Evacuation Order No. 19 by Julie Otsuka Introducing the Story Literary Skills Focus: Third- Person Limited Narrator Reading Skills Focus: Drawing Conclusions

Evacuation Order No. 19by Julie Otsuka

Introducing the Story

Literary Skills Focus: Third-Person Limited Narrator

Reading Skills Focus: Drawing Conclusions

Writing Skills Focus: Think as a Reader/Writer

Feature Menu

Evacuation Order No. 19 by Julie Otsuka

How do people cope with hardships that require enormous change?

Click on the title to start the video.

Evacuation Order No. 19 Introducing the Story

Evacuation Order No. 19Introducing the Story

What if you had to pack everything you own into one suitcase?

You don’t know when you’ll be back.

You don’t know where you’re going.

[End of Section]

And you don’t really understand why they’re making you leave.

Th

e G

ran

ge

r C

olle

cti

on

, N

ew Y

ork

Th

e G

ran

ge

r C

olle

cti

on

, N

ew Y

ork

A third-person limited narrator has things in common with both an omniscient narrator and a first-person narrator.

Evacuation Order No. 19Literary Skills Focus: Third-Person Limited Narrator

First-person narrator

Third-person limited narrator

Omniscient narrator

• uses I to tell story

• narrator is a character in story

• knows thoughts, feelings of only one character

• uses he/she/they to tell story

• narrator is not a character in story

• knows thoughts, feelings of every character

• uses he/she/they to tell story

• narrator is not a character in story

• knows thoughts, feelings of only one character

A third-person limited narrator allows you to share intensely in one character’s experiences.

Evacuation Order No. 19 Literary Skills Focus: Third-Person Limited Narrator

But you can only guess at what the other characters are thinking and feeling.

With a sinking feeling, Frank read the word cancelled. They were far from home, the weather was steadily worsening, and now the flight was cancelled! Jessie would not be happy: From the corner of his eye, he caught the grim look on her face.


In the story you’re about to read, you’ll follow the experiences of one character, Mrs. Hayashi, as she prepares her family to leave their home:

Upstairs, in the boy’s room, she unpinned the One World One War map of the world from the wall and folded it neatly along the crease lines. She wrapped up his stamp collection, and the painted wooden Indian with the long headdress he had won at the Sacramento State Fair. She pulled out his Joe Palooka comic books from under the bed. She emptied the drawers. Some of his clothes—the clothes he would need—she left out for him to put into his suitcase later. She placed his baseball glove on his pillow.From “Evacuation Order No. 19” from When the Emperor Was Divine: A Novel by Julie Otsuka. Copyright © 2002 by Julie Otsuka, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., a division of Random House, Inc., www.randomhouse.com.


[End of Section]

The third-person limited point of view is popular with contemporary writers.

It combines the possibilities of the omniscient point of view with the intense, personal focus of the first-person point of view.

As you read “Evacuation Order No. 19,” watch for a shift in point of view near the end of the story.

As you read the story, think about what the narrator is not telling you.

Keep reading to find out whether your conclusions are accurate.

Evacuation Order No. 19 Reading Skills Focus: Drawing Conclusions

You will have to draw conclusions about what some of Mrs. Hayashi’s actions mean, using

• evidence from the story

• your own knowledge

For example, in this passage, the narrator does not tell you what the sign says.


She read the sign from top to bottom and then, still squinting, she took out a pen and read the sign from top to bottom again. The print was small and dark. Some of it was tiny. She wrote down a few words on the back of a bank receipt, then turned around and went home and began to pack.From “Evacuation Order No. 19” from When the Emperor Was Divine: A Novel by Julie Otsuka. Copyright © 2002 by Julie Otsuka, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., a division of Random House, Inc., www.randomhouse.com.

Why does Mrs. Hayashi begin packing right away?

What do you think the sign says?

Into Action: Use a chart to list any detail that isn’t clear. Write your conclusions about its meaning.


[End of Section]

Story Details

Mrs. Hayashi begins packing right after she reads the sign.

My ConclusionsThe sign probably says that she has to evacuate.

Every store is sold out of duffel bags.

Other evacuees in Berkeley have probably bought them all.

Find It in Your Reading

Evacuation Order No. 19 Writing Skills Focus: Think as a Reader/Writer

As you read, notice how the writer uses repeated sentence structures to emphasize certain ideas.

“It hung in the window of Woolworth’s. It hung by the entrance to the YMCA. It was nailed. . . .” From “Evacuation Order No. 19” from When the Emperor Was Divine: A Novel by Julie Otsuka. Copyright © 2002 by Julie Otsuka, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., a division of Random House, Inc., www.randomhouse.com.

[End of Section]

“It hung in the window of Woolworth’s. It hung by the entrance to the YMCA. It was nailed. . . .” From “Evacuation Order No. 19” from When the Emperor Was Divine: A Novel by Julie Otsuka. Copyright © 2002 by Julie Otsuka, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., a division of Random House, Inc., www.randomhouse.com.

In your notebook, list the repeated structures you find.

Vocabulary

drenched v. used as adj.: soaked.

Evacuation Order No. 19Vocabulary

severed v.: cut; broke off.

censored v.: examined for the purpose of removing anything objectionable.

rationing v. used as n.: distribution in small amounts.


Severed has the idea of substantial or important things being cut through, cut apart, or separated.

Severed means cut off completely—often abruptly and sometimes violently.

The lightning strike severed a large branch from the trunk.

She severed her relationship with her business partners because she no longer trusted them.

If there were an accident, and one person cut his thumb


while the other person severed his thumb,

which person is probably more injured?

The person whose thumb was cut off—or severed.


When goods are rationed, each person or family is only allowed a certain amount at a time.

Rationing is usually an official system of distributing goods or services that are scarce.

Why do you think a government might begin rationing goods and services during wartime?


• Supply routes might be interrupted or destroyed.

• Goods may be needed for soldiers.

• Fields and factories may not have enough workers to keep up. T

he

Gra

ng

er

Co

llec

tio

n,

New

Yo

rk


In wartime, uncensored information might be helpful to enemies.

When information is censored, someone else is deciding—officially or unofficially—that the information is harmful in some way.

Movies, books, and music have been censored because of inappropriate language or subject matter. T

he

Gra

ng

er

Co

llec

tio

n,

New

Yo

rk

The soldier’s letters to his family were probably censored because he


a. wrote about the activities of other soldiers and officers

b. described the arrival of additional equipment and troops in the area

c. complained about the food and the behavior of some officers

a. wrote about the activities of other soldiers and officers

b. described the arrival of additional equipment and troops in the area

c. complained about the food and the behavior of some officers

Which information would be most helpful to an enemy?


If someone turns a water hose on you or dumps a bucket of water over you, your clothes and hair would be drenched.

When something is drenched, it is soaking wet.

If you took a walk in a light, misty rain, you might get damp, but you would not be drenched.

In which situation is the person most likely to be drenched?


A B C[End of Section]

The End

Documents

Evacuation Order No. 19 by Julie Otsuka Introducing the Story Literary Skills Focus: Third- Person Limited Narrator Reading Skills Focus: Drawing Conclusions