Paper 3 – Point of View

Read Chapter 4 in Analyzing Short Stories.

For Paper 3, first write a summary and central idea paragraph. Then add separate character and conflict paragraphs as you did in Paper 2. Next add a new paragraph discussing the point of view of the story. This paper should be approximately 500 words long. Choose one of the following stories: “Haircut” by Ring Lardneror “The Girls in Their Summer Dresses” by Irwin Shaw.In the new paragraph on point of view, you should do the following:

  1. Identify (use the appropriate term) which point of view is used. There are four choices: first person, omniscient, limited omniscient, and objective(also known as dramatic—either term can be used).
  2. First, ask yourself who is telling the story? If it is a character in the story, then the point of view is first person. In the first person point of view, a character in the story is the narrator of the story.
  3. If the narrator of the story is a voice from outside the story (whom we refer to as the author), the story is written in the third person and is specifically one of the following points of view:

omniscient—author is narrator; more than one character’s unspoken thoughts or feelings are known.

limited omniscient—author is narrator; only one character’s unspoken thoughts or feelings are known.

objective (or dramatic)—author is narrator; no unspoken thoughts or feelings are known.

  1. Do one of the following, depending on which point of view is used:
  2. If first person, state which character is narrator.

b. If omniscient, list at least two of the minds that are entered. Quotean example from the story of each one identified. Remember, dialogue, or spoken expressions of thoughts or feelings, would not be omniscience.

  1. If limited omniscient, state which character’s mind is entered. Quote and document using parenthetical documentation an example from the story which shows that we enter that mind.
  1. If objective (or dramatic), state that we do enter any minds in this story.
  1. If you feel (and can back up) that the point of view is on the borderline

between two of the above (as when the narrator only very briefly enters one particular mind), you may indicate this and explain this view.

3. Discuss how the point of view used is appropriate for the story (or how it enhances

the story or reinforces the central idea)