Point-of-view

1
Point-of-view

• Who tells the story?

2
First Person POV

• If Id had any doubts about his guilt, they
  vanished the minute he and I locked yes. His
  surprise was replaced by panic, and he gunned his
  engine, taking off. I peeled after him, flooring
  it. At the corner he skidded sideways and
  recovered, speeding out of sight. I went after
  him, zig-zagging crazily through a residential
  area laid out like a maze.
• -Sue Grafton, Full Circle

• Narrator is one of the characters.
• Narrator uses first-person pronouns I, me, my we,
  us, our.
• Narrator knows the thoughts and feels of one
  character and speaks directly to the reader.

3
Third Person Limited POV

• Taking off his cap, he placed it over the muzzle
  of his rifle. Then he pushed the rifle slowly
  upwards over the parapet, until the cap was
  visible from the opposite side of the street.
  Almost immediately there was a report, and a
  bullet pierced the center of the cap. The sniper
  slanted the rifle forward. The cap slipped down
  into the street.
• - Liam OFlaherty, The Sniper

• Narrator does not participate in story action
• Narrator refers to characters as he, she, they,
  him, her, them
• Narrator knows the thoughts and feelings of only
  one character but is not that character.

4
Third Person Omniscient POV

• The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his
  head. He remembered the tale of the man, caught
  in a blizzard, who killed a steer and crawled
  inside the carcass, and so was saved. He would
  kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body.
  He spoke to the dog, calling it to him but in
  his voice was a strange note of fear that
  frightened the animal, who had never known the
  man to speak in such a way before.
• - Jack London, To Build a Fire

• Narrator does not participate in story action
• Narrator refers to characters as he, she, they,
  him, her, them
• Narrator knows the thoughts and feelings of ALL
  characters

5
POV Practice

• Now, read the POV examples on your worksheet.
• Highlight sections that help identify the POV
  (pronouns, information the narrator knows)
• Write the type of POV in the blank provided.

6
Sensory Details

• Details that evoke a response from one of the
  five senses.

7
What are the Five Senses?

• Sight/Visual
• Sound/Auditory
• Smell/Olfactory
• Touch/Kinetic
• Taste/Oral

8
Find the Sensory Details

• In this activity, you will find and identify
  sensory details.
• First, read all instructions and examine the
  example.
• INSTRUCTIONS
• Identify one (1) of each of the five (5) types of
  sensory details from the SAMPLE DETAIL PARAGRAPH.
• Copy the SAMPLE DETAIL PARAGRAPH from slide 5 to
  your Word notes document we started in class.
• Then, label sensory details by clicking the
  Review tab, pressing the Comment button on the
  tool bar, and entering a complete sentence that
  identifies and explains the sensory detail. (see
  example next slide).

9
Example
10

• SAMPLE DETAIL PARAGRAPH
• Grandmother Workman lurched over and grabbed
  the pale skin of Randal's thin forearm with her
  leathery hand. The folds and creases beneath her
  skin coiled themselves out like electrical
  wiring, like the bloated, roughly-textured relief
  map of the world that his mother just posted
  above his bedside table. Randal looked ahead
  toward the winding spiral staircase, fidgeted
  with a small hole in his baseball jersey, and bit
  his lip. His mouth filled with the sweet, coppery
  taste of blood as she leaned in closely toward
  him, breathing her hot breath on the damp hair at
  the base of his neck. She smelled of wet
  cigarettes and bacon. As they slowly climbed the
  long, steep staircase, the only sound was his
  grandmothers' labored breathing and the mournful
  creak of the wooden stairs.

11
Writing with Sensory Details

• Now, you will write a sensory detail paragraph of
  your own due tomorrow, Tuesday 13 December.
• This paragraph will go in the introduction of
  your story and will serve to establish the
  setting.
• INSTRUCTIONS
• Using your chosen point-of-view (POV), write a
  minimum one-paragraph description of setting.
• Address the location, time and the mood of the
  story.
• Include sensory details for all five (5) of the
  senses sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch.

12
Example from The Scarlet Ibisby James Hurst

• It was in the clove of seasons, summer was dead
  but autumn had not yet been born, that the ibis
  lit in the bleeding tree. The flower garden was
  stained with rotting brown magnolia petals and
  ironweeds grew rank amid the purple phlox. The
  five oclocks by the chimney skill marked time,
  but the oriole next in the elm was untenanted and
  rocked back and forth like an empty cradle. The
  last graveyard flowers were blooming, and their
  smell drifted across the cotton field and through
  every room of our house, speaking softy the names
  of our dead.