Assignment: Take a substantial passage, go for half a page, from a short story such as The Lottery and rewrite it from another perspective.
See what happens to the language as you change the point of view from third to first person. What will you need to add or take away? How might this change affect the emotional relationship the reader develops with the character.
Here's a quick sample:
(original text)
The people had done it so many times that they only half listened to the directions: most of them were quiet, wetting their lips, not looking around. Then Mr. Summers raised one hand high and said, "Adams." A man disengaged himself from the crowd and came forward. "Hi. Steve." Mr. Summers said, and Mr. Adams said. "Hi. Joe." They grinned at one another humorlessly and nervously. Then Mr. Adams reached into the black box and took out a folded paper. He held it firmly by one corner as he turned and went hastily back to his place in the crowd, where he stood a little apart from his family, not looking down at his hand.
(in the first person)
We'd gathered so many times that only half of us listened to the directions; most of us were quiet, wetting out lips, not looking around. Then Mr. Summers raised one hand high and said, "Adams." Upon hearing my name, I disengaged myself from the crowd and took a few nervous steps forward. "Hi. Steve," Mr. Summers said, and, doing my best to meet his eyes, I said, "Hi. Joe." For the life of me, I couldn't think of anything else to say, but I still grinned at him as if I was were sharing some kind of joke. Then I dove my hand into the black box and took out the first piece of folded paper that I touched. Holding it firmly by one corner, I turned and half-ran back to my place in the crowd. I felt kind of foolish for hurrying though because when I got to my family, all I could do was stand a little apart from them and try not to look down at my hand.