The Writer’s Role: Alternating Participant and Spectator Roles

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 Analyze 
Use the basic features.

Instead of choosing between the roles of participant-observer or spectator, writers may also alternate between these two roles, as Coyne does in “The Long Good-Bye.” Notice how Coyne uses pronouns (first-, second-, and third-person) to let readers know which role she is taking.

The spectator, or eyewitness, role shows what is unfolding before the writer’s eyes.

2nd-person pronoun

3rd-person pronouns

You can spot the convict-moms here in the visiting room by the way they hold and touch their children. (par. 1)

The participant-observer role puts Coyne and the other adult visitors into the scene.

1st-person pronouns

I know from previous visits to my older sister. (par. 3)

ANALYZE & WRITE

Write a couple of paragraphs analyzing how Coyne uses these two roles in “The Long Good-Bye: Mother’s Day in Federal Prison”:

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  1. Analyze the rest of paragraphs 1 and 3, highlighting the first-, second-, and third-person pronouns.
  2. Look closely at the way the pronouns are used. Note, for example, that writers seldom use the second-person pronoun you; why do you think Coyne uses it here? Who is Coyne referring to with the first-person plural pronoun we?
  3. Consider the effect that alternating between spectator and participant roles has on the reader. How would your experience as a reader be different if Coyne had stuck with one role or the other? Also think about how alternating the roles helps convey her perspective—for example, how the pronouns align the speaker with certain people and distance her from others (us versus them).

    Question