English 10 / Unit 2: Narrative Structure and Point of View
2.2 Point of View
Notes
Point of view is the perspective from which a story is told. It controls what the reader knows.
| Point of view | Pronouns | What the reader knows |
|---|---|---|
| First person | I, we | one character's thoughts, from inside |
| Second person | you | puts the reader in the action (rare) |
| Third limited | he, she, they | one character's thoughts |
| Third omniscient | he, she, they | many characters' thoughts; the narrator knows all |
| Third objective | he, she, they | only actions and speech, like a camera |
- Ask: what does this point of view let us know, and what does it hide?
Practice
"Leah smiled at her brother, but inside she was furious. Across the table, Sam wondered why his sister seemed so tense." The point of view is:
The narrator reveals the thoughts of both Leah and Sam.
A story reports only what characters say and do, never their thoughts. Its point of view is:
The objective narrator acts like a camera, recording only the outside.
A main advantage of first-person point of view is that it:
First person offers intimacy but only one, possibly biased, view.
Ready for more? Take the Unit 2 test.