1. Point of View Different uses of tense in I Am the Cheese

2. Three Stories Happening at Once Adam riding his bike to Vermont Adam talking with Brint Adam’s past tense life Why? This is a clever technique because Cormier is writing a suspense novel. By creating three separate plot structures, he allows the reader to find out small bits of information at a time.

3. Overall Message The government is corrupt and that its citizens are puppets in a much larger plan You do not know who you can trust.

4. Exposition The exposition of a plot is the place where the reader is introduced to the main character and any important information to understand what is presently occurring

5. Three Strands Present-tense narrated by Adam in first person(15 chapters) Present-tense transcripts of interview tapes Past-tense memories of Adam in third person No strand contains direct references to the other, but characters and plot elements overlap

6. The Tapes Brint interrogates Adam to try and see what Adam can remember about his past Brint tends to steer interviews toward topics of his choosing

7. Adam’s Memories Under Brint’s interrogation, Adam remembers several key incidents of his past

8. Adam’s Bike Ride In the present-tense sections of the novel, Adam continues his bike ride toward Rutterburg, Vermont, to bring his father a gift