Lesson 9 - Point of View - Assignment

ASSIGNMENT: THE SETUP: Two people want and need the same job. It is important to each of them for their own reasons. Compose and submit two scenes of 300-400 words each.

First Scene: First Person-multiple view.

Second Scene: Third Person-single view.

As a reader, I am rooting for one of the characters. Your job is to make it difficult for me to do that. (Spelling and grammar please)




(This looks like a challenging assignment which will definitely help me get practice in an area in which my writing is definitely weak.)



First person- Multiple View

How can I tell Melissa, my baby, I don’ have the money to buy her a dress for her prom. All she can see is that to many of her friends this night is one of the most important nights of the year. They have provided her peers with appropriate clothing and I can not. Some have even gone so far as renting limousines for the occasion. All she knows is I’m letting her down.

I can’t face her if I don’t provide this for her. The boy she has had a crush on all year has finally asked her out, and not for just any date, but for the prom. Having to turn him down because she lacked the finances would shatter her. How can I expect her to understand the dollars and sense behind it? I don’t know if she will ever forgive me if I cost her the dream night she has looked forward to so long. I don’t know if I can ever forgive myself.

The feeling of inadequacy that goes with my position is coming up again. It crops up every time we have a financial problem. Even though my wife doesn’t say anything, I know my position shames her. When she introduces me to other couples she doesn’t bring it up. Sanitation Engineer. It’s laughable. As if people are too stupid to understand I’m a janitor.

If I could only get promoted to Intensive Care Monitor at the hospital my problem would be solved. I could do the job. It’s just watching a bunch of screens. In my mind I’ve done my time to put myself in position to qualify for this employment. I have shined at every position before this. My boss knows what a good conscientious worker I am even if I am way to smart for it. He has always been very understanding and has been willing to work with me. If I get it, he’d give me the advance I need for Melissa’s prom if I got the job.

First Person: Multiple Point of View:



I hate my job. I can’t imagine whatever kind of twisted mentality that could dream up a position like this. Transporting corpses of deceased patients to the “hospital hearse” and driving them to the relevant funeral home or crematorium is something out of Edgar Allen Poe.

I’ve been told I am filling an honorable position because being humble enough to carry out this duty shows I have a modest disposition. However, behind my back they ridicule me. I know this. I’ve heard them. “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers” they mutter when they think I am out of earshot. Or “Frankenstein” for the remains after an autopsy.

How I came to accept this position is a long story. To make it short, there are no well-paying jobs in my town other than those at the hospital. If I want an affordable income, I have to take what the hospital gives me.

I was free to choose before I had a family. But my life turned upside down with the birth of my autistic child. There is no such thing as enough money. Every time I turn around there is another bill.

I would do anything for my son. Anything at all. If I had to blend a body up in a Veg-O-Matic I would do it for my son. But that doesn’t make it enjoyable. It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve had to look at the cadavers. They stare back at me. The cold pallor of their skin causes prickles to run up and down my arms. As many times as I have touched them, they still make me cringe.

If I get the promotion to Intensive care Monitor it would help solve my problems. I could go to work without being repulsed by my responsibilities and have even more money for my son than before. There are no perfect solutions in an imperfect world. But there are some damn sure improvements.

Third Person Single View

The stink of the formaldehyde struck Perry again. The fluid used for embalming the corpses had gained an association with death for him. Even hiding the corpses under the sheets couldn’t hide its presence. The state of demise was reflected in every pound of flesh and bone of the former human being.

Perry still had to fight the desire to gag. His partner was named Wolf, short for Wolfgang. The idea that anyone would actually name their kid after the dead composer struck Perry as ironic. Mozart wrote a well-known opera about the subject of death, even though Perry could not remember its exact name. Wolfgang helped numb Perry from the repulsive nature of his job. His wisecracks and crass sense of humor helped numb Perry from the unpleasant nature of his work details.
Stephen Ross approached from up the hall with mop and bucket. The janitor was one of the few people Perry didn’t have to worry about making remarks behind his back. Ross seemed humble almost to the point of self-defacing. Perry recognized high quality in the way the janitor conducted duties while displaying the makings of one with much more ability.

“How’s life, Steve?” asked Perry.

“I’m putting in for ICU tech. I figure I’ve done my time housekeeping. I have an in with my boss James and think I have a good chance.”

Perry stood back. The job was one he sought. He felt dismay that he’d be competing with someone he liked for the position but he had an autistic six-year-old to raise and needed all the money he could make.

“My daughter’s got her heart set on going to the prom this year,” said Ross. “She missed it last year because I couldn’t afford a dress. I can’t let her down again.”

Another chord of guilt struck Perry. But his priorities were straight. He didn’t want the young Ross girl to miss her prom but his son took precedence over everything else in his life. That was the reason he stayed at the job he did, and the only motivation he had for doing the kind of work they had him doing.

“The boy she’s had a crush on all year finally asked her out,” said Stephen. “For the prom. Go figure. She is too young to understand the dollars and cents of it. All she knows is what her friends get to do compared to her.”

“That’s tough, Steve,” said Perry. It was smarter not to tell Ross he wanted the same job. If he didn’t get it then there wouldn’t be any problem. If he did, he would deal with it then.

“I’d just be happy if my son could learn who I am,” said Perry. “I’d give anything for him to just once call me Dad when I came home.”

Stephen was silent. “The one thing I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, is life is not fair, Perry. Life is not fair.”