Point of View in Literature

Point of View in Literature

Who's telling the story?

Point of view in literature refers to the narrator - who’s telling the story?

• First person 

• Second person

• Third person

• Third person limited

• Third person omniscient

• Third person objective

from The Hunger Games:

When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim’s warmth but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress. She must have had bad dreams and climbed in with our mother. Of course, she did. This is the day of the reaping.

Multiple Select

Which pronouns would the narrator use in first-person point of view?

• me

• you

• they

• our

• us

Multiple Choice

The dew on the grass made my running shoes damp. It didn't bother me. The sound of my feet hitting the street formed a rhythm.

• Third Person Objective

• First person

• Second Person

• Third Person Limited

Second-Person POV

“You hear the car after an hour and a half.  During that time you’ve been here in the darkness, sitting on the small telephone seat near the front door, waiting.” 

— Jay McInerney, Bright Lights, Big City

Multiple Select

Which pronouns would the narrator use in second-person POV?

• you

• your

• I

• them

• we

Multiple Choice

If you are confused about something in class, don't wait. Raise your hand and ask for help immediately. Do it while your teacher is still explaining the material.

• First Person

• Third Person Objective

• Second Person

• Third Person Limited

Third-person LIMITED

The narrator is an outside observer and describes the thoughts and feelings of just one character in the story.

Third-person OMNISCIENT

The narrator is able to reveal any characters' thoughts and emotions.

NOTE: The narrator doesn't HAVE to tell the reader everything, but is able to reveal details about all characters.

Third-person OBJECTIVE

The narrator only describes what is seen and heard.

NOTE: The reader may be able to INFER what the characters are thinking or feeling based on their actions, but their thoughts and feelings are never explicitly described.

Multiple Select

Which pronouns would a narrator use in third-person POV?

• myself

• they

• their

• yours

• she

Multiple Choice

Jay slid down in his seat, hoping Mr. Yu wouldn't call on him. Mr. Yu knew that trick and asked Jay to read the passage aloud.

• First Person

• Third Person Limited

• Third Person Omniscient

Multiple Choice

A narrator can see and describe every action, but without describing the thoughts of the characters.

• third person, objective

• third person, limited

• third person, omniscient

Multiple Choice

Alice's adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, John Tenniel

Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, "and what is the use of a book," thought Alice, "without pictures or conversations?" So she was considering, in her own mind whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.

• third-limited

• first-person

• third-omniscient

Let's practice our knowledge!

Multiple Choice

Identify the POV in the novel Wild Bird: "I miss my phone. I don't like not knowing what time it is. I hate not being able to look things up. How much longer is it going to be light out? Do I have to figure out how to make fire today?" (Van Draanen 90).

• first-person

• second-person

• third-person

Multiple Choice

Identify the POV in the novel Hidden Figures: "In April 1951, a few months after Dorothy Vaughan became the boss of the West Area Computing pool, twenty-six-year-old Mary Winston Jackson came to work for her. Mary was new to the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, but not new to the area" (Shetterly 76).

• third-person limited

• third-person omniscient

• third-person objective

Multiple Choice

Identify the POV in the novel Pride:

"'I don't care,' I say.

'Yes, you do.'

'No. I do not.'

'You should've seen your face when Darius saved you from that bike.'

'I don't care what I looked like, Janae!'

She just laughs at me, and I give in and laugh too. No one can stay mad at Janae for long" (Zoboi 37).

• first-person

• second-person

• third-person

Multiple Choice

Identify the POV in the novel Eragon:

"Eragon had felt safe inside the bramble, but outside, wariness crept into his movements. Saphira took off and circled overhead. The trees thinned as they returned to the farm. I will see this place again, Eragon insisted to himself. This cannot, will not, be a permanent exile. Someday when it's safe, I'll return...Throwing back his shoulders, he faced south and the strange barbaric lands that lay there" (Paolini 111).

• third-person limited

• third-person objective

• third-person omniscient

Poll

I understand how to identify the difference between different points of view.

• True

• Somewhat

• False