Narrative Perspective

Refers to the point of view that a story is told from. – Who tells the story? – What can they tell the reader? – What is their position in the story? There are five distinct types

1 st Person Perspective The entity that narrates the story is directly involved in the action of the plot. Usually the protagonist, antagonist, or a major character. – Readers can only see the story through their interpretation and experiences. – Uses the first person pronouns “I, me, we, and us”. – Often marked by the present tense, but past tense can be used. – *Narration is limited to the experience and actions of the narrator only. – *Often used for autobiographical purposes.

1 st Person Perspective - Example 1: Autobiography of Malcolm X, “Learning to Read” “It was because of my letters that I happened to stumble upon starting to acquire some kind of a homemade education. I became increasingly frustrated at not being able to express what I wanted to convey in letters that I wrote, especially those to Mr. Elijah Muhammad. In the street, I had been the most articulate hustler out there. I had commanded attention when I said something. But now, trying to write simple English, I not only wasn’t articulate, I wasn’t even functional. How would I sound writing in slang, the way 1 would say it, something such as, “Look, daddy, let me pull your coat about a cat, Elijah Muhammad—”Many who today hear me somewhere in person, or on television, or those who read something I’ve said, will think I went to school far beyond the eighth grade. This impression is due entirely to my prison studies.” - Example 2: Shawshank Redemption, “Andy arrives at Shawshank”

2 nd Person Perspective The main agent of the story is “you”. – Readers are intended to envision themselves as the enactors of action in the story. – Largely uses the present tense. – Best examples are choose your own adventure stories.

3 rd Person Perspective The narrator is not involved with the actions of the story and is not a character tied to the plot. Sometimes the narrator is indistinguishable from the author. – Utilizes third person pronouns: “he, she, and them”. – Not tied to any particular tense. – Power of the narrator is determined by one of the three denominations: Objective Limited Omniscient

3 rd Person Objective Perspective The narrator can only relate to the reader what is seen or heard. – The individual telling the story is a “fly on the wall”. – However, the thoughts and feelings of characters can be conveyed through indirect characterization.

3 rd Person Limited Perspective The narrator can only relate to the reader the emotions, past, and thoughts of one single character. – The “default” story telling mode for fiction. – Often marked by direct characterization. – Example: Stranger than Fiction, zI zI

3 rd Person Omniscient Perspective The narrator relate to the reader all the emotions, pasts, and thoughts of all characters. – The narrator takes on a “god-like” perspective. – Omniscient – all–knowing. – Often marked by direct characterization. – Example: The Royal Tenebaums,

Put into Practice Limited, objective, and omniscient are not used exclusively for the third person perspective. With a classmate, write a sentence that you believe encapsulates narration from the following perspectives. Use Uncle Rico as an example: – 1 st person omniscient. – 1 st person objective. – 2 nd person omniscient.

Put into Practice Finally, with your partner, answer the following question: – What type of narrator does Nick Carraway fall into in the Great Gatsby? Select a quote from the chapters we’ve read so far that proves this.