Question
The Lord of Death and the Queen of Life
by Homer Flint
This passage tells the story of a group of four men who are traveling through space to Mercury. They are flying in a high-tech sky-car called a “cube.”
As you read, pay attention to who is telling the story.
Chapter 1: The Sky Cube
The doctor, who was easily the most musical of the four men, sang in a cheerful baritone.
The geologist, who had held down the lower end of a quartet in his university days, growled an accompaniment under his breath as he blithely peeled the potatoes. Occasionally a high-pitched note or two came from the direction of the engineer; he could not spare much wind while clambering about the machinery, oil-can in hand. The architect, alone, ignored the famous tune.
“What I can’t understand, Smith,” he insisted, “is how you draw the electricity from the ether into this car without blasting us all to cinders.”
The engineer squinted through an opal glass shutter into one of the tunnels, through which the anti-gravitation current was pouring…
The big room, fifty feet square, was almost filled with machines; some reached nearly to the ceiling, the same distance above. In fact, the interior of the “cube,” as that form of sky-car was known, had very little waste space. The living quarters of the four men who occupied it had to be fitted in wherever there happened to be room. The architect’s own berth was sandwiched in between two huge dynamos.
He was thinking hard. “I see now why you have such a lot of adjustments for those tunnels,” meaning the six square tubes which opened into the ether through the six walls of the room. “You’ve got to point the juice pretty accurately.”
“I should say so.” Smith led the way to a window, and the two shaded their eyes from the lights within while they gazed at the ashy glow of Mercury, toward which they were traveling. “I’ve got to adjust the current so as to point exactly toward his northern half.” Smith might have added that a continual stream of repelling current was still directed toward the earth, and another toward the sun, away over to their right; both to prevent being drawn off their course.
“And how fast are we going?”
“Four or five times as fast as mother earth: between eighty and ninety miles per second. It’s easy to get up speed out here, of course, where there’s no air resistance.”
Another voice broke in. The geologist had finished his potatoes, and a savory smell was already issuing from the frying pan. Years spent in the wilderness had made the geologist a good cook, and doubly welcome as a member of the expedition.
“We ought to get there tomorrow, then,” he said eagerly. Indoor life did not appeal to him, even under such exciting circumstances. He peered at Mercury through his binoculars. “Beginning to show up fine now.”
“Smith might have added that a continual stream of repelling current was still directed toward the earth, and another toward the sun, away over to their right; both to prevent being drawn off their course.”
How does the narrator’s perspective in this excerpt impact the story?
The narrator’s third-person limited point of view is focused on the geologist’s perspective, so the reader knows that he dislikes Smith and views him negatively.
The narrator’s third-person limited point of view is focused on Smith’s perspective, so the reader understands that he is exhausted by constantly having to adjust the current.
The narrator’s third-person omniscient perspective is all-knowing, so they reveal information to the reader that the other characters may not know.
The first-person narrator describes Smith from their own perspective, so readers have a detailed look into how the narrator feels about him.
by Homer Flint
This passage tells the story of a group of four men who are traveling through space to Mercury. They are flying in a high-tech sky-car called a “cube.”
As you read, pay attention to who is telling the story.
Chapter 1: The Sky Cube
The doctor, who was easily the most musical of the four men, sang in a cheerful baritone.
The geologist, who had held down the lower end of a quartet in his university days, growled an accompaniment under his breath as he blithely peeled the potatoes. Occasionally a high-pitched note or two came from the direction of the engineer; he could not spare much wind while clambering about the machinery, oil-can in hand. The architect, alone, ignored the famous tune.
“What I can’t understand, Smith,” he insisted, “is how you draw the electricity from the ether into this car without blasting us all to cinders.”
The engineer squinted through an opal glass shutter into one of the tunnels, through which the anti-gravitation current was pouring…
The big room, fifty feet square, was almost filled with machines; some reached nearly to the ceiling, the same distance above. In fact, the interior of the “cube,” as that form of sky-car was known, had very little waste space. The living quarters of the four men who occupied it had to be fitted in wherever there happened to be room. The architect’s own berth was sandwiched in between two huge dynamos.
He was thinking hard. “I see now why you have such a lot of adjustments for those tunnels,” meaning the six square tubes which opened into the ether through the six walls of the room. “You’ve got to point the juice pretty accurately.”
“I should say so.” Smith led the way to a window, and the two shaded their eyes from the lights within while they gazed at the ashy glow of Mercury, toward which they were traveling. “I’ve got to adjust the current so as to point exactly toward his northern half.” Smith might have added that a continual stream of repelling current was still directed toward the earth, and another toward the sun, away over to their right; both to prevent being drawn off their course.
“And how fast are we going?”
“Four or five times as fast as mother earth: between eighty and ninety miles per second. It’s easy to get up speed out here, of course, where there’s no air resistance.”
Another voice broke in. The geologist had finished his potatoes, and a savory smell was already issuing from the frying pan. Years spent in the wilderness had made the geologist a good cook, and doubly welcome as a member of the expedition.
“We ought to get there tomorrow, then,” he said eagerly. Indoor life did not appeal to him, even under such exciting circumstances. He peered at Mercury through his binoculars. “Beginning to show up fine now.”
“Smith might have added that a continual stream of repelling current was still directed toward the earth, and another toward the sun, away over to their right; both to prevent being drawn off their course.”
How does the narrator’s perspective in this excerpt impact the story?
The narrator’s third-person limited point of view is focused on the geologist’s perspective, so the reader knows that he dislikes Smith and views him negatively.
The narrator’s third-person limited point of view is focused on Smith’s perspective, so the reader understands that he is exhausted by constantly having to adjust the current.
The narrator’s third-person omniscient perspective is all-knowing, so they reveal information to the reader that the other characters may not know.
The first-person narrator describes Smith from their own perspective, so readers have a detailed look into how the narrator feels about him.
Answers
GPT-4o mini
The correct interpretation of the narrator’s perspective in this excerpt is:
**The narrator’s third-person omniscient perspective is all-knowing, so they reveal information to the reader that the other characters may not know.**
This perspective allows the narrator to provide insights into the thoughts, actions, and feelings of multiple characters, as well as to describe the technical aspects of their journey and the environment around them, enhancing the reader's understanding of the situation as a whole.
**The narrator’s third-person omniscient perspective is all-knowing, so they reveal information to the reader that the other characters may not know.**
This perspective allows the narrator to provide insights into the thoughts, actions, and feelings of multiple characters, as well as to describe the technical aspects of their journey and the environment around them, enhancing the reader's understanding of the situation as a whole.