1. Point of View
A story is told through the eyes of
a character or narrator—this is the
point of view.
2. Point of view
The author makes a deliberate choice
in which point of view to use.
The point of view influences the plot. It
affects how much information and the
type of information that is revealed to
the audience.
3. First Person Point of View
The narrator is a character in the story.
Uses first person pronouns (I, we, me,
my, our)
We learn the character’s thoughts,
feelings, actions and words.
May be unreliable or inaccurate
4. First Person Example
The truth was, I was sorry not to have started
school the year before. In my innocence I
had imagined going to school meant certain
privileges worthy of all my brothers’ and
sister’s complaints. The fact that my lung
infection in my fifth and sixth year, mistakenly
diagnosed as TB, earned me some reprieve,
only made me long for school the more.
5. Third Person Limited Point of View
Narrator is not a character in the story.
The narrator tells the story from one
character’s vantage point—we find out
what this one character thinks, feels
etc.
Uses third person pronouns (he, him,
she, her, they, them)
6. Third Person example
Hecuba had dreamed that the tiny
Paris, who lay so quietly in her arms at
this moment, had turned into a burning
torch that set all Troy aflame. The old
woman, a dream prophet, had then said
that a terrible end would come to Troy if
the baby were allowed to live.
7. Omniscient Narrator
The narrator is all-knowing.
The author can enter the minds of the
characters and can describe what all
characters are thinking and feeling.
8. Omniscient Example
Colleen gazed longingly out the
window, noticing the blue sky and bright
sun. She sighed wistfully—a perfect
day out. Next to her, Michael fidgeted
in his seat feeling restless. He
wondered how time could move so
slowly. Mrs Howell knew she was
fighting a losing battle. She breathed a
sigh of relief as the final bell rang
signalling the start of summer vacation.
9. Objective Narrator
Never enters a character’s mind
Records only what is seen and heard
(like a hidden camera)
Allows inferences to be made by the
readers
10. It was a record-breaking snow fall. The
wind gusts blew violently, swirling the
snow around and making visibility
nearly impossible. A red car slowly
inched out of the driveway and
proceeded down the roads, slick with
ice. As the car approached the stop
sign, the driver slowed down.
11. Your Turn—what point of view?
For a moment, my mother seemed to
hesitate. Her mouth softened and a
line deepened between her eyebrows.
We stepped in the night and started
walking down the mountain in the
direction of town, 10 km away.
13. What point of view?
So far so good, Jake thought. This
girl was bugged by cursing and
smoking. He had news for her. He
intended to do a whole lot of both.
He took a long drag on his cigarette
and blew the smoke at her again.
She turned away and moved down
to the other end of the porch steps.
15. What point of view?
His mind seasawed miserably to and
from between the opposite and
irreconcilable facts, and he found
himself hating Peri for having had the
stupid brilliant idea in the first place.
17. What point of view?
The house had that neglected
air, as if no one had stepped
foot inside for years. The paint
was peeling, the garden
overgrown and a pile of
yellowing newspapers blocked
the entrance to the front door.
19. What point of view?
The last thing I wanted to do on my
summer break was to blow up another
school. But there I was Monday
morning, the first week of June, sitting
in my mom’s car in front of Goode
High School on East 81 st. Staring up
at the fancy stone archway, I wondered
how long it would take me to get
kicked out of this place.
21. IDENTIFY THE FOLLOWING POV:
1. I knew I shouldn’t have opened the
old journal, but curiosity got the
better of me. The pages smelled like
dust and time, and the handwriting
was jagged, hurried—almost like the
writer had been scared. As I read the
first few lines, a chill crept down my
spine. Something wasn’t right.
22. 2. The clock struck noon as Maria
walked into the room. She glanced at
the calendar on the wall, then crossed
to the window and pulled aside the
curtain. Outside, a group of children
played on the sidewalk. Maria adjusted
her scarf and stepped back from the
window.
23. 3. As Maria entered the room, she felt a
deep unease settle in her chest, though
she tried to hide it behind a calm
expression. Across town, James was
oblivious to her worries, lost in his own
world of plans and ambitions. Neither
knew that their paths would soon collide
in ways neither could have imagined.
24. 4. Lena sat quietly by the fireplace,
pretending to listen to the conversation
around her. What no one realized was
that her mind was racing with doubts
about the decision she had made earlier
that day. Meanwhile, across town, Mark
celebrated his promotion, unaware that
this very success would soon bring
unexpected challenges to both their
lives.
25. 5. Tom clenched his fists, anger
simmering just beneath the surface,
while across the room, Sarah smiled
softly, unaware of the storm brewing
inside him. Neither could see the
future, but the choices they were
making now would shape the course
of their lives in ways they could never
predict.
