What Is Point of View?
Omniscient Point of View
Third-Person-Limited Point of View
First-Person Point of View
Determining a Story’s Point of View
Voice
Tone
Practice
Point of View
Point of view is the vantage point from which a
writer narrates or tells a story.
What Is Point of View?
Omniscient Point of View
In the omniscient point of view, the all-knowing
narrator
• knows and can tell what
any character is thinking
and feeling
• plays no part in the story
• knows what is happening
in all of the story’s
How can you tell that this excerpt is
written from the omniscient point of view?
Omniscient Point of View
[End of Section]
Quick Check
The frown on the bachelor’s face was deepening to a scowl. He was a hard,
unsympathetic man, the aunt decided in her mind. . . .
The smaller girl created a diversion by beginning to recite “On the Road to
Mandalay.” She only knew the first line, but she put her limited knowledge to the fullest possible use. . . . It seemed to the bachelor as though someone had had a bet with her that she could repeat the line aloud two thousand times without stopping.
Omniscient Point of View
The narrator knows the
thoughts of all three
characters.
Quick Check
How can you tell that this excerpt is
written from the omniscient point of view?
The frown on the bachelor’s face was deepening to a scowl. He was a hard,
unsympathetic man, the aunt decided in her mind. . . .
The smaller girl created a diversion by beginning to recite “On the Road to
Mandalay.” She only knew the first line, but she put her limited knowledge to the fullest possible use. . . . It seemed to the bachelor as though someone had had a bet with her that she could repeat the line aloud two thousand times without stopping.
Third-Person-Limited Point of View
In third-person-limited point of view, the
narrator
• knows and can tell
what a single character
is thinking and feeling
• plays no part in the
Third-Person-Limited Point of View
[End of Section]
Quick Check
So they parted; and the young man pursued his way until, being about to turn the corner by the meeting-house, he
looked back and saw the head of Faith still peeping after him with a melancholy air, in spite of her pink ribbons.
“Poor little Faith!” thought he, for his heart smote him. “What a wretch am I to leave her on such an errand! She talks of dreams, too.”
from “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne
How can you tell that this excerpt is written from the
Third-Person-Limited Point of View
The narrator knows the thoughts of only one character.Quick Check
So they parted; and the young man pursued his way until, being about to turn the corner by the meeting-house, he
looked back and saw the head of Faith still peeping after him with a melancholy air, in spite of her pink ribbons.
“Poor little Faith!” thought he, for his heart smote him. “What a wretch am I to leave her on such an errand! She talks of dreams, too.”
from “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne
How can you tell that this excerpt is written from the
First-Person Point of View
In first-person point of view, the narrator
• knows and can tell only
what he or she thinks and
feels
• is a character in the story
First-Person Point of View
[End of Section]
Quick Check
At three o’clock I cried, “Print off,” and turned to go, when there crept to my chair what was left of a man. He was bent in a circle, his head was sunk between his
shoulders, and he moved his feet one over the other like a bear. I could hardly see whether he walked or crawled. . . . “Can you give me a drink?” he whimpered. . . .
I went back to the office, the man
followed with groans of pain, and I turned up the lamp.
“Don’t you know me?” he gasped.
from “The Man Who Would Be King” by Rudyard Kipling
How can you tell that this excerpt is written from the
First-Person Point of View
The narrator tells the experience as he witnesses it.Quick Check
At three o’clock I cried, “Print off,” and turned to go, when there crept to my chair what was left of a man. He was bent in a circle, his head was sunk between his
shoulders, and he moved his feet one over the other like a bear. I could hardly see whether he walked or crawled. . . . “Can you give me a drink?” he whimpered. . . .
I went back to the office, the man
followed with groans of pain, and I turned up the lamp.
“Don’t you know me?” he gasped.
from “The Man Who Would Be King” by Rudyard Kipling
How can you tell that this excerpt is written from the
Determining a Story’s Point of View
When you read fiction, ask the following five
questions about point of view:
1. Who is telling the story?
3. How much does the narrator want me to know?
2. How much does the narrator know and
understand?
4. Can I trust the narrator?
Determining a Story’s Point of View
It is eight suns’ journey to the east and a man passes by many Dead Places. The Forest People are afraid of them but I am not. Once I made my fire on the edge of a Dead Place at night. . . .
from “By the Waters of Babylon” by Stephen Vincent Benét
Which excerpt is written
from the first-person point of view? Which is written from the
third-person-limi ted point of
view?
[End of Section]
Quick Check
They would hate him with cold and
terrible intensity, but it really didn’t matter. He would never see them, never know
them. He would have only the memories to remind him; only the nights of fear. . . .
Determining a Story’s Point of View
Quick Check
It is eight suns’ journey to the east and a man passes by many Dead Places. The Forest People are afraid of them but I am not. Once I made my fire on the edge of a Dead Place at night. . . .
from “By the Waters of Babylon” by Stephen Vincent Benét
They would hate him with cold and
terrible intensity, but it really didn’t matter. He would never see them, never know
them. He would have only the memories to remind him; only the nights of fear. . . .
from “The Cold Equations” by Tom Godwin
Third-person limited
Voice
A compelling narrator has a distinctive voice,
carefully crafted by the narrator’s
• use of language
• choice of words, or diction
Voice
Listen to the description of a injured man in the
voices of two narrators.
My patient had clearly been through a painful ordeal
and required immediate surgery and long-term therapy to restore the full use of his injured arms, legs, and back.
The man’s doctor: The man’s wife:
I fought back tears, trying to be brave for him, but the sight of my strong, tall
husband so terribly injured and so weak was almost too much to bear. At last I gave way to grief.
