Room 312 - Point of View II, Book Reviews
September 13th, 2008 — room312Today’s Podcast:
1. Literature Concept: The 3rd POV
2. A Book Review of Coach Carter and The Death Collector
POINTS OF VIEW Sharon Sorenson
Selecting Point of View
Because readers identify with the point of view from which the story is told, how you tell your story will determine its message. The cliché “There are two sides to every story” is accurate only as far as it goes. Actually there are as many “sides” as there are people involved. Even someone outside the conflict will have a perspective from which he or she can relate the details, but his or her perspective will necessarily omit the personal reactions of those actually involved in the conflict. He or she has no way of knowing these reactions.
Defining Point Of View
Point of view is the place from which, or way in which, something is viewed. Semantically, that means that there can be three points view:
1. my point of view,
2. your point of view, and
3. other people’s points of view.
Language textbooks refer to these as
1. first-person,
2. second-person, and
3. third-person points of view.
In terms of a short story, the point of view is the perspective from which the story is told.
The short story is traditionally written from either first-person or third-person point of view. (Only rarely is any story written from second-person point of view.) Within the third-person point of view, however, short-story writers recognize three distinct perspectives:
1. third-person,
2. limited third-person, and
3. omniscient third-person.
The following explanations and examples illustrate each of perspectives. Your task will be to select the point of view from you can best tell your story.
Examining Points Of View
First-Person Point of View
The first-person point of view uses “I,” “me,” “my,” and “our. It permits the author to tell the story from the point of view of a narrator or of one of the characters in the story, major or minor. Only those feelings, observations, and reactions which that narrator or character experiences can appear in the story. The advantage of first-person point of view, of course, is that it puts readers close to the action.
Example of first-person POV:
I stood there contemplating the stack of sales records we had to compile before we could call it quits for the day. I just wanted to go home, be with the kids, watch the ball game.
I hesitated. “Well, Krista,” I began, hoping she wouldn’t be her usual grouchy self, “what do you want me to do first!”
She frowned. “Why don’t you sort the reports by department code?”
She sounded cross. I thought I heard her stomach growl. I guessed she must be hungry.
Third-Person Point of View
Third-person point of view uses “he,” “she” “they, “them,” and “their” as well as people’s names. A narrator tells the story, but he is more removed from the story than if he is using the omniscient point of view. In fact, he tells the story from only one character’s point of view, only as that character can observe.
Example of third-person POV:
She stood there contemplating the stack of sales records they had to compile before they could call it quits for the day. She just wanted to go home, have a quiet dinner with Tom, and curl up with a good book. She looked at Jerod.
“Lazy rat,” she thought, “he doesn’t even know how to enter the basic data.”
“So what do you want me to do first!” he asked.
Krista thought he sounded almost willing to help. She hesitated, looked at him again, frowning, unsure why he seemed so helpful. “Why don’t you sort the reports by department code?” she suggested. Silently she added, “And we’ll see if you have any idea what you’re doing.”
Limited Third-Person Point of View
Similar to third-person point of view, the limited third person uses (the,” “she,” “they,” and “them.” The significant difference is that this third-person narrator is not part of the story and cannot read any character’s mind.
Example of Limited Third-Person Point of View:
She stood there looking at the stack of sales records they had to compile before they could call it quits for the day. She looked at Jerod. It was not a friendly look.
“So what do you want me to do first!” he asked.
She hesitated, looked at him again, frowning. “Why don’t you sort the reports by department code?” she suggested.
Omniscient Third-Person Point of View
The all-knowing, all-seeing point of view is almost always that of the author-narrator. Only the author knows all, sees all, understands all. Only he or she can tell what each character thinks, knows, feels.
Example of Omniscient Third-Person Point of View:
Jerod and Krista stood contemplating the stack of sales records to be compiled before they could call it quits for the day. Neither wanted to work late; that was understandable. But Jerod liked to ease back and let Krista assume the real burden. He hoped she’d make quick work of it tonight. Little did he know that Krista resented his mere presence.
“Lazy rat,” she thought. “He doesn’t even know how to enter the basic data.” Her stomach growled.
By way of summary, the following chart shows the four major points of view:
POINTS OF VIEW CHART
Character
Name or Narrator Characteristics Pronouns
first person either speaker part of story I, me, my,
can observe all mine, we, us
characters but reveals our(s)
feelings and reactions
only of self
third person either story told only as he, him, his,
one character can she, her(s),
observe they, them,
their(s)
limited third narrator narrator not part of he, him, his,
person part of story, she, her(s),
cannot read any they, them,
character’s mind their(s)
omniscient narrator narrator/author he, him, his,
third person knows all and she, her(s),
sees all they, them,
their(s)
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