How do you know the author is presenting factual information?

There is actually two different answers to this question. Since the book I am reading, The Warlords of Nin, is entirely fictional, none of the information is truly fact. But there are some similarities between the "facts" of the story, and real life.
For example, most of us know of the Israeli - Palestinian War. The whole war is based on religion. There is an identical war happening in the story also. A new religion is trying to push out the old one. So there isn't a single answer to the question asked. It just depends on how you look at it.

What perspective is the author telling the story from?

The book I was reading when I chose this question is The Amulet of Samarkand and it is written by the author Jonathan Stroud. In this book Mr. Stroud changes between 2 different perspectives constantly. The first of the 2 perspectives is the young magician's apprentice, Nathaniel Underwood's perspective, and the second is the djiin, Bartimeus of Uruk's perspective. Bartimeus is Nathaniel's personal demon slave, so from his perspective, magicians are evil and malicious, since they are always imprisoning djinn and forcing them to do things. But from Nathaniel's point of view, the magicians are constantly protecting everyone from the evil djinn. So the two are always trying to prove that their side is right. So you can't really say that he is telling it from one perspective, and that makes all the difference of a good story, and a not-so-good one.

What would happen if you changed one of the major elements of this story?

Once again I am reading a fantasy-fiction book to answer these questions. This time, the book is called Dragons of Autumn Twilight, a book by two, (in my opinion), very good writers, Margaret Weis, and Tracy Hickman. This is the first of many books in the Dragonlance Chronicles, which is a series totally based on in a world of magic, and wonder. In this particular volume, Tanis, the half-elven ranger is on a quest to find out the origin of a strange staff for which armies are fighting to control, with Flint the dwarf fighter, Sturm the human knight, Caramon the human berserk, his twin brother, Raistlin the human magician, Tasselhoff the adventurous kender rogue, and two barbarians, (called Plains People). But if you took out the adventurous kender rogue, then the whole story would have gone a different way. Because Tasselhoff was the one who convinced everyone to go on the quest in the first place. Without him, there is no story at all. but you cannot take out anyone else either because they all play a vital role in keeping the story flowing.

How does this event/problem in the story affect us today?

For this question, I read the book called Empire. It is a book written by Orson Scott Card, a formidable Sci-Fi writer who wrote a famous novel called Ender's Game, and the many sequels that followed. The reason this book affects us even now, is because the author wrote about the possibility of another civil war. Except this one would be fought on the basis of the red-states not following the Constitution and the blue-states taking their revenge by murdering the President. I think that this war might still be a problem because there are still people that don't like the way current politics are going and would be willing to assassinate the President to change things. And that is why I believe that this book affects us right now. Because this is an actual possibility for the future of our country

How do you know the author is presenting factual information?

The book I am in the middle of right now is a non-fiction book about a confidential computer break-in that happened some years ago. Clifford Stoll is the author of this book is one of the actual characters of this book so he narrates it himself. And to answer the question, I know that this story is true because of 2 very obvious(to me) reasons.

1.The book is labeled NON-FICTION.
2.There is an old article about the actual break-in in the back of the book.

Kwanzaa

The word Kwanzaa actually means “first fruits” in the African Language Swahili. Ron Karenga first celebrated it in the year 1966 as a Pan-African alternative to the Christian holiday of Christmas. It is celebrated from Dec. 26th – Jan. 1st and focuses on the seven guiding principals, also known as Nguzo Saba. These 7 principles are:
• Umoja (oo-MO-jah) = Unity
• Ujima (oo-GEE-mah) = Collective Work and Responsibility
• Ujamaa (oo-JAH-mah) = Cooperation
• Kuumba (koo-OOM-bah) = Creativity
• Kujichagulia (koo-gee-cha-goo-LEE-yah) = Self-Determination
• Imani (ee-MAH-nee) = Faith
• Nia (NEE-yah) = Purpose

Hanukkah

The Hebrew interpretation of the name of this 8 day Jewish holiday was thought to mean “dedication”, or “education” in the old days. It was created to celebrate the rededication of the Second Temple in the Jewish city of Jerusalem. Hanukkah starts on the 25th day of Kislev from the Hebrew calendar, and may start during late November to late December on the Gregorian calendar. During the festival, one candle is lit each night. An extra light called a shamash, (Hebrew for “guard”) is also lit again and again for every night. This extra light is lit to ensure that the occasion does not descend into public mockery. At the end of the holiday, the total number of candles lit is 44.

What perspective is the author telling the story from?

My new book is called The Amber Spyglass, and it is written by Phillip Pullman. This book is the 3rd in the His Dark Materials series. All of these books are written from changing perspectives. First the author opens the book from a small girl named Lyra's point of view. But very soon, it switches to (her mother)Mrs. Coulter's point of view. And all through the story, the author keeps switching points of view to give the reader all the information they need to fully enjoy all the different feelings and emotions each character feels. So to answer the question, Phillip Pullman doesn't actually take just one point of view, he takes all of them! And that is the really cool thing about his writing!

What theme do you think the author is trying to convey throughout the story?

The book I'm reading is called Homeland, a book by R. A. Salvatore about a dark elf, or drow, named Drizzt. Throughout the story, I think that the author is trying to impress upon the reader the unfaithful and disloyal side or the dark elves. How the early lessons of childhood are to stab your opponents' vital spots and how to lie convincingly. Instead of how to be honest and trustworthy. And the hardest part is, all this evilness is done with the support of the harsh hierarchy government. And that is what feeling or theme I think the author is trying to convey to the reader.

How can the Israeli/Palestinian conflict be solved?

I think that the only way that this conflict can be solved is for both sides to find a common enemy. Then they will side together for once and see the good of having each other as allies. Then when the common enemy is destroyed, and they begin to return to their previous conflict, they will realize that they don't really want to fight former friends. And then the conflict will be solved for all time.