Perspective and Point of View

Is there really a difference?

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Point of View focuses on who

• Who is telling the story?

• Who is speaking?

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?

Multiple Choice

A first person narrator would use which pronouns?

• They, them, theirs

• He, him, his

• I, me, my, we, mine, us, ours

• She, her, hers

Poll

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

• First person

• Third person limited

• Third person omniscient

• Second person

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.