POV PRACTICE

Three shots like thunderclaps rang out from surround speakers in the basement rec room. A white controller jumped in Reid Anderson’s hand each time he squeezed the trigger. Tactile feedback. A speaker in the controller made snapping sounds like the action of a pistol. Reid felt this more than he heard it. The shots made his ears ring.

3rd Limited We feel what Reid is feeling which puts us in his head. There are no other characters, so we don’t know anyone else’s thoughts but his.

My father had a small estate in Nottinghamshire: I was the third of five sons. He sent me to Emanuel College in Cambridge at fourteen years old, where I resided three years, and applied myself close to my studies...

1st Person The main character says “I”, so it is first person.

Sari handed the last of her hard earned money to the cashier and sighed. She had really wanted to buy some new clothes with her money. Instead, she was paying for a silly phone card. Sari’s dad knew she was unhappy, but he had been forced to take her cell phone away from her when she disobeyed their parent-child phone contract. He hoped she would learn a lesson.

3rd Person Omniscient We know Sari’s thoughts and her dad’s thoughts and feelings. This means it is omniscient.

Hannah looked up at the dark sky Hannah looked up at the dark sky. It looked exactly like she felt today, sad and gray. She sighed quietly as Tasha went on and on about last night’s game.

3rd Person Limited We know that Hannah feels “sad and “gray”, so it is limited. We don’t know anyone else’s thoughts.

Talen made his mother breakfast in bed- toast, juice, and eggs- for her birthday. “Not quite right,” Talen thought, so he went outside and picked some flowers to add. Now it looked perfect!

3rd Person Limited Talen has thoughts in this piece. It doesn’t mention anyone else’s thoughts, so it is limited.

The man brings his legs over the front of the cot when the shake starts again. A longer, firmer shake, and another crash, this time closer. The man gets to his feet and walks slowly to the door. Silence. The boy sits up. “No,” the man whispers, fear crawling up his spine, and in that instant the blade of a sword, long and gleaming, made of a shining white metal that is not found on Earth, comes through the door and sinks deeply into the man’s chest.

3rd Person limited We don’t get anyone’s thoughts. We watch the scene like a movie.

Aunt Harriet never meant to say any of this when Elizabeth Ann could hear, but the little girl’s ears were as sharp as little girls’ ears always are, and long before she was nine, she knew all about the opinion Aunt Harriet had of the Putneys. She did not know, to be sure, what “chores” were, but she took it confidently from Aunt Harriet’s voice that they were something very, very dreadful.

3rd Omniscient We know what Aunt Harriet thinks because she doesn’t expect to let Elizabeth Ann here her. We also know what Elizabeth Ann thinks because she thinks “chores are horrible.”

I witnessed the kidnapping of Betty Ann Mulvaney I witnessed the kidnapping of Betty Ann Mulvaney. Well, me and the twenty-three other people in first period Latin class at Clayton High School (student population 1,200). Unlike everybody else, however, I actually did something to try and stop it. Well, sort of. I went, “Kurt, what are you doing?” Kurt just rolled his eyes. He was all, “Relax, Jen. It’s a joke, okay?”

1st Person The main character is “I” so it is 1st person.

The year was 1710. Three teenaged boys stood on the deck of the ship, waving farewell to England. Henry came from a poor family, but he was determined to succeed. William’s family was rich, but William had wasted everything that he had been given. The last, Phillip, was mysterious; he kept his feelings to himself. The three teens met for the first time that day. By the end of their journey, they would all be changed beyond their wildest dreams.

3rd Person Omniscient We would not know everything we know about the boys by just looking at them. Therefore, it is omniscient because we know thoughts/feelings/insider information about all of them.

Poor Jo would gladly have gone under the table, as one thing after another was tasted and left; while Amy giggled, Meg looked distressed, Miss Crocker pursed up her lips, and Laurie talked and laughed with all his might, to give a cheerful tone to the festive scene.

3rd Limited We know what Jo is thinking. However, we just watch the rest of the characters.