ENGLISH

ELEVENTH GRADE

Module 1 - Lesson 5

Point of view

Point of view is the way the author allows you to "see" and "hear" what's going on. Skillful authors can fix their readers' attention on exactly the detail, opinion, or emotion the author wants to emphasize by manipulating the point of view of the story.

There are different types of point of view:

ü First-person point of view is in use when a character narrates the story with I-me-my-mine in his or her speech. The advantage of this point of view is that you get to hear the thoughts of the narrator and see the world depicted in the story through his or her eyes. However, remember that no narrator, like no human being, has complete self-knowledge or, for that matter, complete knowledge of anything. Therefore, the reader's role is to go beyond what the narrator says.

For example, Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird is told from the point of view of Scout, a young child. She doesn't grasp the complex racial and socioeconomic relations of her town — but the reader does, because Scout gives information that the reader can interpret. Also, Scout's innocence reminds the reader of a simple, "it's-not-fair" attitude that contrasts with the rationalizations of other characters.

ü Second-person point of view, in which the author uses you and your, is rare; authors seldom speak directly to the reader. When you encounter this point of view, pay attention. Why? The author has made a daring choice, probably with a specific purpose in mind. Most times, second-person point of view draws the reader into the story, almost making the reader a participant in the action.

Here's an example: Jay McInerney's best-selling Bright Lights, Big City was written in second person to make the experiences and tribulations of the unnamed main character more personal and intimate for the reader.

ü Third-person point of view is that of an outsider looking at the action. The writer may choose third-person omniscient, in which the thoughts of every character are open to the reader, or third-person limited, in which the reader enters only one character's mind, either throughout the entire work or in a specific section. Third-person limited differs from first-person because the author's voice, not the character's voice, is what you hear in the descriptive passages.

In Virginia Woolf's wonderful novel Mrs. Dalloway, you're in one character's mind at a time. You know the title character's thoughts about Peter, the great love of her youth, for example, and then a few pages later, you hear Peter's thoughts about Mrs. Dalloway. Fascinating! When you're reading a third-person selection, either limited or omniscient, you're watching the story unfold as an outsider. Remember that most writers choose this point of view.

Point of view

Practicing exercise
I. Choose from these points of view: first person, third person omniscient, third person limited
1. From Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
So he turned and started walking north on Hector, right down the middle of the street, right down the invisible chalk line that divided East End from West End. Cars beeped at him, drivers hollered, but he never flinched. The Cobras kept right along with him on their side of the street. So did a bunch of East Enders on their side. One of them was Mars Bar. Both sides were calling for him to come over.
Point of view? _________________________________

2. From the Mixed-Up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, by E. L. Konigsburg
Claudia was furious . . . She refused to look at Jamie again and instead stared at the statue. The sound of footsteps broke the silence and her concentration. Footsteps from the Italian Renaissance were descending upon them! The guard was coming down the steps. There was just too much time before the museum opened on Sundays. They should have been in hiding already. Here they were out in the open with a light on!
Point of View? _________________________________

3. From The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois
It is funny that my trip has ended by being such a fast trip around the world. I find myself referred to now as one of the speediest travelers of all times. Speed wasn’t at all what I had in mind when I started out. On the contrary, if all had gone the way I had hoped, I would still be happily floating around in my balloon, drifting anywhere the wind cared to carry me – East, West, North, or South.
Point of View? _________________________________

4. From Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
One of the soldiers, the taller one, moved toward her. Annemarie recognized him as the one she and Ellen always called, in whispers, “the Giraffe” because of his height and the long neck that extended from his stiff collar. He and his partner were always on this corner. He prodded the corner of her backpack with the stock of his rifle. Annemarie trembled. “What is in here?” he asked loudly. “Schoolbooks,” she answered truthfully.
Point of View? _________________________________

5. From Missing May by Cynthia Rylant
The day after May didn’t come to us, Ob didn’t get out of bed. He didn’t get me up either, and from a bad dream I woke with a start, knowing things were wrong, knowing that I had missed something vitally important. Among these, of course, was the school bus. It was Monday, and OB should have called me out of bed at five-thirty, but he didn’t, and when I finally woke at seven o’clock, it was too late to set the day straight.
Point of View? _________________________________

Point of view

Practicing exercise-Answer key

1. Third person omniscient
2. Third person limited
3. First person
4. Third person limited
5. First person

Point of view

Test

I. Read then choose the best answer:

Understanding Point of View
By Cindy Grigg

¹     Many times a teacher will ask her students, "Is this story written from the first person or third person point of view?" The point of view (POV) is the vantage point or the "angle" from which a story is told.

²     When a story is written "in the first-person," the narrator, or the person telling the story, is one of the characters in the story. The narrator uses the pronouns "I" and "we." A first-person narrator can only tell what he or she sees, hears, is told, or believes. The reader only knows what this character is thinking or feeling and can only find out what other characters think or feel from what the narrator sees. Since the narrator is within the story, the reader finds things out when the narrator does. By using a first-person point of view, the reader is drawn into the story.

³     If a story is written "in the third-person," the narrator is outside the story. The narrator uses words like "they," "he," or "she" to describe the characters. He has no insights into characters' feelings or thoughts.

⁴     The difference between first-person and third-person POV is like the difference between actually playing baseball and watching someone else play. A first-person narrator is the person doing the action. A story about a baseball game told in first-person narrative tells the reader what one player saw, heard, thought, and felt as he played the game. The reader will know the pressure the ballplayer felt as he went up to bat. The reader will know the ballplayer's excitement, fears, and worries. A third-person POV can only tell you what someone watching a player saw or heard.

⁵     An omniscient narrator (third-person) knows everything and sees everything, even some things that no character in the story knows or sees. He can reveal the thoughts of any character. He can describe any event, even one that none of the characters in the story knows about. He may offer opinions or judgments about other characters. An example of this third-person viewpoint is the Lemony Snicket book series. It has an omniscient narrator.

⁶     An objective narrator gives only the facts. He offers no judgments or opinions. This is sometimes referred to as "the fly on the wall" point of view. An objective third-person narrator has only one viewpoint. He doesn't offer opinions about what other characters think or know. Newspaper articles are usually written with an objective third-person narrative.

⁷     A limited narrator reveals the thoughts of just one character. The story's events are told as that character sees them. He doesn't know what other characters think, feel, or know.

⁸     Is there a second-person point of view? Yes, but it is not used as often. When a story is written with a second-person point of view, the narrator is talking to "you." Self-help books or guidebooks are sometimes written from the second-person point of view. An example you might know is the children's book How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman. This book is a series of commands: "First get all the ingredients at the market. Mix them well, bake, and serve." The author is talking directly to you, telling you what to do. The first chapter of Winnie the Pooh is also a second-person narrative:

⁹     

"Ah, yes, now I do," I said quickly; and I hope you do too,
because it is all the explanation you are going to get.
- Winnie the Pooh, page 2.

¹⁰     First- and third-person viewpoints are often used in movies and video games, too. The camera's viewpoint can be from either the first-person or the third-person viewpoint. If a movie is filmed from a third-person POV, the camera shows a scene from a general viewpoint. If a first-person POV is used, the camera only shows things from one character's viewpoint.

¹¹     In some video games or in simulations, a first-person POV is often used. Some examples are the game Doom and racing and flight simulation games. A third-person POV of characters is typical of most other games. Sometimes the player can switch between first-person and third-person viewpoints at will. This can improve the accuracy of any weapons used in generally third-person games. An example of this is the game Meta.

¹²     When you are writing a story, you need to think about which point of view you want to tell the story from. If you want to pull your readers into your story and make them a part of it, the first-person POV might be best. If you are writing a romantic story, for instance, you might want to tell just the girl's feelings or just the boy's feelings. But you might choose to tell it from a third-person POV so that the reader could know what both characters are thinking and feeling.

¹³     Choosing the best POV from which to tell a story is sometimes the hardest part. When you decide which POV is best, then you have your narrator's "voice." It will set the tone of the story as well.

 

Point of view test-Answer Key
1    The angle from which the story is told
2    First-person
3    Second-person
4    An omniscient narrator
5    Third-person objective
6    A limited narrator