DuPont - Point of View & Perspective

Is there really a difference?

Point of View focuses on who

• Who is telling the story?

• Who is speaking?

​There are three types of Point of View

1st Person

• The narrator is the main character

• The character refers to themselves as I, me, mine, ect...

  ​

​2nd Person

• The narrator is talking directly to you

• The character says you, your, yourself​, ect...

​3rd Person

• ​The narrator is not apart of the story

• The person telling the story refers to the characters as he, she, they, them, her, his, ect...​

Don't let quotations fool you!

Draw

Circle the words that show this is a first person point of view.

Multiple Choice

Which piece of evidence would be a first-person point of view?

• Mr. Brummer threw the pen at me. As soon as it hit my hand it was a sword. "Wow!" I said.

• Mr. Brummer threw the pen at Percy and as soon as it hit his hands, it turned into a sword. "Wow!" said Percy.

Draw

Circle the words that show this story is told from a second person point of view.

Multiple Choice

Which piece of evidence would be a second-person point of view?

• "Percy, you are not normal" said Mr. Brunner.

• If you are reading this book because you are not normal and you think you might be a Half-Blood, great, read on!

Draw

Circle the words that show this is third person point of view.

Multiple Choice

Which piece of evidence would be third-person?

• Harry stood there as Hermione and Ron loaded there trunks onto the train. "Anything off the trolley my dears?", asked an elderly woman. "Three chocolate frogs" said Ron.

• I stood there as Hermione and Ron loaded there trunks onto the train. "Anything off the trolley my dears?", asked an elderly woman. "Three chocolate frogs" said Ron.

Poll

Think about the books you have most enjoyed reading. What is the most common point of view of those books?

• First person

• Second Person

• Third person

Perspective is how the characters view and process what’s happening within the story. 

• How does the narrator perceive what’s happening within the story?

• What is their attitude about it?

Character perspective

No matter the point of view (POV), perspective can help define characters' attitudes and personalities.

In real life, everyone’s perspective is different. You may have four people at one event, but each person comes away with a unique set of experiences or observations based on their life experiences and identities.

In literature, the story changes depending on who tells it. That’s perspective.

Let's look at a familiar story

from a familiar perspective

Open Ended

Summarize the story of the Three Little Pigs in 3 - 4 sentences.

Let's check out a different perspective:

The wolf's!

Fill in the Blank

Why did the wolf say he was going to the pigs' houses?

Check for understanding:

Multiple Choice

Perspective in literature is ___, while point of view in literature is ___.

• who tells the story or who is speaking, how a character views and processes what happens in a story.

• They are the same thing.

• how a character views and processes what happens in a story, who tells the story or who is speaking.