Point of View Presented by Mr. B. Warren WHS English Dept.

Point of View Defined Point of view (POV) is the perspective from which a narrative is told. There are four POV’s in writing: –First-person point of view –Third-person limited point of view –Omniscient point of view –Objective (or dramatic) point of view

First-Person POV In the first-person POV, the story is told by one of its characters, using the first person (I). The first-person POV establishes a more immediate relationship between the reader and the narrator. In first-person POV, the narrator is a character from the story and is limited to what he/she experiences. As a result, the reader has access to only the narrator’s thoughts and must infer from the narrator’s description of or interactions with other characters what those characters are thinking.

First-Person POV Example The red door looked normal enough, but I felt apprehensive about entering because the sign above the door read “Choose Wisely.” I knew where I had come from, and it wasn’t all that great, so I decided to take my chances. I opened the door and a little man with distinct blue eyes and a somewhat demonic smile greeted me. “Hello and welcome,” he said. “Welcome to where?” I said. “Where do you think?” he said. His eyes twinkled briefly and his smile enlarged to reveal perfectly white teeth. His hair was cropped close to his head, and he wore a black suit with a white shirt and a black tie. There was something familiar about him, but I couldn’t place it.

Third-Person Limited POV In the third-person limited POV, the narrator tells the story using the third person, but is limited to a complete knowledge of one character in the story and tells us only what that one character thinks, fells, sees, or hears. Because the narrator is limited to the experiences of one character, the reader must infer from that character’s description of or interactions with other characters what those characters are thinking—this is similar to first-person POV.

Third-Person Limited POV Example The red door looked normal enough, but Joe felt apprehensive about entering because the sign above the door read “Choose Wisely.” Joe knew where he had come from, and it wasn’t all that great, so he decided to take his chances. He opened the door and a little man with distinct blue eyes and a somewhat demonic smile greeted him. “Hello and welcome,” the man said. “Welcome to where?” Joe said. “Where do you think?” the man said. His eyes twinkled briefly and his smile enlarged to reveal perfectly white teeth. His hair was cropped close to his head, and he wore a black suit with a white shirt and a black tie. There was something familiar about him, but Joe couldn’t place it.

Omniscient POV In the omniscient point of view, the author tells the story using the third person, knowing all and free to tell us anything, including what the characters are thinking or feeling and why they act as they do.

Omniscient POV Example John hit the wall, angry with himself for revealing too much to Amy. He knew that she would use the information against him, which meant that he would have to be careful. Soon, Phoenix would be crawling with mob hit men. Amy, pleased with herself for getting John to admit that he had gone to the Feds, picked up the phone to call Don Giovanni. She knew that the info she had would be worth a nice reward. Still, she did feel a bit bad for John because he would die, and they had been together for ten years. But not that bad.

Objective POV In the objective (or dramatic) POV, the narrator tells the story using the third person, but is limited to reporting what the characters say or do; the narrator does not interpret their behavior or tell us their private thoughts or feelings. Plays are written in the objective POV.

Objective POV Example “I can’t believe you called him,” John said. “You shouldn’t have cheated on me, John,” Amy said, staring him straight in the eye. “So you think I deserve to die because I had a moment of weakness?”John said. “A moment of weakness? You mean moments. Besides, I have the kids to think about. You would have been discovered anyway, so I might as well get a nice retirement fund to support the kids after you’re dead,” she said, smiling. “You’re sick,” he said. His brow furrowed in anger as he wrapped his hands around her neck.