Point of View The perspective from which the story is told. Point of view is the way the author allows you to "see" and "hear" what's going on.

First Person First Person POV is a story told in the narrating character’s own voice. It uses “I” throughout, and the reader doesn’t know any more than the character does. First-person point of view is in use when a character narrates the story with I-me-my-mine in his or her speech.

First Person Continued The advantage of this point of view is that you get to hear the thoughts of the narrator and see the world depicted in the story through his or her eyes. However, remember that no narrator, like no human being, has complete self-knowledge or, for that matter, complete knowledge of anything. Therefore, the reader's role is to go beyond what the narrator says.

First Person Example I was minding my own business when Mom burst in. “What’s with you?” I grumbled.

Third Person Limited Third person is the familiar he said / she said story. Third-person point of view is that of an outsider looking at the action. The reader enters only one character's mind, either throughout the entire work or in a specific section.

3rd Person Limited Examples He gripped the dollar bill tightly. “You can’t have it,” he told her. For Whom the Bell Tolls sticks firmly with one character's consciousness, that of Robert Jordan: "This Anselmo had been a good guide and he could travel wonderfully in the mountains. Robert Jordan could walk well enough himself and he knew from following him since before daylight that the old man could walk him to death. Robert Jordan trusted the man, Anselmo, so far, in everything except judgment. He had not yet had an opportunity to test his judgment, and, anyway, the judgment was his own responsibility."

More on For Whom the Bell Tolls The reader will only know Anselmo's thoughts and responses insofar as he reveals them through his actions. But Robert Jordan's thoughts will be shared throughout the story. It's his reactions and his interpretations of events that the reader will understand and follow.

Third Person Omnicient The thoughts of every character are open to the reader. It is also written as if an outsider is looking in on the action, but it is a “God Like” narrator who can intrude upon every character.

Example 3rd Person Omniscient Janey sat thinking to herself about how annoying that young man’s singing was. Meanwhile, George redoubled his efforts to impress her knowing that he was the best musician in the room.

Differences Third-person limited differs from first-person because the author's voice, not the character's voice, is what you hear in the descriptive passages. Third Person Omniscient differs from third person Limited because in the Omniscient the Narrator knows everything and can tell the audience what every character is thinking in their own words not just in their action and the eyes of the other characters