Quote/Analysis 1

“ ‘No, I mean, where are you in the sequence, the youngest, the oldest?” So the woman has not read any of the articles or biographies around. Dede is relieved. This means that they can spend the time talking about the simple facts that give Dede the illusion that hers was just an ordinary family, too-birthdays and weddings and new babies, the peaks in that graph of normalcy” (Alvarez pg.6)

-Dede’s point of view of how so many people ask the same questions

-it was long time ago, but still difficult for her

-lets reader know that she is the only surviving sister

-starts with dede’s point of view in present day

-sets the book up for the flashback with the different points of views