Point of View and How It Affects the Story Ms. Ferrell and Ms. Slodek TPS Elementary Librarians

What is point of view? Point of View is the author’s perspective of the story; what he/she sees or writes. First person – uses I and me. Ben Franklin wrote about electricity, “ I was never before engaged in any study that so totally engrossed my attention and my time.” This quote is from Ben Franklin by Peter and Connie Roop.

Second person – uses you Second person – uses you. From Laura Numeroff’s book 10-Step Guide to Living with Your Monster, she writes, “When choosing a monster, do not pick one who grabs you and starts to eat your shirt.”

Third person – uses he/him and/or she/she. From Dr Third person – uses he/him and/or she/she. From Dr. Seuss’s The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins he wrote, “In the beginning, Bartholomew Cubbins didn’t have 500 hats. He had only one hat.”.

How does point of view affect the story? When Franklin writes, “I was never before engaged in any study that so totally engrossed my attention and my time,” can you believe him? Why? What makes the writing authentic? How would the sentence change with the pronoun He was never before engaged . . .? First person uses I/me, and it directly connects the person to the event.

Numeroff writes, “When choosing a monster, do not pick one who grabs you and starts to eat your shirt.” Is she giving the reader instructions? How do you know? How do you know this is written in second person? Do you have a good way to remember? You rhymes with two.

Get out a sheet of paper and something to write with Get out a sheet of paper and something to write with. We are going to practice writing in 1st person – uses I or me 2nd person – uses you 3rd person – uses he/she or him/her. Make a table with 3 columns. Look at the picture. Choose a character, and write a statement that he/she would say in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person. I will model it for you; you will do it from a different character. Make sure we can recognize your character by what he says.

Character 1st person 2nd person 3rd person George Washington “Why am I standing up in this boat?” You should be rowing faster, please. He was a great general for the Continental Army. You choose a different person in the picture.