First-Person Point of View. In a story told from the first-person point of view, the narrator takes part in the action and refers to himself or herself using words such as I and we. Autobiographical works are told in the first-person point of view, and the author is the narrator. The narrator tends to reveal his or her thoughts, emotions, and beliefs as well as his or her words and actions. In this selection from An American Childhood, do you learn more about what is occurring within the narrator or what is going on around her?
Cliché. A cliché is an overused expression such as “happy as a lark” or “time is money.” Most clichés begin as vivid, colorful expressions but become uninteresting because of overuse. In this selection, Dillard mentions a few clichés. Try to identify them as you read.
Concrete Language. A concrete word, like cloud or airplane, names something that can be directly seen, tasted, touched, heard, or smelled. Concrete details that describe specific objects or actions can make a piece of literature more interesting by providing precise information about characters and settings. For example, the phrase “Johnny walked slowly to the MiniMart at the corner of Ford Avenue and James Street” includes more concrete details than “The boy went to the
corner store.” As you read, look for examples of concrete details used by the narrator.
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- The word library is derived from liber, the Latin word for book. The library actually existed before the printed book, as the earliest libraries held clay tablets, papyruses, and scrolls. As early civilizations formed governments and more complex societies, writing and record keeping became necessary. Historical records tell us that libraries holding official records may have existed in China as early as 1200 bc.
- Public libraries in the United States date back to the 1800s. Public libraries experienced their greatest growth during the periods 1890–1920 and 1955–1975. Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919) is one of the reasons for the significant expansion of the American library system during the turn of the century. A steel tycoon and humanitarian, Carnegie contributed a substantial part of his fortune as grants to build libraries in the United States, Canada, and Latin America. The Homewood Library, about which Dillard writes in this excerpt, opened on March 10, 1911, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was the last library built by Andrew Carnegie for his neighborhood.
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