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

Multiple Select

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

• me

• you

• they

• our

• us

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.

Open Ended

Write a caption for this image in the FIRST-PERSON POV.

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

Open Ended

Write a caption for this image in the SECOND-PERSON POV.

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

Open Ended

Choose a third-person POV and write a caption for this image. Label your caption to show whether it is third-person LIMITED, OMNISCIENT, or OBJECTIVE.

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