"The Kite Runner"- Point Of View

"I knew it wasn't just Rahim Khan on the line. It was my past of unatoned sins" (page 1).

This excerpt from the very beginning of the novel sets the tone and the point of view for the entire story. It shows the reader that the story is going to be told from the point of view of Amir, so it will be his opinions and memories which will be shown throughout the story. It sets the POV as first person. Also, it establishes the tone which Amir expresses throughout the majority of the novel. By speaking of his "unatoned sins," he shows that he has something in his past which he regrets. This single sentence causes suspense for the rest of the novel by suggesting that he had a bad past, but by keeping it vague. Also, is establishes his nostalgic tone and shows that the majority of the novel is going to be him looking back at his past. By establishing the point of view and tone at the very beginning, the narrator can give hints to the reader about what is to come without giving away too much. Along with this, he also shows his attitude toward what happened in his past.

"Getting Out" by: Cleopatra Mathis

While most poems that deal with divorces or break-ups have a tone of hatred and bitterness, "Getting Out" seemed to lack this. The speaker seems to build a tone of sadness and regret. She never speaks negatively of her ex, but instead she talks of his "yearly letter." To me, this showed that the speaker and her ex are still on good terms. She establishes her tone of regret by using no negative descriptions of her ex-husband and by saying things like "we gave up," instead of it was his fault and i hate him now as most people who have suffered a breakup do. She establishes her tone of regret when she talks about being "startled by men who look like you" and when they "cried the last day. Taking hands we walked apart." To me, this proved for sure that the speaker was not angry or holding a grudge because of her divorce. She seemed to still be in love in some ways with her ex-husband because whenever she sees men who resemble him, she only sees him. The speaker is definitely still in love with her ex-husband, but for reasons she does not give, their relationship could not withstand the problems they were facing.

"Dream Deferred" by: Langston Hughes number 2

Back to the poem dream deferred again, but this time, I am going to focus on the tone of the poem. I think that the tone is one of urgency. The speaker is pleading with other African Americans so they will build up a drive to fight for their civil rights. He tells them they must do this before it is impossible to gain what they have always been dreaming about. This poem is a call to action for all people so that they will fight for rights and basic liberties. He is telling people that they must act now before their window of opportunity has passed and their goals will never be achieved. He believed that the most crippling event would be if the dream is deferred for so long that it eventually "explode(s)" and is completely gone. He says taht if this happens, African Americans will never be able to gain rights and they will be stuck in their current state of despair forever.

"The Widow's Lament in Springtime" by William Carlos Williams

While reading "The Widow's Lament in Springtime," I felt that the speakers tone was one of sorrow and grief. This tone is first established in the title, when the speaker gives the reader an important piece of information; she is a widow. It is reinforced multiple times beginning with the first line when she speaks of "sorrow in (her) own yard" (line 1). She also incorporates words such as "grief" and "sink into the marsh" (lines 15 &28). Her choices of words are all extremely bland with no sense of happiness or relief.

In the beginning of the poem, the speaker addresses her yard which can be seen as her memories with her deceased husband. When she looks at her yard in springtime, it brings her sorrow. The "grief in (her) heart" is stronger than the memories she has of her husband. The speaker seems rather distressed and by the end of the poem, when she states that she wants to "sink into the marsh," (line 28) it seems that the speaker wants to fall into the ground to be with her husband. It seems that the speaker is not able to move on from her past, so her grief is the only thing that seems real to her.