Point of View

1. Point of View the perspective from which a story is told.

2. First Person • The first person narrator is a character in the story. • He/She can reveal his or her feelings and thoughts, or information that has been directly received by other characters. • The first person narrator speaks in the first person, saying "I saw...," "I knew...," "I realized...," etc.

3. Third Person Objective • The third person objective narrator is not a character in the story. • The reader would most often think of this narrator as "the author." • The third person objective narrator refers to all characters in the third person, saying "He looked..." "She jumped...," etc. • They are only able to make objective observations. • They have no knowledge of what is going on in the mind of the characters, or anything else that would not be observable to the reader if they were to enter the story.

4. Third Person Omniscient • They speak in the third person. • He/She is not a character in the story. • The third person omniscient narrator has knowledge of the thoughts and feelings of characters in the story. • The extent of this knowledge may vary somewhat, but it is more than would be observable to the reader, were they to enter the story.

5. SECOND PERSON • The narrator tells the story to another character using "you“. • The story is being told through the addressee's point of view. • Second person is the least commonly used in fiction. • Mostly used in essays and song lyrics.