I call our world Flatland, not because we call it so, but to make its nature clearer to you, my happy readers, who are privileged to live in Space.
Imagine a vast sheet of paper on which straight Lines, Triangles, Squares, Pentagons, Hexagons, and other figures, instead of remaining fixed in their places, move freely about, on or in the surface, but without the power of rising above or sinking below it, very much like shadows — only hard and with luminous edges — and you will then have a pretty correct notion of my country and countrymen. Alas! a few years ago, I should have said, “my universe;” but now my mind has been opened to higher views of things.
In such a country, you will perceive at once that it is impossible that there should be anything of what you call a “solid” kind; but I dare say you will suppose that we could at least distinguish by sight the Triangles, Squares, and other figures moving about as I have described them. On the contrary, we could see nothing of the kind, not at least so as to distinguish one figure from another. Nothing was visible, nor could be visible, to us, except straight Lines; and the necessity of this I will speedily demonstrate.
Place a penny on the middle of one of your tables in Space; and leaning over it, look down upon it. It will appear a circle.
But now, drawing back to the edge of the table, gradually lower your eye (thus bringing yourself more and more into the condition of the inhabitants of Flatland), and you will find the penny becoming more and more oval to your view; and at last when you have placed your eye exactly on the edge of a table (so that you are, as it were, actually a Flatland citizen) the penny will then have ceased to appear oval at all, and will have become, so far as you can see, a straight line.

I never thought about that! If you lived in a place that was flat, like you were really small and lived between two sheets of paper, you would only see lines. And so if you think about it, we only see two dimentions at one time, even though our world has three dimentions (like height, width, and depth). We can sorta see in 3D because we can tell if something’s close or far away, but we can’t see someone from the front, and the back, and the top and bottom all at the same time! So could there be like a 4th dimention or a 5th dimention? Could someone in a 4th dimentional world see us from the top and bottom and even our insides all at once? See, it gets really confusing! I bet this is the kind of thing Dwayne would like. It sounds all like science fiction! But I guess it’s just math, really. Here’s a practice question about the book.

According to the above passage, who is the narrator in Flatland?

1. A Man
2. A Line
3. A 2D Shape
4. A 3D Shape
5. Impossible to Know

At first I might think that answer 1 is right, because it’s not like a shape could write a book. But you gotta remember that the narrator and the author are two different things, so even though only a man or a woman could write the book, the narrator could be a shape or an animal or anything!

If you re-read the passage, you notice a line right away that mostly explains this answer.

“Imagine a vast sheet of paper on which straight Lines, Triangles, Squares, Pentagons, Hexagons, and other figures, instead of remaining fixed in their places, move freely about… and you will then have a pretty correct notion of my country and countrymen.”

He says right there that his “countrymen” are “Lines, Triangles, Squares, Pentagons, Hexagons, and other figures” all living in a “flat” land. So it can’t be a man or a 3D shape.

That means it’s either 2, 3 or 5. Later on, he talks about how things look like a line, but are really a shape. Like how he says that when you look at a penny with your eye right on the table its on, it looks like a line. So you might think the narrator is a shape. However, in that first line I quoted, it said, “Imagine a vast sheet of paper on which straight Lines, Triangles, Squares…” Lines were included! So that means some of his “countrymen” might be lines, and so he might be a line too. It’s impossible to know from just this passage. So, the answer is number 5.

Pretty loco, huh? This is the kinda book where it’s not like the words themselves are hard or anything. There’s not really anything I have to look up in the dictionary. But his ideas that he’s talking about are kinda weird and I’m not used to thinking that way, so I have to read it a few times to get what he’s really saying. But in the end, it’s fun to read things like this once you understand them. Now I can understand the things like 2D and 3D and maybe even 4D a little better. So if someone starts talking about it, I don’t feel completely lost (and by SOMEONE it’s probably going to be Dwayne)!

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit the GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.

A writer’s point of view isn’t said right out… but it’s how they see things, and whether they take a side of an issue. Well, here’s an example GED question that asks about point of view… not in those words, but that’s what it means. You can read the passage at The Study Guide Zone, but here’s a small part of it to show you what it’s like…

The Second Continental Congress was held May 10, 1775 in Philadelphia. George Washington became the commander of the Americans, mainly because it was felt he would be able to bring the Southern colonies into the fold. This Congress also drew up the Olive Branch petition, a peace offering made to the King of England. The Articles of Confederation were drawn up here; their emphasis on states’ rights proved to be a poor setup for organizing a comprehensive military strategy. This Congress created the Committees of Safety, a system for training community militias. This Congress created a bureaucracy for the purpose of organizing a navy and raising money. Finally, it was here that the colonists formally declared independence.

So, think about why someone would write this passage? What are they trying to tell you? Do they show you an opinion? Or what?

There are different ways that people can ask a point of view question. Here’s the example question:

9. This passage primarily:
A: indicates the idiocy of both British and Americans
B: gives facts in favor of the British
C: supports the American colonists
D: gives facts in an impartial manner

Okay, so this uses some big words. “Passage” just means what you’re reading, that’s pretty easy. “Primarily” means mostly. They’ll put in words like “primarily” so that you’re looking at the whole reading overall, and not just one little part of the reading. The question asks you to identify something that’s true of the whole reading, mostly. What describes it best?

There’s four choices… “indicates the idiocy” of Americans and British…well, if you look at the word “idiocy,” it’s really close to “idiot.” Answer A is asking whether the writer thinks the Americans and British are both idiots. What do you think? The writer seems to talk about what’s happening without trying to say that anyone’s an idiot. He just sort of gives facts.

Answer B is  “gives facts in favor of the British.” Does the writer think the British are right, or somehow better than the Americans? It doesn’t seem like it. I mean, I don’t think the writer says anything to show that one is better than the other.

Answer C is  “supports the American colonists.” This is the opposite. Does he think the Americans are right? The writer talks about what the Americans did, but he doesn’t seem to say if it’s good or not. I mean, most people in America are pretty proud of the American Revolution! But that doesn’t seem to be the writer’s point. I don’t see any words like “important,” “good,” “right,” “just,” or “intelligent.” Adjectives, I mean. Adjectives are words that DESCRIBE, and sometimes they can be words that put a VALUE on something. They show point of view. The writer doesn’t say that what the Americans are doing is good in any way.

Answer D says it “gives facts in an impartial manner.” Well, you might not know what “impartial” means. If none of the other answers sound right, you could guess and choose this one. Or, you can try to guess what this answer means based on the other answers. The first answer says the writer thinks both the Americans and British are bad, the second one says the writer thinks the British are better, and the third says the writer thinks the Americans are better. So, what could this one be? Either it’ll mean the Americans and British are both good (which doesn’t seem right, because the answer doesn’t mention Americans or British.) Or, it’ll mean the writer has no opinion. Is that what “impartial” could mean? Having no opinion? It could…and it does. The answer means that the writer gives facts without giving an opinion. The writer’s main goal seems to be just to give facts and information. So, this is the best answer!

Understanding point of view is important because you can see if a writer is biased or not…and you can figure out for yourself whether you agree with the writer’s point of view or think the writer is wrong. And point of view questions are something to watch out for on the GED test!

For more information on the GED test and GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.