Point of View Review

Point of View Review

How do stories use point of view and perspective to shape the readers' understanding?

1st Person

• "I eat the chocolate cake."

• Pronoun: I

• The reader has access to one person's thoughts

• The narrator is a character in the story

The benefits of first person can be

• You know exactly what the main character is thinking

• You may feel closer to them

• The story feels more immediate

Drawbacks of 1st person

• You're limited to one character

• You only know what the character knows

• Awkward to describe what characters look like

3rd Person

• "She ate the chocolate cake"

• Pronouns: they, she, it, he

• The narrator sees the characters from the outside

Ready for a few questions?​

Think about who is speaking, and whose thoughts you get access to​

Multiple Choice

"He made a fort out of snow bricks."

• 1st person

• 3rd person

Multiple Choice

"I rode my bike to the park."

• 1st person

• 3rd person

Multiple Choice

"She gave me a present."

• 1st person

• 3rd person

3rd Person Limited

• The narrator only has access to one character's point of view

• ​The narrator is not a character in the story

• ​The narrator is an observer only

• Not all that that different from 1st person, at the end of the day!

3rd Person omniscient

• The narrator knows everything

• The narrator may have opinions about the story and make comments!

• the narrator has access to all characters' points of view

Benefits of 3rd person

• You're not "stuck" in one character's point of view

• You're not stuck in one POV

• The narrator can describe the characters from the outside

• The narrator may be more objective

Drawbacks of 3rd person narration

• May feel distant, impersonal

• Can be disorienting to see multiple characters' thoughts

• "How do you know?"

Ready for some practice?​

Whose thoughts do we get access to?​

Multiple Choice

She walked through the door. What was that noise? She checked behind the cabinet. It was a mouse, eating her crackers!

• 3rd person limited

• 3rd person omniscient

Multiple Choice

She stared at the mouse. What she didn't know was that the sound she'd heard was actually a monster creeping up behind her. The monster looked at her and thought, "What a delicious morsel this human will make..." The mouse watched all this in amusement.

• 3rd person limited

• 3rd person omniscient

2nd person

• "You walk into the room."

• Pronoun: you

• The reader is a character in the story

Benefits of 2nd person

• Feel very close to the story

• Feels like playing a game!

Drawbacks of 2nd person

• Can feel unnatural

• "No I didn't!"

Multiple Choice

"I ran to the store to buy a bottle of detergent."

• 1st person

• 2nd person

• 3rd person limited

• 3rd person omniscient

Multiple Choice

"She ran to the store. She realized that after she bought the detergent, she might have enough left over for some candy."

• 1st person

• 2nd person

• 3rd person limited

• 3rd person omniscient

Multiple Choice

"You run to the store. You wonder if the store has any glow in the dark glasses."

• 1st person

• 2nd person

• 3rd limited

• 3rd omniscient

Multiple Choice

"She entered the door. The shop owner wondered if that girl would ever stop asking about glow in the dark glasses. But the girl could think of nothing more enticing than glowing glasses. Except, perhaps candy. One day, she would grow up to become the CEO of a very unique store."

• 1st person

• 2nd person

• 3rd limited

• 3rd omniscient

Multiple Choice

What point of view was The Books of Elsewhere written in?

• 1st

• 2nd

• 3rd limited

• 3rd omniscient

Multiple Choice

What point of view is a Choose Your Own Adventure story?

• 1st

• 2nd

• 3rd limited

• 3rd omniscient

Multiple Choice

(tricky!) What point of view was Bob?

• 1st person

• 2nd person

• 3rd limited

• 3rd omniscient

Poll

What is your favorite point of view?

• 1st

• 2nd

• 3rd limited

• 3rd omniscient