Perspective Taking

The sound of my feet hitting the street formed a rhythm, a steady pattern of light thumps. I timed my breathing with the rhythm. I thought of nothing other than the next step. I soared over the sidewalks like concrete clouds.

• first person POV

• second person POV

• third person POV

Adrian was anxious when he got home from school Thursday afternoon. Ms. Arellano gave so much homework and he knew that his mom wouldn't let him play video games unless all of his homework was done. 

• 1st person POV

• 2nd person POV

• 3rd person POV

As I grazed in the field, I realized that there were not any other animals around. I had a weird feeling that something was wrong. The other animals that are usually making noises are all silent. The rustling from my hooves are the only sound. I see a shadow up in a tree. I feel afraid and uneasy. I think that is is unsafe here, so I am going to run away.

From what/whose perspective is the passage written?

• A hunter

• An animal looking for friends

• An animal being hunted

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, a steady pattern of light thumps. I timed my breathing with the rhythm. These sounds filled my head. I thought of nothing other than the next step and keeping my tempo. I soared over the sidewalks like concrete clouds.

What point of view is this paragraph written in?

• 1st Person

• 2nd Person

• 3rd Person

It all began when Ms. Frizzle showed our class a film strip about the human body. We knew trouble was about to start, because we knew Ms. Frizzle was the strangest teacher in the school.

From what point of view is the paragraph written in?

• 1st Person

• 2nd Person

• 3rd Person

As I grazed in the field, I realized that there were not any other animals around. I had a weird feeling that something was wrong. The other animals that are usually making noises are all silent. The rustling from my hooves are the only sound. I see a shadow up in a tree. I feel afraid and uneasy. I think that is is unsafe here, so I am going to run away.

From what/whose perspective is the passage written?

• A hunter

• An animal looking for friends

• An animal being hunted

What is the advantage to first person point of view?

• You learn the thoughts and feeling about muliple characters.

• You learn about the narrator deeply because we get an insight into their perspective.

• There isn't an advantage. We don't get any new information.

Early one Sunday morning, I went hunting in the woods. My family was running low on meat and I needed to feed them soon. I am desperate to find some meat. As I sat high in the tree, a nice size animal came up grazing in the field. There were no other animals in the field like there usually is. I prepared myself to take aim, but out of nowhere the animal quickly ran away. Man! I have to look for another target now.

The two stories are the same story, but written from different perspectives. How does changing the perspective change the story?

• You get to see the story from the same perspective, but learn two different things that the narrator was thinking.

• You get to see how both the hunter and the animal saw the events that were taking place that morning.

• You learn about the hunter and the animal and what they saw and felt that morning.

What is the advantage to third person point of view?

• You can experience the story through one character's thoughts and feelings.

• There isn't a bias because the author is not a character in the story.

• The reader is able to get multiple viewpoints about a situation.

What is perspective taking in literature?

• Understanding a character's thoughts and feelings

• Describing the setting of a story

• Analyzing the plot structure

• Identifying the main theme