Exploring Different Point of View

Think about it… An automobile accident occurs. Two drivers are involved. Witnesses include four sidewalk spectators, a policeman, a man with a video camera who happened to be shooting the scene, and the pilot of a helicopter that was flying overhead. Here we have nine different points of view and, most likely, nine different descriptions of the accident.

Point of View In short fiction, who tells the story and how it is told are critical issues for an author to decide. The tone and feel of the story, and even its meaning, can change radically depending on who is telling the story.

Group 2: Lay down your heads during this slide. No PEEKING! Group 1, as you read the story, you are reading it as if you are a burglar, ready to rob a house! Try to remember all details that you will need to know for your job!

Group 1: Lay down your heads during this slide. No PEEKING! Group 2, you are a Real Estate agent! While you read the story, try to remember all the details that will be helpful in selling the house!

Why is Point of View Important? The House

4 Types of Point of View Point of View First Person Point of View Second Person Point of View Third Person Limited Point of View Third Person Omniscient Point of View

First Person Point of View When a character in the story is telling you the story. Using words like I, my, or we When reading stories in the first person, we need to realize that what the narrator is recounting might not be the objective truth. We should question the trustworthiness of the accounting.

Second Person Point of View Story told from the perspective of “you” Ex. Self-Help books Tom Robbins's "Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas," "The day the stock market falls out of bed and breaks its back is the worst day of your life. Or so you think. It isn't the worst day of your life, but you think it is." Choose Your Own Adventure Books Online Adventure

Third Person Limited Point of View Outside Voice, usually nameless Narrator is NOT one of the characters Uses he, she, or they to tell you the story Focuses on the actions and feelings of only the main character.

Third Person Omniscient “All Knowing” Outside Voice godlike narrator; he/she can enter character's minds and know everything that is going on, past, present, and future Also uses he, she, they A narrator who knows everything about ALL of the characters.

Resources http://www.learner.org/interactives/literature/read/pov2.html www.readwritethink.org