How does the narrator’s perspective contribute to meaning in the book? Describe how it would read differently if it were written entirely in third person.

Montgomery’s emotional involvement provides much of the book’s tension. Her awe inspires her reader, not only through empathy but also because it drives her personifying and imagery-laden writing.

Discuss the genre of The Soul of an Octopus, and identify elements of the book that characterize its genre.

It is a work of creative non-fiction, incorporating natural science in many passages that describe the anatomy, biological processes, and psychology of octopuses. There is also a strong narrative element to it, as the information is embedded into Montgomery’s recollection of two years of her life. There is a narrative of Montgomery’s life, as well as those of the other people at the aquarium. Because of the centrality of Montgomery...