1. Point of view is the perspective
from which a story is told
What is point of view?
2. Four types of point of view
• First person
• Third person omniscient
• Third person limited
• Third person objective
3. First person point of view
• The narrator is one of the characters in the
story.
• First person pronouns such as I, me, my,
and mine are used in telling the story.
4. First person point of view
• Since the narrator is a character in the story,
he/she may not be completely reliable.
• We find out only what this character knows,
thinks, and witnesses.
5. Example from “A Crush”
• I wonder who’s been leaving flowers at the
door of the hardware store every
Wednesday. I wish I could find out if
they’re for me or for Stan.
6. Third person omniscient
• The narrator is not a character in the story.
• Third person pronouns such as he, his,
she, hers, it, its, they, and them are used
in telling the story.
7. Third person omniscient
• The narrator is all-knowing, and can see into the
minds of all of the characters. The narrator can
also report what is said and done.
• We find out what all of the characters do, feel,
think, and witness.
8. Example from “A Crush”
• Ernie felt scared to go out in public but
Jack decided that going to a restaurant
early in the morning might be helpful.
9. Third person limited
• The narrator is not a character in the story.
• Third person pronouns such as he, his,
she, hers, it, its, they, and them are used
in telling the story.
10. Third person limited
• The narrator tells the story from the vantage
point of one character.
• We find out only what this character does,
knows, thinks, and witnesses.
11. Example from “A Crush”
• Ernie liked to watch Dolores from the
restaurant across the street, and he hoped
that Jack didn’t mind getting up so early to
drive him there.
12. Third person objective
• The narrator is not a character in the story.
• Third person pronouns such as he, his,
she, hers, it, its, they, and them are used
in telling the story.
• The narrator is an observer who can only
tell what is said and done.
13. Third person objective
• The narrator cannot see into the minds of
any of the characters.
• We find out only what the characters say
and do.
14. Example from “A Crush”
• Every Wednesday there were fresh flowers
at the hardware store, but both Stan and
Dolores claim they don’t know who sends
the flowers.
15. Let’s Try
• Let’s see if we can identify the different
kinds of point of view with other examples,
this time from “A Retrieved Reformation.”
16. Which type of point of view is
this:
• Ben Price investigated the scenes of the
robberies, and immediately knew that Jimmy was
the author. Ben knew how Jimmy worked. The
clerk of the Planters’ Hotel was impressed by the
clothes and manner of Jimmy. Annabel loved
Jimmy, and her father approved of him.
18. Which point of view is this:
• Say, Billy, I’ve quit the old business - a
year ago. I’ve got a nice store. I’m making
an honest living, and I’m going to marry
the finest girl on earth two weeks from
now.
20. Which point of view?
• A guard came to the prison shoe shop and
escorted Jimmy to the front office. There
the warden handed him his pardon, and
Jimmy left prison the next day at quarter
past seven. He was wearing cheap clothes
and shoes.
22. Which point of view?
• After opening the vault to save Agatha, Jimmy
walked toward the front door of the bank. He
thought he herd a familiar voice call after him, but
he never hesitated. At the door Jimmy greeted
Ben Price, but the detective acted rather
strangely: “I don’t believe I recognize you,” he
said. And Jimmy saw Ben turn and stroll down
the street.
24. • Now, I’d like you to try to write a sentence
or two in each type of point of view we just
learned
25. • Work with the classmate next to you and
write a sentence or two about an event
that happened to you or that you
witnessed this weekend.
26. • Tell about the same event from the different
points of view below. Refer back to your
definitions handout whenever you’re in doubt,
and look at the examples given there to help you
identify the different types of point of view.
