Author’s Voice and Point of View What do these terms mean? Created by: M. Christoff, Enrichment Specialist

Author’s Voice The way a piece of writing sounds is its voice. An author’s writing voice reveals his/her attitude about a topic and the audience.

Author’s Point of View An author’s point of view (attitude) often comes through in the way he or she discusses the elements of a story or selection.

Author’s Point of View An author’s use of positive or negative words reveal how he/she feels about their subject. beautiful cheap awesome terrible

Author’s Point of View The opinion or attitude expressed by an author is called author’s point of view.

First Person Point of View Types of Points of View First Person Point of View The story is told by one of the characters in the story. First-Person: The narrator tells “I” or “my” story.  Also, this may be “we” or “our” story. Ex: We went to the store.

Second-Person Point of View Types of Points of View Second-Person Point of View The narrator tells “you” or “your” story, usually used for instructions. Ex: First, you should wash your hands.

Third-Person Objective Point of View Types of Points of View Third-Person Objective Point of View The narrator tells “his” or “her” story and does not reveal any character’s thoughts or feelings.  Characters may reveal their feelings through actions or dialogue. Ex: He walked down the street.  A man drove by and yelled, “Hey, watch where you’re going!”

Third-Person Limited Point of View Types of Points of View Third-Person Limited Point of View The narrator tells one character’s thoughts or feelings. Ex: Sad that his girlfriend had left him, Ben wasn’t paying attention as he walked down the street.  A man drove by and yelled, “Hey, watch where you’re going!”

Third-Person Omniscient Point of View Types of Points of View Third-Person Omniscient Point of View The narrator reveals more than one character’s thoughts or feelings. Ex: Sad that his girlfriend had left him, Ben wasn’t paying attention as he walked down the street.  Tom was also having a bad day, and as he was driving by Ben, Tom tried to startle him: “Hey, watch where you’re going!” Tom yelled intimidating.

Third Person POV The only difference between objective, limited, and omniscient is whether the narrator reveals character’s thoughts and actions Objective—NO thoughts Limited—One character’s thoughts Omniscient—More than one character’s thoughts

Why is it important to understand an author’s point of view?

Why is it important to understand what an author’s point of view is? Figuring out the author’s point of view can help you evaluate what you are reading and detect bias.

Why is it important to understand a biased opinion? What is bias? Why is it important to understand a biased opinion?

George Washington was the best general Bias George Washington was the best general in America's history. Bias Bias is favoring one person or point of view more than another. Why is it important for us to recognize bias? Bias is used by a author to persuade us to like, want, or to be something. Bias is used in commercials all the time.

Author’s Point of View The opinion or attitude expressed by an author is called author’s point of view.

Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar Leslie sat in front of Paul. She had two long, brown pigtails that reached all the way down to her waist. Paul saw those pigtails, and a terrible urge came over him. He wanted to pull a pigtail. He wanted to wrap his fist around it, feel the hair between his fingers, and just yank. He thought it would be fun to tie the pigtails together, or better yet, tie them to her chair. But most of all, he just wanted to pull one. Narrative Perspective?

Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar Leslie sat in front of Paul. She had two long, brown pigtails that reached all the way down to her waist. Paul saw those pigtails, and a terrible urge came over him. He wanted to pull a pigtail. He wanted to wrap his fist around it, feel the hair between his fingers, and just yank. He thought it would be fun to tie the pigtails together, or better yet, tie them to her chair. But most of all, he just wanted to pull one. Narrative Perspective? If it is third-person, which character’s thoughts are revealed?

Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar Leslie sat in front of Paul. She had two long, brown pigtails that reached all the way down to her waist. Paul saw those pigtails, and a terrible urge came over him. He wanted to pull a pigtail. He wanted to wrap his fist around it, feel the hair between his fingers, and just yank. He thought it would be fun to tie the pigtails together, or better yet, tie them to her chair. But most of all, he just wanted to pull one. Narrative Perspective: Third-Person Limited If it is third-person, which character’s thoughts are revealed? Paul’s thoughts are revealed.

Invitation to the Game by Monica Hughes And we scrounged. Next to survival, scrounge was probably the most important word in our new vocabulary. We found a store that was throwing out water-damaged mattresses. Getting them home was a problem, since we had to make two trips, leaving Brad and Katie, armed with sticks to guard over the remained. I truly expected them to be challenged by some gang boss, but they said that the only person who came by was a scrawny little rat of a girl living alone. We let her have one of the mattresses. Narrative Perspective?

Invitation to the Game by Monica Hughes And we scrounged. Next to survival, scrounge was probably the most important word in our new vocabulary. We found a store that was throwing out water-damaged mattresses. Getting them home was a problem, since we had to make two trips, leaving Brad and Katie, armed with sticks to guard over the remained. I truly expected them to be challenged by some gang boss, but they said that the only person who came by was a scrawny little rat of a girl living alone. We let her have one of the mattresses. Narrative Perspective? If it is third-person, which character’s thoughts are revealed?

Invitation to the Game by Monica Hughes And we scrounged. Next to survival, scrounge was probably the most important word in our new vocabulary. We found a store that was throwing out water-damaged mattresses. Getting them home was a problem, since we had to make two trips, leaving Brad and Katie, armed with sticks to guard over the remained. I truly expected them to be challenged by some gang boss, but they said that the only person who came by was a scrawny little rat of a girl living alone. We let her have one of the mattresses. Narrative Perspective: First Person

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbittby At dawn, Mae Tuck set out on her horse for the wood at the edge of the village of Treegap. She was going there, as she did once every ten years, to meet her two sons, Miles and Jesse, and she was feeling at ease. At noon time, Winnie Foster, whose family owned the Treegap wood, lost her patience at last and decided to think about running away. Narrative Perspective?

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbittby At dawn, Mae Tuck set out on her horse for the wood at the edge of the village of Treegap. She was going there, as she did once every ten years, to meet her two sons, Miles and Jesse, and she was feeling at ease. At noon time, Winnie Foster, whose family owned the Treegap wood, lost her patience at last and decided to think about running away. Narrative Perspective: Third Person Omniscient If it is third-person, which character’s thoughts are revealed? Mae Tuck and Winnie’s thoughts are revealed.