1. Literary Terms Narrative Voice and Point of View
By Abby, Patty, and Janae

2. Narrative Voice
Narration: refers to the act of telling a story or describing a situation and the means by which that telling is accomplished.
Narrative: the three main narrative forms in prose are the novel, novella, and the short story.
Voice: the form of various convictions and values by which the author judges characters and events, as well as evokes judgments of the reader.

3. Point of View:
the pronoun that the narrator uses to recount events, describe situations and/or express feelings. (I or him)
I felt upset about the situation.
It’s as if you were flying through the air.
He loved his new haircut.

4. 1st and 2nd Person Definitions Examples
1st Person: has the advantages of personal accounts and directness. Uses pronoun “I/We”
2nd Person: The narrator addresses the audience directly using the pronoun “you”. It is the least used of the different points of view.
““Yes, Baba jan,” I muttered, marveling, not for the first time, at how badly Baba could sting me with so few words.” Khaled Hosseini The Kite Runner
You can’t imagine what it’s like! Jumping from an airplane hundreds of feet in the air felt like you were actually flying!

5. 3rd Person:
has a much broader view and usually an objective perspective on characters and events. Uses pronouns him, they…etc.
can either be omniscient or limited
Omniscient writings can either contain an intrusive or objective narrator

6. 3rd Person Omniscient and Limited
Definitions
Examples
Omniscient: a narrator not only describes the facts but may also interpret events and/or relate the thoughts and feelings of the other characters
Limited: a narrator reports the facts and interprets events from the perspective of a single character
John felt so hurt when Samantha dumped him, but she did it because she hated how lazy he was.
“Her name was Phoenix Jackson. She was very old and small and she walked slowly in the dark pine shadows…” Eudora Welty, A Worn Path

7. Intrusive and Objective
Definitions
Intrusive: a character who offers philosophical or moral commentary on the characters and the events he depicts.
Objective: a third-person narrator whose presence is merely implied