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Q14 - An Unexpected Gift (poem)

Last updated 9 months ago
4 questions
Note from the author:

6.9E - The student is expected to identify the use of literary devices, including omniscient and limited point of view, to achieve a specific purpose.

  • Literary devices are specific language techniques that convey meaning and bring clarity to a text. Students should understand that authors (and poets) use literary devices such as point of view to produce a given effect on the reader and to communicate a particular detail or message. For example, an author wanting to create suspense in a mystery novel might use a third-person limited point of view so the reader has no more insight into the motivations or mindsets of the other characters than the protagonist and, therefore, can speculate until the author chooses to reveal the mystery’s secret.
  • limited point of view: a narrative perspective that is limited to the author's (poet's) or narrator’s (speaker's) understanding of only one character’s thoughts and feelings and in which the story follows that single character (usually the main character in narratives) using the third-person pronouns (e.g., he, she, they). A first-person point of view is also considered limited, since the narrator/speaker is also a character and therefore only able to give us their thoughts or feelings.

6.9E - The student is expected to identify the use of literary devices, including omniscient and limited point of view, to achieve a specific purpose.

  • Literary devices are specific language techniques that convey meaning and bring clarity to a text. Students should understand that authors (and poets) use literary devices such as point of view to produce a given effect on the reader and to communicate a particular detail or message. For example, an author wanting to create suspense in a mystery novel might use a third-person limited point of view so the reader has no more insight into the motivations or mindsets of the other characters than the protagonist and, therefore, can speculate until the author chooses to reveal the mystery’s secret.
  • limited point of view: a narrative perspective that is limited to the author's (poet's) or narrator’s (speaker's) understanding of only one character’s thoughts and feelings and in which the story follows that single character (usually the main character in narratives) using the third-person pronouns (e.g., he, she, they). A first-person point of view is also considered limited, since the narrator/speaker is also a character and therefore only able to give us their thoughts or feelings.
1

Which answer did you pick for question 14?

14. What is the most likely reason the author used a limited point of view in the poem "An
Unexpected Gift"?

1

Why did you chose that answer?

Test Taking Tips

In order to answer this question, you need to understand limited point of view.

A limited point of view means that the narrator (or in the case of poetry, the speaker) is only able to give readers the thoughts and feelings of one character.

Review your "translation" of the poem. Think about the thoughts and feelings the speaker reveals.

Answering the question:
  • Read the question carefully.
  • Look up any words in the question and answer choices that you do not understand. (It's difficult to answer the question correctly if you do not know what you are being asked.) Write them down on a scratch piece of paper or on the sticky note tool.
  • Review your "translation" of the poem.
  • Use the process of elimination when analyzing the answer choices. Try to come up with a reason why the answer choice is wrong. If you can give a reason, use the answer eliminator tool to cross it out.
  • Re-read the poem to find text evidence to support the answer you choose as the correct answer.
  • Remember, if any part of the answer choice is incorrect, the entire answer choice will be incorrect.

An Unexpected Gift

Some people say that all mistakes
come with a price that you must pay.
But I, myself, believe it true:
Mistakes can also make your day.

One summer day my family played
a racing game with cardboard boats.
My task was to invent my own,
with mini sails to make it coast.

I started off most eagerly:
grabbed tape and cardboard long and lean,
And as for style, I thought it wise
to draw a detailed nature scene.

Once done, I marveled at my work,
then took a peek around the room—
Oh no! My dad, my mom, and sister
all had boats ready to zoom!

I must have just lost track of time,
working to beautify my ride.
My boat had not a single sail
to catch the wind; I could have cried.

We gathered 'round the waterside,
prepared to give our boats a shove.
Mom shouted "Go!" and off theirs went,
While mine alone refused to move.

It stubbornly ignored the wind,
as if firmly fixed in place.
How could something so beautiful
be so useless for this family race?

Just then, a group of birds came down
upon my boat where it sat resting.
To our surprise (and my delight),
they seemed to find it interesting!

My cardboard boat, I recognized,
was never made to race and ride,
but even so it had a role—
For the birds it could provide!

My boat became a backyard fixture
not on our pond but in our tree;
there it sits steady, offering
a tasty treasure of bird seed.

Although I certainly stumbled on
this great invention by pure chance,
nobody was happier
to see my boat fail to advance.
1

Which answer should you have chosen for question 14?

14. What is the most likely reason the author used a limited point of view in the poem "An
Unexpected Gift"?

1

What will you do differently next time?