1. Point of view Comprehension Toolkit

2. Comprehension means understanding. The answers to some questions are easy to find, while the answers to others are more difficult to work out. The best way to understand a text is to ask yourself questions as you read it.

3. Comprehension Toolkit Point of view is a way of looking at things. It’s having an opinion about something or someone. Two people can have different points of view about the same thing.

4. Comprehension Toolkit In writing, we use clues in the text to work out what the author or character’s point of view is. The forest loomed before me, a dark, forbidding place. In Tom’s point of view, is the forest boring, happy, unwelcoming or a bright place? Which words tell the reader that Tom finds the forest unwelcoming? These words have negative connotations and suggest there is something frightening about the forest.

5. Comprehension Toolkit What about Finn’s point of view? The forest, with its promise of peace and rest, came into view. In Finn’s view, is the forest colourful, sad, welcoming or a dull place? Which words tell the reader that Finn finds the forest welcoming? These words have positive connotations and suggest that the forest is a place where people can relax.

6. Comprehension Toolkit In fiction, a story is told from the point of view of a first person narrator (I) or a third person narrator (he or she). First person narration usually gives a greater sense of reality and involvement. The I who tells the story takes part in the action, even though he or she may not be a main character. Third person narration usually creates more distance between the narrator and the story, although the he or she who tells the story might be more sympathetic to one character than another.

7. Comprehension Toolkit Read this point of view from the story of Cinderella. My stepmother and stepsisters treat me like a servant. I’m so tired at night that I fall asleep immediately. Sometimes I dream that I am happy again, but when I wake in the morning, nothing has changed. Then my dream seems cruel, offering me hope where there is none. Who is the narrator? What is her point of view? Who does the text encourage us to sympathise with? Cinderella (first person) She believes she is being treated badly. Cinderella

8. Comprehension Toolkit Read this different point of view from the story of Cinderella. The stepsisters took an immediate dislike to Cinderella. She was undeniably beautiful, and thus a threat to their chances of snaring the prince. But she was also rather full of herself, and what better way to bring her down a peg or two than by passing on the worst chores to her! Who is the narrator? What is the narrator’s point of view? Who does the text encourage us to sympathise with? A third person narrator, who isn’t directly involved in the situation. The narrator gives a balanced view by showing another side to Cinderella’s character, which gives a reason for the stepsisters’ cruelty. Both Cinderella and her stepsisters

9. Comprehension Toolkit