Reading Comprehension Success in 20 Minutes a Day, 3rd Edition

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A M AT T E R O F P E R S P E C T I V E : P O I N T O F V I E W
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9 4
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Imagine you have an argument with someone. Tell the story of the argument, first from your point of view
using the first-person pronoun. Then, tell the story from the other person’s point of view, again using
the first-person pronoun. Finally, tell the story from an outsider’s point of view using the third-person
pronoun. Notice how the story changes when the point of view changes, and notice how both first-
person accounts will be subjective, while the third-person account is objective.
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Take a memo or letter you received at work. If the information addresses you in the second person 
you,
change it to a third-person point of view (
employees, managers, clients). Or, if the writer uses the first-
person point of view (
I or we), change that to the third-person point of view to eliminate the subjectivity.
Skill Building until Next Time

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W
hat made Sherlock Holmes such a good detective? Was he just much smarter than everyone else?
Did he have some sort of magical powers? Could he somehow see into the future or into the
past? No, Sherlock Holmes was no medium or magician. So what was his secret?
His powers of observation.
You may recall that the introduction to this book talked about active reading. As an active reader, you should
have been marking up the passages you’ve read in this book: identifying unfamiliar vocabulary, underlining key
words and ideas, and recording your reactions and questions in the margin. But there’s another part of active read-
ing we haven’t talked about: making observations.
L E S S O N
Diction:
What’s in a
Word?
L E S S O N S U M M A R Y
Today’s lesson focuses on diction, the words writers choose to con-
vey their meaning. The smallest change in choice of words can signif-
icantly change the tone and meaning of a passage. Today’s lesson
shows you how to pick up on the clues to meaning writers give through
their choice of words.