Comparing viewpoints: whose story is it?
The same event told by two narrators is not the same event. Wonder uses this to teach that empathy is built by hearing the second voice, not just the first.
Part of your national curriculum
- Reading: Compare and contrast the treatment of themes and viewpoints across two or more texts
Lesson overview
What you'll learn in this lesson
Compare and contrast the treatment of themes and viewpoints across two or more texts
Key learning points
- • The same scene, two voices
- • Via's hidden cost
- • Comparing with other texts
- • Writing a comparison
This lesson at a glance
- 24 minutes
- 20 parts to scroll through
- 4 quick checks
- Marked quiz at the end
- Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses
Words to know
Scroll down — the lesson carries on below
Watch & discover
Part 1 of 20
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Comparing viewpoints: whose story is it?
Compare viewpoints: shared element, difference, effect — the skeleton of comparison.
In a nutshell
Compare and contrast the treatment of themes and viewpoints across two or more texts
Learning cycle
Part 2 of 20
Learning cycle 1 of 2
Part 1 · The same scene, two voices
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 3 of 20
Learn
The same scene, two voices
An event at school — say, a remark overheard in the corridor — appears in Auggie's chapter as cruelty, then in Jack's chapter as fear. Comparing the two versions is the skill: you are not deciding who is right, you are seeing that each is incomplete. That recognition is what 'compare viewpoints' actually means.
Reset break
Part 4 of 20
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Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Explore the idea
Part 5 of 20
Learn
Via's hidden cost
Via's chapters reveal that being Auggie's sibling has a cost the first-person-only reader never saw. She loves him and is also, sometimes, invisible. Her viewpoint does not contradict Auggie's; it adds a layer the single voice made impossible. The comparison enlarges the truth rather than settling it.
Quick check
Part 6 of 20
Quick check
Part 7 of 20
Reset break
Part 8 of 20
Pause
That's sitting 2 of 5 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Learning cycle
Part 9 of 20
Learning cycle 2 of 2
Part 2 · Comparing with other texts
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 10 of 20
Learn
Comparing with other texts
The skill generalises. Compare Wonder with Noughts & Crosses (also dual first-person) and you find a shared technique carrying opposite themes: Wonder uses multiple viewpoints to build empathy; Noughts & Crosses uses them to expose injustice. The same form, different work — which is the point of comparison.
Explore the idea
Part 11 of 20
Learn
Writing a comparison
A comparison paragraph names the shared element, states the difference, and explains the effect. 'Both novels use dual first-person narration to reveal hidden cost; Wonder uses it to build empathy with a sibling, Noughts & Crosses to expose the cost of prejudice.' That shape — shared, different, effect — is the skeleton of every comparison answer.
Reset break
Part 12 of 20
Pause
That's sitting 3 of 5 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Quick check
Part 13 of 20
Quick check
What is the shared technique, and the difference, between Wonder and Noughts & Crosses?
Quick check
Part 14 of 20
Challenge round
Part 15 of 20
Game · Sort it
Which of these are true?
Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.
True
Not true
Reset break
Part 16 of 20
Pause
That's sitting 4 of 5 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Challenge round
Part 17 of 20
Game · Fill the gaps
Finish the sentences
Choose the word that belongs in each gap.
That recognition is what 'compare ____' actually means.
Compare Wonder with Noughts & Crosses (also dual first-person) and you find a shared technique carrying opposite ____: Wonder uses multiple viewpoints to build empathy; Noughts & Crosses uses them to expose injustice.
Challenge round
Part 18 of 20
Game · Recall cards
A strong comparison paragraph…
Card 1 of 4
Mastery quiz
Part 19 of 20
Marked quiz
End of lesson quiz: Comparing viewpoints: whose story is it?
4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.
1. A strong comparison paragraph…
2. 'Whereas' is useful because it…
3. Before analysing language you should identify…
4. What do both writers claim to prioritise?
Lesson round-up
Part 20 of 20
Lesson round-up
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Compare and contrast the treatment of themes and viewpoints across two or more texts