Point of ViewEnglish 10

Unit #23 October 2011

Omniscient POV: “Know it All”• Point of view—the vantage point from

which a narrator tells a story• Omniscient narrator—godlike observer

who knows everything going on in the story and sees into each character’s heart and mind– Not a participant in the story–Most traditional point of view– Also called “third person omniscient

POV”Participation Point Opportunity! Why might an author want to use omniscient pov?

First-Person POV: “I” Speaks• Opposite extreme from omniscient POV• “I” tells the story and participates in the action

(usually main character)– Also known as the “persona”– Presents only what “I” character sees, hears, knows,

thinks, feels– May or may not be credible or reliable (may not be

objective, honest, or perceptive about what is happening)

• The narrator should not be confused with the author—the narrator is a fictional persona that the author has created.

Participation Point Opportunity! This one requires a good vocabulary . . . what biases might a first-person narrator have?

Third-Person-Limited POV: “Zooming In”

• Story is told by an outside observer who refers to characters with third-person pronouns (he, she, it)

• Views actions from one character’s perspective; knowledge is limited to what this one character knows

Participation Point Opportunity! Why do we characterize the third-person-limited narrator as one who “zooms in”?

Why is POV important?• Affects what information we receive (may

build suspense or mislead us), how we feel about characters, and what lesson we learn (theme)

• How do I determine POV?– Who is telling the story? What pronouns do

they use?– How much does this narrator know and

understand?– How much does this narrator want me to

know?– Can I trust this narrator?– In what ways would the story be different if

someone else were telling it?

Voice: Hearing the Writer• Voice refers to:– Writer’s distinctive use of language– Diction—choice of words– Tone—attitude expressed

• Tends to be consistent between works• Narrators can also have a unique voice

Participation Point Opportunity! This one’s a little bit tougher, so you get double points for a good answer . . . Give examples of two different types of diction.

Tone: It’s an Attitude

• The attitude a speaker or writer takes toward a subject, a character, or the reader– May be sympathetic, critical,

ironic, humorous, tragic, hopeful, etc.

• Point of view affects a story’s tone

Identifying Point of View“The Grasshopper and the Ant”

Weary in every limb, the ant tugged over the snow a piece of corn he had stored up last summer. It would taste mighty good at dinner tonight. It was then that he noticed the grasshopper, looking cold and pinched.

“Please, friend ant, may I have a bite of your corn?” asked the grasshopper.

He looked the grasshopper up and down. “What were you doing all last summer?” he asked. He knew its kind.

“I sang from dawn till dark,” replied the grasshopper.“Well,” said the ant, hardly bothering to conceal his

contempt, “since you sang all summer, you can dance all winter.”

Participation Point Opportunity! What is the POV of this story? How does the perspective influence our interpretation of the story?

Cold and hungry, I watched the ant tugging over the snow a piece of corn he had stored up last summer. My feelers twitched, and I was conscious of a tic in my left hind leg. Finally I could bear it no longer. “Please, friend ant,” I asked, “may I have a bite of your corn?”

He looked me up and down. “What were you doing all last summer?” he asked, rather too smugly it seemed to me.

“I sang from dawn till dark,” I said innocently, remembering the happy times.

“Well,” he said, with a priggish sneer, “since you sang all summer, you can dance all winter.”

Participation Point Opportunity! What is the POV of this story? How does the perspective influence our interpretation of the story?

Weary in every limb, the ant tugged over the snow a piece of corn he had stored up last summer. It would taste mighty good at dinner tonight.

A grasshopper, cold and hungry, looked on. Finally he could bear it no longer. “Please, friend ant, may I have a bite of corn?”

“What were you doing all last summer?” asked the ant. He looked the grasshopper up and down. He knew its kind.

“I sang from dawn till dark,” replied the grasshopper, happily unaware of what was coming next.

“Well,” said the ant, hardly bothering to conceal his contempt, “since you sang all summer, you can dance all winter.”

Participation Point Opportunity! What is the POV of this story? How does the perspective influence our interpretation of the story?