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Point of View: Bat 6 and Other Books with Multiple Points of
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From: Megan Schliesman <Schliesman>
Date: Thu, 05 Nov 1998 14:52:02 -0600
Let's begin exploring many different aspects of points of view in literature for children and young adults during this month's discussion on CCBC-Net.
Because it seems to flow so well from last month's discussion, a natural starting point seems to be the use of multiple points of view to tell a story. So many of the books we mentioned with regard to nonlinear narratives in October turned out to also be intriguing for their use of multiple points of view. Among the books that were mentioned are Making Up Megaboy by Virginia Walter and Katrina Rocklein, Seedfolks and Whirligig by Paul Fleischman, and Bat 6 by Virginia Euwer Wolff.
Regarding Bat 6, last month Brenda Bowen, editor at Simon & Schuster, wrote:
"Form came first in BAT 6...In describing the book, Jinny Wolff
says her aim was to write about the delicate web of community, and to examine how each of us plays a part in our society's behavior. She repeatedly used filmmaking metaphors to describe the writing process: the only way to be 'fair' to her characters was to allow them each a turn 'in front of the camera.' "
I was intrigued by this comment because when I read Bat 6 I my first question upon finishing it was how the use of multiple points of view served the story--and the reader of the story. One of my concerns was that readers would be confused by so many different characters--who they were and which team they were on--as I found myself flipping back to the team rosters often.
At the same time, I thought that one of the things the use of multiple points of view achieved so well was to recreate the ways that we as individuals--and especially children--try to make sense of the events that take place in our lives. The "web of community" (to borrow the author's lovely term) was especially apparent for me in the way the the book reveals how we each have only a piece of the story--a piece of the whole from which we might be able to make sense of the world. When it came right down to it, the individual characters were not as important as the whole of the story which they work together to create. Story becomes an act of community.
What do others think of the use of multiple points of view in Bat 6 or other novels? When and how do you find it successful? Intrusive? What does it add to a particular book that would have been missing if a single narrative point of view had been used to tell the story?
Megan
Megan Schliesman (schliesman at mail.soemadison.wisc.edu) Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education UW-Madison 600 N. Park St., Room 4290 Madison, WI 53706 608&2?03
Received on Thu 05 Nov 1998 02:52:02 PM CST
Date: Thu, 05 Nov 1998 14:52:02 -0600
Let's begin exploring many different aspects of points of view in literature for children and young adults during this month's discussion on CCBC-Net.
Because it seems to flow so well from last month's discussion, a natural starting point seems to be the use of multiple points of view to tell a story. So many of the books we mentioned with regard to nonlinear narratives in October turned out to also be intriguing for their use of multiple points of view. Among the books that were mentioned are Making Up Megaboy by Virginia Walter and Katrina Rocklein, Seedfolks and Whirligig by Paul Fleischman, and Bat 6 by Virginia Euwer Wolff.
Regarding Bat 6, last month Brenda Bowen, editor at Simon & Schuster, wrote:
"Form came first in BAT 6...In describing the book, Jinny Wolff
says her aim was to write about the delicate web of community, and to examine how each of us plays a part in our society's behavior. She repeatedly used filmmaking metaphors to describe the writing process: the only way to be 'fair' to her characters was to allow them each a turn 'in front of the camera.' "
I was intrigued by this comment because when I read Bat 6 I my first question upon finishing it was how the use of multiple points of view served the story--and the reader of the story. One of my concerns was that readers would be confused by so many different characters--who they were and which team they were on--as I found myself flipping back to the team rosters often.
At the same time, I thought that one of the things the use of multiple points of view achieved so well was to recreate the ways that we as individuals--and especially children--try to make sense of the events that take place in our lives. The "web of community" (to borrow the author's lovely term) was especially apparent for me in the way the the book reveals how we each have only a piece of the story--a piece of the whole from which we might be able to make sense of the world. When it came right down to it, the individual characters were not as important as the whole of the story which they work together to create. Story becomes an act of community.
What do others think of the use of multiple points of view in Bat 6 or other novels? When and how do you find it successful? Intrusive? What does it add to a particular book that would have been missing if a single narrative point of view had been used to tell the story?
Megan
Megan Schliesman (schliesman at mail.soemadison.wisc.edu) Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education UW-Madison 600 N. Park St., Room 4290 Madison, WI 53706 608&2?03
Received on Thu 05 Nov 1998 02:52:02 PM CST
