Point of View Comp II Tina Buck

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Point of View Comp II Tina Buck
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Point of View Topic Terms

• Dramatic point of view
• First person point of view
• Third person point of view
• limited omniscient
• fully omniscient

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Explanation of Terms

• The narrative point of view is the "voice" a
  story is told in. It is the perspective the
  author chooses to present his or her work to the
  reader.
• An authors choice of narrative point of view is
  intentional. The same story told from different
  narrative points of view can change the focus,
  style and tone of the story.
• Next you will find definitions and examples of
  different types of narrative points of view. In
  this lesson, point of view and narration are
  used interchangeably.

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Dramatic point of view

• The story is told by a narrator (not a character
  in the story) but no "thoughts" are presented.
  Like a drama (play), we only see the characters'
  actions.
• Example The boy rode home on his bicycle. His
  mother was sitting on the porch looking down the
  road towards him.

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First person point of view

• the story is told by the main character in "I"
  narration. We see the internal thoughts and often
  the feelings of the main character.
• Example "I hope I get home in time," I thought
  as I pedaled frantically. As I approached the
  house, I saw my mother sitting on the porch
  waiting for me.

I hope I I hope I get home in time!!!in time
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Third person point of view

• the story is told by an all knowing, all seeing
  narrator (not a character in the story).
• Third person narration can either be limited
  omniscient (see into one character's thoughts and
  feelings) .
• The boy rode home on his bicycle all the time
  fearing that he would be late and his mother
  would be angry. His mother waited, silently on
  the porch.

FEAR!!!!
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Third person can be fully omniscient (see into
all the character's thoughts
Example The boy rode home on his bicycle all
the time fearing that he would be late and his
mother would be angry. His mother sat silently on
the porch, relieved to see her son pedaling up
the road.

• Relief!!!!

FEAR!!!!
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• If the author wants you to analyze motives, or to
  solve a mystery then she might choose the
  dramatic point of view to give you no clues to
  what anyone is thinking or feeling.
• If the author wants you to see a main characters
  bias, he might choose to tell story from first
  person point of view so that we see the
  characters thoughts and feelings.

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Character and narrators in a story should not be
confused with the author of the story unless the
connection is clearly stated.

• Mark Twains character, Huck Finn, is uneducated
  and therefore, there are misspellings and slang
  expressions in his first person narration like
  sivilize for civilize and lit out for
  left.
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are told from
  the character Hucks point of view. The story is
  not told from Mark Twains point of view.
• ?

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First Person Narration

• The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as
  I best could but when he ventured upon insult, I
  vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature
  of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I
  gave utterance to a threat. AT LENGTH I would be
  avenged this was a point definitively settled --
  but the very definitiveness with which it was
  resolved precluded the idea of risk. I must not
  only punish, but punish with impunity. A wrong is
  unredressed when retribution overtakes its
  redresser. It is equally unredressed when the
  avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him
  who has done the wrong.
• The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe

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Third Person Point of View

• A man stood upon a railroad bridge in Northern
  Alabama, looking down into the swift waters
  twenty feet below. The mans hands were behind
  his back, the wrists bound with a cord. A rope
  loosely encircled his neck. It was attached to a
  stout cross-timber above his head, and the slack
  fell to the level of his knees. Some loose boards
  laid upon the sleepers supporting the metals of
  the railway supplied a footing for him and his
  executionerstwo private soldiers of the Federal
  army, directed by a sergeant, who in civil life
  may have been a deputy sheriff.
• An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose
  Bierce

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Next you will analyze stories and examine their
narrative point of view.
The end!