Point of View

Point
of
View
Comp II
Tina Buck
Point of View Topic Terms:
• Dramatic point of view

• First person point of view
• Third person point of view
– limited omniscient
– fully omniscient
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 author’s 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.
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.
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
in time!!!
time”
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!!!!
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 Relief!!!!
up the road.
FEAR!!!!
• 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
character’s bias, he might choose to
tell story from first person point of
view so that we see the character’s
thoughts and feelings.
Character and narrators in a story should
not be confused with the author of the story
unless the connection is clearly stated.
• Mark Twain’s 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 Huck’s point of view. The
story is not told from Mark Twain’s point of view.
≠
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
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 man’s 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 executioners—two 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
Next you will analyze stories and
examine their narrative point of view.
The end!

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• Dramatic point of view

Example: The boy rode home on his

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