Point of View

1. Point of View

2. Narrator = the character or voice that tells the story. It is important to consider: the narrator’s perspective the narrator’s personality

3. Narrator’s Perspective • First person point of view • Second person point of view • Third person point of view

4. First person point of view • The story is told from the point of view of “I” or “we.” • The narrator participates in the action and tells the story in his/her own voice. • We share all the limitations of the narrator, and we must question how valid his or her observations are. • A first person narrator often suggests a bias, especially when the narrator is describing events in which he/she played a part.

5. First person point of view • Arthur Conan Doyle, “A Scandal in Bohemia” • Raymond Carver, “Cathedral” • Alice Munro, “How I Met My Husband” • Alice Walker, “Everyday Use” • John Updike, “A & P”

6. Second person point of view • Indicates that the reader is him/herself a character in the work being narrated. • “you” • This strategy is rarely used because it seems artificial and self-conscious.

7. Second person point of view • Margaret Atwood, “Happy Endings” • Michael Lassell, “How to Watch Your Brother Die”

8. Third person point of view • The narrator is a non-participant, an observer: someone outside the story who refers to all the characters by name or as “he,” “she,” “they.” • Since the narrator is not a character in the work, this narrator can generally be seen as more reliable than the first person narrator.

9. Third person point of view • Omniscient = the narrator can enter the minds of all (or some) characters to reveal how they think or feel. This makes us aware of multiple perspectives by showing different views of the same situation. • Objective = the narrator does not enter the mind of any character but describes events from the outside = the “fly on the wall.”

10. Third person point of view • Don Lee, “The Price of Eggs in China” • Flannery O’Connor, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” • Luisa Valenzuela, “The Censors”

11. Narrator’s Personality • Reliable narrator = can be counted on to know the truth and reveal it to the reader. • Unreliable narrator = a character who may be beset with limitations and personal prejudices that color his/her values and point of view.

12. Narrator’s Personality • Subjective narrator = makes judgments about characters and events. • Objective narrator = appears to present a totally neutral interpretation of events and does not make judgments about characters.