Point of view (POV)

What are the different points of view? How can they affect a story? How can we tell them apart?

SOLs

8.5 C- Explain how authors use characters, conflict, point of view, voice, and tone to create meaning.

An introduction to point of view

Read the two passages on your paper. It is the same situation written from two different points of view. Discuss with a partner how the POV impacted your understanding of the situation. Write down your answers of the back of the paper.

What are the different types of point of view?

1st person2nd person3rd person

LimitedOmniscientObjective

1st Person

The narrator uses the pronouns “I” and “we”.I: 1st person singularWe: 1st person pluralIf the narrator is speaking in the 1st person, it is likely

that he/she is a character in the story. The narrator is telling the story from his/her own

point of view.

Example of the 1st person in literature

“The Dauntless guards close the gate and lock it behind them. The lock is on the outside. I bit my lip. Why would they lock the gate from the outside and not the inside?” –Divergent (page 128)Because this is written in the 1st person, the reader

only knows what Tris knows. We don’t know why the gate is locked from the outside because we are limited to her point of view.

2nd Person

The narrator says “you”.This is the least common point of view.The narrator is often addressing the reader

when using the 2nd person. This is often found in instructions.

Examples of the 2nd person in literature

“It is summertime again, vacation time. You go to your uncle’s house. He takes you on a tour around the city. There are many old buildings, but the oldest of all is on Main Street. The address is 880. He says that it is haunted, but you don’t believe him. Choice: Do you go inside? (turn to page 2) Or: Do you stay there? (go to page 3)” –The Mystery of the Haunted House (page 1)The narrator is not a character in the story. Instead, the

reader becomes part of the story.

3rd person

The narrator uses pronouns like “he”, “she”, “it”, “they”, or names.

There are three different types of 3rd person: limited, omniscient, and objective.

3rd person limited

The narrator is limited to awareness of the thoughts and emotions of one character. This character often becomes the protagonist.

Example of 3rd person limited in literature

“He sat quite still, anger still surging through him, listening to the frantic thumping of his heart. But after ten minutes alone in the dark street, a new emotion overtook him: panic. Whichever way he looked at it, he had never been in a worse fix.” –Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (page 31)Not only do we hear Harry’s actions, we also hear his inner

thoughts. However, Harry is the only character whose thoughts we are aware of. We are limited to him.

3rd person omniscient

The narrator is aware of 2 or more of the characters’ inner thoughts.

Unless the narrator has some sort of supernatural powers, he/she is probably not a character in the story.

Example of 3rd person omniscient in literature

“This hobbit was a very well-to-do hobbit, and his name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him.” – The HobbitThe narrator knows everything there is to know about the Bagginses.

We are not limited to hearing only one person’s perspective of them.

3rd person objective

3rd person objective only states the facts. Only dialogue and actions are described. The

read must infer from what the narrator implies. The narrator is unable to tell the reader anything

other than what a camera would see.

Example of 3rd person objective in literature

“By the time he got back to the kitchen, Aunt Marge had been supplied with tea and fruitcakes, and Ripper was lapping noisily in the corner. Harry saw Aunt Petunia wince slightly as speck of tea and drool flecked off her clean floor.” – Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (page 23)We are reading a play-by-play of the scene. We can

infer things about both Marge and Petunia, but the narrator does not come out and say it.

Now, let’s see if you can identify POV.

Identify which POV is being used in each of the two passages. Use you cheat sheet to help you!

Homework (Write this down!)

Now it’s your turn! Come up with your own scenario and write about it from two different points of view. You can choose any situation (as long as it’s appropriate) and any two points of view. Be as creative as you can and try to make the two points of view as different as possible!