Wild Plum Jelly
Tracy Wilson
In the winter of 1976, when I was only four years old, my family moved into a modest home in a growing Greenville neighborhood. Upon a slope on one side of the house, stood a dozen tree sprigs looking rather bald and barren. By springtime, however, the little trees began growing taller and bushier by the day. Upon exploring the hillside in mid-July, I noticed hundreds of quarter-sized, pinkish orbs dangling, daring me to pick just one. Of course, I did.
I showed Grandma my discovery, and she quickly identified them as wild-plums. Plums? I questioned. Yes, plums. she reiterated. She explained that these were not the same as the deeply colored, voluptuous kind I had seen in the market. These were a smaller and much sourer variety.
Knowing that they were safe, I ate enough that one afternoon to give me a stomach ache that lasted two days. As the plums became riper and sweeter, my grandma and I picked enough to fill two enormous buckets. She taught me to make jelly from the tiny fruits which we could enjoy all winter long.
Years later, I was driving down a long, winding highway when I noticed several wild plum trees lining the hedgerow. I had to pull over. I picked a heaping handful. As I sat there on the side of the highway, I basked in the tartness of my childhood fruit and in the sweetness of the memory of making jelly with the greatest woman I have ever known.
Question
What is the effect of point of view on the tone of this passage?
Responses
A The first person point of view makes the passage more personal and emotional.The first person point of view makes the passage more personal and emotional.
B The third person point of view provides the reader with clear, objective facts.The third person point of view provides the reader with clear, objective facts.
C The third person point of view gives the reader a biased look at the value of plums.The third person point of view gives the reader a biased look at the value of plums.
D The first person point of view clearly indicates how angry and deprived the speaker is.