Point of View, part 2

Point of View, part 2

1st, 2nd, 3rd review PLUS 3rd limited, 3rd omniscient, and 3rd objective

Multiple Choice

Which point of view uses the pronouns you, your?

• 1st

• 2nd

• 3rd

Multiple Choice

Which point of view uses the pronouns I, me, my?

• 1st

• 2nd

• 3rd

Multiple Choice

Which point of view uses the pronouns he, she, they?

• 1st

• 2nd

• 3rd

Multiple Choice

When you are trying to determine point of view, what's the FIRST thing you should do?

• give up

• look for the words he, she, they

• look for the words you, your

• delete the dialogue (stuff in quotation marks) and read everything else, looking for pronouns

Multiple Choice

If you see multiple pronouns in a passage, which pronouns always "win"?

• I, me, my

• you, your

• he, she, they

3rd person pov has 3 subcategories:

• 3rd person limited

• 3rd person omniscient

• 3rd person objective

3rd person limited

• You are LIMITED to one main character's perspective.

• There are still other characters in the story, but you don't know what they're thinking/feeling.

• EX: "John ran down the court, dribbling the ball. He passed it to Malik, who made a layup. Looking over at his father, Malik felt proud and excited. The team now led by 2 points."

• (We have 2 characters: John and Malik. However, we only know how Malik is feeling: proud and excited.)

Multiple Choice

In this example of 3rd limited, to which character's perspective are we LIMITED? "As it rained, Megan and Justin played in the puddles. When Justin splashed Megan, she jumped back in shock. She was now cold, and she wanted to go home. Justin continued to jump around."

• Megan - we only know how she feels

• Justin - we only know how he feels

3rd person omniscient

• OMNI = root that means "all"

• SCI = root that means "knowing"

• The narrator is omniscient, meaning they have the power to know all.

• These are your stories where you have multiple characters' perspectives.

• You know how multiple people are feeling when you read this story.

3rd person omniscient example:

John ran down the court, dribbling the ball. He realized he wouldn’t have an opportunity to make a basket, so he looked around and saw that Malik was open. He passed it to Malik, who made a layup. Looking over at his father, Malik felt proud and excited. The team now led by 2 points.

(We know John realizes something about the game, and we know that Malik is feeling proud. So we know what 2 people are thinking.)

Multiple Choice

In this example, how many characters' perspectives do we get? "Megan and Justin were jumping in a puddle. Megan decided she was cold and wanted to go home, but Justin was happy to stay and play all day."

• 1 - we only know how Megan feels.

• 1 - we only know how Justin feels

• 2 - we know how Megan and Justin are both feeling

Multiple Choice

What pov is this? "Megan and Justin were jumping in a puddle. Megan decided she was cold and wanted to go home, but Justin was happy to stay and play all day."

• 3rd limited - We are limited to what 1 character thinks.

• 3rd omniscient - We know how multiple characters are feeling.

3rd person objective

• There's one last type of 3rd person, but it's not very common in literature, so we aren't going to focus on it much.

• Objective means "unbiased, impartial, factual."

• This is when you have the straight facts - NO characters' thoughts or feelings at all.

• EX: "John ran down the court, dribbling the ball. He passed it to Malik, who went up for the layup. Malik made the basket! The team now led by 2 points."

• (We don't know how John or Malik feel. We can only observe what they are doing.)

Practice

Read the following excerpts and determine if the pov is 3rd limited or 3rd omniscient.

Multiple Choice

Arthur could hear his stomach grumbling and looked around quickly to see if anyone else had noticed. His classmates were reading silently. No one looked up. Arthur felt relieved, but wondered how he would wait until lunch!

• 3rd limited - we only know how Arthur feels

• 3rd omniscient - we know how Arthur AND his classmates are feeling

Multiple Choice

“What are you doing?” Steven asked. He knew he shouldn’t have asked. Nicole looked at him like he’d lost his mind. Anger vibrated in her bones.

• 3rd limited - we only know how one person feels

• 3rd omniscient - we know how both of them feel

Multiple Choice

Fred and George were brothers, and they were the best of friends. They each loved to play practical jokes.

• 3rd limited - we only have one brother's feelings

• 3rd omniscient - we know how both brothers feel

Multiple Choice

As Shauna unwrapped her present, she secretly hoped it would be the newest Mario game for the Switch. Her mom watched her, knowing that Shauna was going to be so excited!

• 3rd limited - we only know Shauna's feelings

• 3rd omniscient - we know both Shauna's and mom's feelings

Multiple Choice

Tina handed Jacey the miniature unicorn figurine. Jacey grabbed it, jumped up and down, and squealed! Tina hoped that Jacey wouldn't break it.

• 3rd limited - we only get inside Tina's head

• 3rd omniscient - we get inside Jacey's head too

Open Ended

Take this 3rd limited excerpt and add one sentence to make it 3rd omniscient:

Kristen sat in the garden, sipping hot tea out of a blue mug. Next to her was her husband, Rodney, reading the paper. Kristen was admiring a herd of Scottish Highland Cows in the distance and wondering how expensive it would be to get Chik-Fil-A delivered to her from overseas.