POINT OF VIEW AND PERSPECTIVE How does changing the lens change what is seen?

POINT OF VIEW AND PERSPECTIVE  In literature, point of view refers to who is telling the story. Changing the point of view changes the mechanics of how the story is written- which pronouns are used and whether we are told what characters are thinking and feeling.  Perspective is not exactly the same thing as point of view – although people often use the terms interchangeably. When discussing stories, perspective means the way a character’s feelings, fears, beliefs, and background influence the way that character would describe or feel about the events of the story.

TYPES OF POV First person – a character in the story is telling the story Second person – the author or character is talking directly to the reader Third person – the story is being told by a narrator from outside the story

FIRST PERSON POV The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells We crossed the road to a white house inside a walled garden, and found some food—two loaves of bread, an uncooked steak, and half of a ham. We also found several bottles of root beer, a sack of beans, and a dozen or so cans of soup, salmon and vegetables. We sat in the kitchen in the dark—not daring to strike a light—and ate bread and ham and drank root beer out of the same bottle. The priest wanted to keep going instead of resting and eating. I was urging him to eat and keep up his strength when, all of a sudden, disaster struck! The narrator is a character in the story ; uses “ I ” and “ we ”

SECOND PERSON POV The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks Travelling light is essential to your journey. Before packing anything, ask yourself, “Do I really need this?” Once you’ve compiled your gear, go down the list and ask that question again. Of course, traveling light does not mean just holstering a.45, grabbing some beef jerky and a water bottle, and heading down the road. Equipment will be vital, more so than in any other scenario where you are holed up in a place—a prison, a school, your own home—where supplies are in abundance. The equipment you take with you may be all you have. Characterized by the reader being addressed as “ you ”

THIRD PERSON POV The Lottery by Shirley Jackson The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green. The people of the village began to gather in the square, between the post office and the bank, around ten o'clock; in some towns there were so many people that the lottery took two days and had to be started on June 26th but in this village, where there were only about three hundred people, the whole lottery took less than two hours, so it could begin at ten o'clock in the morning and still be through in time to allow the villagers to get home for noon dinner. 3 kinds : objective, limited, omniscient Third person objective – the narrator is not a character in the story; describes only what can be seen and heard

THIRD PERSON POV Holes by Louis Sachars The next morning Mr. Sir marched the boys to another section of the lake, and each boy dug his own hole, five feet deep and five feet wide. Stanley was glad to be away from the big hole. At least now he knew just how much he had to dig for the day. And it was a relief not to have other shovels swinging past his face, or the Warden hanging around (80). 3 kinds : objective, limited, omniscient Third person limited – the narrator is not a character in the story; describes what can be seen and heard and is inside the head of one character.

THIRD PERSON POV The Wizard of Oz by L Frank Baum The Scarecrow found a tree full of nuts and filled Dorothy’s basket with them, so that she would not be hungry for a long time. She thought this was very kind and thoughtful of the Scarecrow, but she laughed heartily at the awkward way in which the poor creature picked up the nuts. His padded hands were so clumsy that he dropped almost as many as he put in the basket. But the Scarecrow did not mind how long it took him to fill the basket, for it enabled him to keep away from the fire, as he feared a spark might get into his straw and burn him up (49). 3 kinds : objective, limited, omniscient Third person omniscient – the narrator is not a character in the story; describes what can be seen and heard and is inside the head of more than one character.

PERSPECTIVE VS. POINT OF VIEW Remember – point of view is about who is telling the story and whether that narrator is inside or outside the story and inside any character’s (or characters’) head. Perspective is about how a character’s feelings influence what happens and how things are described in a story.

PLAYING WITH POV AND PERSPECTIVE As a writer, you can change the perspective of a story without changing the point of view. You can also change the point of view without changing the perspective. Here are two different ways a story could written about a birthday party that has a zoomobile visit: 1 st person POV Perspective: a daring kid who loves animals When I got to my cousin’s birthday party, I thought it might be lame. You know, a clown making balloon animals, bubbles, stuff like that. But I’m ten, and I’m not interested in that kind of thing anymore. Then the zoomobile pulled in the driveway and I had a glimmer of hope. Maybe the party wouldn’t be so bad. When the guy started unloading and I saw a baby alligator, three snakes, and a giant turtle, I couldn’t believe it! Then, I got to hold the alligator and let a snake wrap around my arm! The turtle hardly moved, but it still neat to feed it some lettuce. Then my aunt brought the cake out and it was shaped like a coiled snake. When she cut into it, it was red like blood! I never knew my little cousin was such a cool dude. This was the best birthday party ever! For my next party, I’m going to have to step up my game! 1 st person POV Perspective: a cautious kid who doesn’t like animals When my mom dropped me off at my cousin’s birthday party, I thought everything would be okay. You might think an eight year old’s birthday party wouldn’t be dangerous, but you’d be wrong. Everything seemed normal enough, then this hippo bus thing got there, and before you know it, I had to run for my life. Seriously! I saw an alligator and a big pile of snakes as I sprinted for the house. I hid out in the bathroom for a while and was about to venture out for food when I heard my aunt saying the snake cake would look like it was bleeding when she cut it and how all the kids would love it. Gross! Not this kid! I just stayed put. When mom picked me up she couldn’t believe I’d spent the whole time in the bathroom. I told her she was lucky I was still alive. As we left, my other cousin was talking about getting ninjas to attack his next birthday party. Good grief, can’t anybody just get a clown anymore?

Perspectives Third person omniscient POV Third person objective POV First person POV Third person limited POV