Narrative PerspectiveAuthor’s Point of View

Dialogue and Narration

Dialogue = when characters speak.

Narration = when the narrator speaks.

“Quotation marks” separate narration from dialogue.

Example

“Help” my cousin Jack said.

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Identifying Narrative Perspective

It's about the narrator (who tells the story)

We're not looking at dialogue.

We don't care what characters say.

Only the narrator's voice matters.

Pronoun Case

First-Person I, me, my, mine, we, us, ours,

Second-Person you, your

Third-Person he, she, her, they, them

(also character's names)

We are trying to figure out the narrator's view point on the story.

Perspectives and Signal Words

Secret

“I am in the room”

I = 1st Person

“You come in the room.”

You = 2nd Person

“Then he or she came in the room.”

He or She = 3rd Person

First-Person

Narrator is a part of the story (character).

Often uses I or we.

Example

I went home. Tim came over. I couldn't play.

First-Person

the narrator is usually the protagonist or central character in the story.  But even if this character is not the protagonist, he or she is directly involved in the events of the story and is telling the tale “first hand.”

the narrator will be telling the story from “I’s” perspective.  Readers should watch for the narrator’s use of first-person pronouns- “I, me, my, our, us, we, myself, and ourselves,” as these will usually indicate that the passage is narrated from first-person perspective.  

Remember, one must ignore the dialogue of characters (indicated by “quotation marks”) and focus on narration!

Second-Person

Usually for instructions

Uses “You”; from “your” perspective.

Examples

First, gather your materials. Add 1 cup sugar to flour.

Second-Person

In this mode narration “you” are the agent,such as in this example: you walked down the stairs.  As it is generally awkward for a story to be narrated from “your” perspective, this mode of narration is not used very often in narratives and stories.  There are some exceptions, however, and second-person perspective is the primary mode of narration for choose your own adventure books and similarly styled writings.

 Most directions and instructions are usually narrated from second-person perspective.  In most cases, directions will be written in short sentences, where the implied subject is “you.”  But even when “you” is not explicitly stated, it is understood that “you” are the subject of directions and instructions.

Third-Person

Narrator usually isn’t involved.

Tells other's stories.

Lots of “He,” “She,” & character names.

Three Types of Third-Person Narration

Does the narrator tell…

Thoughts and Feelings of Characters?

Third-Person

The narrator may be far removed from or not involved in the story, or he or she may be a supporting character supplying narration for a hero.  

Uses “he, she, them, they, him, her, his, her, and their” by the narrator show that a passage is narrated from third-person perspective.  There are three distinct modes of third-person narration: objective, limited, and omniscient.

Which mode the narrator is using is determined by how much the narrator explains the thoughts, feelings, and internal thoughts of the characters and shares them with the reader through narration.  Characters’ feelings and motivations can be inferred and understood through their behavior and dialogue in each of the three modes of third-person narration; however, readers should be concerned with finding instances where the narrator explicitly reveals a character’s thoughts or feelings.

Third-Person Omniscient

Narrator is all knowing.

Narrator tells thoughts and feelings of more than one character.

Omni = All Scient = Knowing

Example

Tim was mad at Shay. He blamed her. Shay knew Tim would be mad, but she wanted to live her life.

Omniscient

In this mode of narration, the narrator gives readers the most access to characters’ thoughts and feelings.  With third-person omniscient narration, the narration will reveal more than one characters’  internal feelings.

The base word omni means “all,” and scient means “knowing,” so omniscient translates to “all knowing.”   In omniscient narration, the narraor is all knowing.

Third-Person Limited

Narrator is limited to one character.

Tells thoughts & feelings of one character

Example

Tim was mad at Shay. He blamed her. Shay just left without saying anything. She left a note and then left him.

Limited

When a narrator uses third-person limited perspective, the narrator’s perspective is limited to the internal thoughts of one character.  In other words, the narrator reveals the thoughts and feelings of one character through explicit narration. As with objective narration, readers may be able to infer characters’ thoughts and feelings based on the behaviors and dialogue of those characters, which are narrated, but the narrator also directly reveals the central character’s internal perspective.

Third-Person Objective

Narrator does not reveal any character’s thoughts or feelings.

Only character’s dialogue and actions are narrated.

Example

Tim slammed the door. He walked upstairs & read a note from Shay. He kicked her trash can & started crying.

Objective

In this mode of narration, the narrator tells a third-person’s story (he, she, him, her), but the narrator only describes characters’ behavior and dialogue.  The narrator does not reveal any character’s thoughts or feelings. Again, readers will be able to understand characters’ thoughts and motivations based on characters’ actions and dialogue, which are narrated; however, the narrator will not explicitly reveal character’s thoughts and/or motivations in narration.

Tips on Identifying

Check 1st or 2nd-person before worrying about objective, limited, or omniscient.

Ask, “Who’s story is the narrator telling: his, mine, or someone else’s?”

Focus on narration not dialogue.

Practice

1. Read the following passages.

2. Determine the narrator’s perspective.

3. Write down your answer.

1

When I was four months old, my mother died suddenly and my father was left to look after me all by himself… I had no brothers or sisters. So through boyhood, from the age of four months onward, there was just us two, my father and me. We lived in an old gypsy caravan behind a filling station”

2

Foresight in Relationships

The previous night, make your plans for the next day and write them down… If you attend an exclusive Samurai’s party and feel timid, you cannot do your part in making it a successful party. You had first better prepare by convincing yourself that you will have a grand time. And you should feel grateful for the invitation.

3

Harold Davis took a deep breath and slowly started to peel the gauze from the wound on his grandmother’s leg. “Hold on, Grandma. I’m almost done,” He said quietly. “Don’t worry, baby. It doesn’t hurt too much,” she quietly replied. “Just take your time.” Harold glanced up at his grandmother lying on the couch. He could tell she was in pain from the way she gripped the cushions, but still she managed to smile back at him.

4.

They were standing under a tree, each with an arm round the other's neck, and Alice knew which was which in a moment, because one of them had "DUM" embroidered on his collar, and the other "DEE." "I suppose they've each got "TWEEDLE" round at the back of the collar," she said to herself. They stood so still that she quite forgot they were alive, and she was just looking round to see if the word "TWEEDLE" was written at the back of each collar, when she was startled by a voice coming from the one marked "DUM."

5.

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

At dawn, Mae Tuck set out on her horse for the wood at the edge of the village of Treegap. She was going there, as she did once every ten years, to meet her two sons, Miles and Jesse, and she was feeling at ease. At noon time, Winnie Foster, whose family owned the Treegap wood, lost her patience at last and decided to think about running away.