Understanding Authors & Documents Point of View (P.O.V.) Understanding Authors & Documents

What is Point of View (P.O.V.)? POV are the influences that would lead a particular author to make a claim/statement Possible things to consider for POV: Job Region Time period Tone

Questions to ask of a document / author: Why would this person say this? How reliable is this document? What was the author trying to accomplish with this document? How does knowing about the author inform (enhance) our understanding of the document? Why is this author/information important?

P.O.V. Statements: One sentence in length Use information from your S.O.A.P.S.tone to help construct a P.O.V. statement Addresses 2 elements: Needs to address WHY the author would hold a particular opinion – AND – Why is (How does) this authors’ P.O.V. impact the message in the document

Practice Document SOURCE: Bob Matthias, United States competitor at the 1952 Olympic Games in Finland, from a magazine interview in 1972. “There were many pressures on American athletes because of the presence of the teams from the Soviet Union in 1952. These Soviet athletes were, in a very real way, the enemy. You just loved to beat ‘em. You just HAD to beat ‘em. It wasn’t like competiting against some guys from a friendly country like Australia or Great Britain. This feeling was strong, down through the whole team – even amongst athletes in sports and events where the Soviets weren’t competiting.”

Book Documents: S.O.A.P.S.tone one of the documents Write a practice P.O.V. statement Documents: Pg. 20 – “The Caste System” Pg. 24 – “Compassion of a Bodhisattva” You may have to SPECULATE on certain aspects of S.O.A.P.S.tone and/or P.O.V.