was in an empty lot Ringed by elms and fir and honeysuckle. Bill Corson was pi
tching in his buckskin jacket, Chuck Keller, fat even as a boy, was on first, His t-shirt riding up over his gut, Ron O’Neill, Jim, Dennis, were talking it up In the field, a blue sky above them Tipped with cirrus. And there I was, Just off the plane and plopped in the middle Of Williamsport, Pa. and a neighborhood game, Unnatural and without any moves, My notions of baseball and America Growing fuzzier each time I whiffed. Which detail from this excerpt helps readers determine that the poem is written from a first-person point of view? the description of the speaker as “unnatural” the description of the boys “talking it up” the use of the words “I” and “my” the use of the words “his” and “them”
The response is: the use of the terms “I” and “my.” The first-person perspective allows readers to connect with the speaker, gaining insight into his most profound emotions, thoughts, and motivations. It incorporates expressions such as I, me, mine, and my. In the excerpt from "How I Learned English," by Gregory Djanikian, the narrator finds himself in a baseball game alongside the other boys, struggling due to having just immigrated from Egypt. As a result, the first-person viewpoint enables readers to recognize his feelings of being an outsider.
The jubilant dog energetically bounds through the shallow waters of the murky river. Soaked completely, he soars through the air, creating splashes as he lands once more in the refreshing water.
