Perspective

Common Ground is written from the third-person perspective with the author, J. Anthong Lukas acting as narrator. This approach allows the author to provide the reader with all of the background information that is required for a book of this type and Lukas does a very good join in this respect. He carefully selects the three families because he felt that each one of them is representative of and stands out in their own social context. He wants to show the realities of life in the inner city during this turbulent period in United States history. What kind of problems does these people face and how do they deal with them?

Many of the problems these people faced and dealt with are unknown to those who lived in the suburbs. Lukas chooses the three families he will concentrate on and interviews the various people. This is how he...