Download Narrator`s Point of View

Day 2:
Narrator’s Point of View
I can identify the narrative point of view (e.g. first
person, third person limited, third person
omniscient) in a literary selection.
Essential Questions
What is narrative point of view? How is it
determined?
What is first person point of view? How are
key words used to identify the point of view?
What is third person limited and third person
omniscient? How are these points of view
different from one another?
Think about this...
Think of a book or story that you are currently
reading. Who is telling the story?
When you wrote personal and imaginative
narratives, who was telling the story then?
Today we will...
identify the narrator’s point of view in a literary
selection.
Narrative Point of View
One of the most
important decisions a
writer makes as they
write a story is the
narrative point of view
he/she will use.
The point of view is the
narrator’s perspective.
Through whose eyes will
you, the reader, see the
story?
First Person
The reader only knows the thoughts and feelings of
the narrator as he or she tells the story through their
eyes.
First person point of view uses the keywords “I,”
“me,” “my,” “we,” “us,” and “our.”
First Person
•
Example from The Twenty-One Balloons by William
Pène du Bois:
•
It is funny that my trip has ended by being such a fast
trip around the world. I find myself referred to now as
one of the speediest travelers of all times. Speed wasn’t
at all what I had in mind when I started out. On the
contrary, if all had gone the way I had hoped, I would
still be happily floating around in my balloon, drifting
anywhere the wind cared to carry me - East, West,
North, or South.
Third Person Limited
The reader only knows the thoughts and feelings of
one main character.
Third person limited point of view uses the keywords
“he/she,” “him/her,” “they,” “them,” “their,” and the
character’s name.
Third Person Limited
•
Example from Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli:
•
So he turned and started walking north on Hector, right
down the middle of the street, right down the invisible
chalk line that divided East End from West End. Cars
beeped at him, drivers hollered, but he never flinched.
The Cobras kept right along with him on their side of the
street. So did a bunch of East Enders on their side.
One of them was Mars Bar. Both sides were calling for
him to come over.
Third Person Omniscient
The reader knows the thoughts and feelings of all
the main characters (more than one). Omniscient
means having total knowledge or knowing
everything.
Third person omniscient point of view uses the
keywords “he/she,” “him/her,” “they,” “them,” “their,”
and the characters’ name.
•
NOTE: The keywords are the same as third person
limited, so you have to be careful about knowing the
difference between 3rd person limited and 3rd
person omniscient!
Third Person Omniscient
•
Example from The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E.
Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg:
•
Claudia was furious. “The men who moved it last
night hugged it when they moved it. There’s all kinds of
hugging.”
•
She refused to look at Jamie again and instead
stared at the statue. The sound of footsteps broke the
silence and her concentration. Footsteps from the
Italian Renaissance were descending upon them! The
guard was coming down the steps. Oh, baloney!
thought Jamie. There was just too much time before the
museum opened on Sundays. They should have been
in hiding already. Here they were out in the open with a
light on!
Ready to practice identifying
the Narrative Point of View?
After hearing and seeing a passage, you will
need to write which point of view it is - first
person, third person limited, or third person
omniscient.
You will also need to tell me the keywords that
helped you identify the point of view on your
white board.
Here we go...
•
Anita loved classical music, but she didn’t want
her friends to know that. She was afraid they
would laugh at her. When she was alone in
her room, however, the air was hers, and she
filled it with the sounds of violins and cellos.
Third person limited
•
When my father was transferred to Ireland, we
all went with him. Our new house was near
downtown Dublin and very near my new
school. I thought the street was lovely, with
flower boxes blooming everywhere, but the
kids in the neighborhood seemed to be
ignoring me.
First Person
•
Jiyang and Melissa had lived beside each
other for three years, but they had never
become friends. Jiyang was shy and often
thonue-tied, so Melissa thought he was stuckup. Melissa, on the other hand, never seemed
to go anywhere without her soccer ball, so
Jiyang beleived she care only for sports. Both
Jiyang and Melissa were wrong in their
judgements.
Third person omniscient
Closure
Think about the three narrative points of view
that you learned today and how you would
determine each point of view.
As you read through Call of the Wild, think
about what point of view the novel is written.
Discussion question- What point of view is Call
of the Wild written from? Give examples from
the story to support.