Scenario Based Learning

As an on going lesson students can use scenerio based tasks to identify the point of view in different works of literature.  Referencing the novel “Great Gatsby” by F. Scott  Fitzgerald students will  idenify the author’s point of view as either first, second or third person. Students will test their reading comprehension and ability to identify the way the author allows the reader to "see" and "hear" what is going on. This scenario based learning opportunity uses purpose specific tasks to engage learners to interact with literature previously read.

For instance, an automobile accident occurs. Two drivers are involved. Witnesses include four sidewalk spectators, a policeman, a man with a video camera who happened to be shooting the scene, and the pilot of a helicopter that was flying overhead. Here we have nine different points of view and, most likely, nine different descriptions of the accident.

Who tells the story and how it is told are critical issues for an author to decide. The tone and feel of the story, and even its meaning, can change radically depending on who is telling the story.
Remember, someone is always between the reader and the action of the story. That someone is telling the story from his or her own point of view. This angle of vision, the point of view from which the people, events, and details of a story are viewed, is important to consider when reading a story.

Post a comment to this posting addressing the following questions.  What is the point of view in the novel "Great Gatsby?" Is the point of view fixed or does it change? Does the point of view stay the same distance from the events of the novel, or does the point of view zoom in and zoom out, like a camera lens? Is a character narrating the novel? If so, which character is the Narrator?

~1st person is you. You are saying your own thoughts and reliving/ telling the story. Key words: I, we, us, me. Example: I jumped off a cliff today.

~2nd person is talking to you. Key words: You. Example: Were you able to see that story about the guy who jumped off a cliff?

~3rd person is talking about someone else. Key word: He, she, it, they, them, him, her. Example: You know the reporter covering that story about the idiot who jumped off a cliff? She is hot.