Identifying Narrative Perspective
Identifying Narrative Perspective
Directions: Read the following passages and determine the narrative perspective, then explain how you
were able to identify the point of view- if the passage is third person, explain which character’s thoughts
are revealed.
Narrative Perspective (point of view): first-person, , third-person limited, third-person omniscient.
1. Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
The day Shiloh come, we’re having us a big Sunday dinner. Dara Lynn’s dipping bread in her glass of
cold tea, the way she likes, and Becky pushes her beans over the edge of her plate in her rush to get ’em
down. Ma gives us her scolding look. We live high up in the hills above Friendly, but hardly anybody
knows where that is. Friendly’s near Sistersville, which is halfway between Wheeling and Parkersburg.
Used to be, my daddy told me, Sistersville was once of the best places you could live in the whole state.
Narrative Perspective: ______
How do you know ______
2. The Skull of Truth: A Magic Shop Book by Bruce Coville, Gary A. Lippincott
To his astonishment, Charlie found himself standing next to his bicycle, back where he had entered the
swamp. That was bizarre and upsetting—but not as bad as the realization that he was still holding the
skull. He thought he had dropped it before he raced out the door. He certainly hadn’t intended to steal
the thing. He didn’t even really want it!
Narrative Perspective: ______
How do you know? ______
______
3. From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
Claudia knew that she could never pull off the old-fashioned kind of running away. That is, running
away in the heat of anger with a knapsack on her back. She didn’t like discomfort; therefore, she
decided that her leaving home would not be just running from somewhere but would be running to
somewhere. To a large place, a comfortable place, an indoor place, and preferably a beautiful place.
And that’s why she decided upon the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Narrative Perspective: ______
How do you know? ______
______
4. Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers, Mary Shepard
They found themselves in bed and watching, by the dim light from the night-light, the rest of Mary
Poppin’s unpacking being performed. From the carpet bag she took out seven flannel nightgowns, four
cotton ones, a pair of boots, a set of dominoes, two bathing-caps and a postcard album. Jane an Michael
sat hugging themselves and watching. It was all so surprising that they could find nothing to say. But
they knew, both of them, that something strange and wonderful had happened at Number Sevennteen,
Cherry-Tree Lane.
Narrative Perspective: ______
How do you know? ______
5. “Sunday was my only leisure time. I spent this in a sort of beast-like stupor, between sleep and wake,
under some large tree. I sank down again, mourning over my wretched condition. I was sometimes
prompted to take my life, and that of Covey, but was prevented by a combination of hope and fear.”
Narrator’s Point of View: ______
How do you know? ______
______
6. “Goldilocks was a proud and defiant little girl who’d been told many times by her mother to stay out
of the woods, but she paid little attention to others, especially her elders, giving lots of attention instead
to herself and her own desires. One day, just to show that she could, she wandered deep into the center
of the forest, farther from home than ever before. In a clearing she noticed a small cottage, smoke
issuing from the chimney. She thought it was quite an ugly little cottage, but she also thought it might be
a place where she could get a little something to eat and drink.”
Narrator’s Point of View: ______
How do you know? ______
7. “Mary Maloney was waiting for her husband to come him from work. Now and again she would
glance up at the clock, but without anxiety, merely to please herself with the thought that each minute
gone by made it nearer the time when he would come. For her, this was always a blissful time of day.
She knew he didn’t want to speak much until the first drink was finished, and she, on her side, was
content to sit quietly, enjoying his company after the long hours alone in the house. She loved him for
the way he sat loosely in a chair, for the way he came in a door, or moved slowly across the room with
long strides.”
Narrator’s Point of View: ______
How do you know? ______
8. A Retrieved Reformation by O. Henry
“Annabel,” said Jimmy, “give me that rose you are wearing, will you?” Hardly believing that she had
heard him right, she unpinned the flower from her dress and placed it in his hand. Jimmy Valentine put
on his coat and walked outside the railing toward the front door. As he went he thought he heard a
faraway voice that he once knew.
Narrative Perspective: ______
How do you know?______
9. Seventh Grade by Gary Soto
On the first day of school, Victor stood in line half and hour before he came to a wobbly card table. He
was handed a packet of papers and a computer rcard on which he listed his one elective, French. He
already spoke Spanish and English, but he thought some day he might travel to France, where it was
cool; not like Fresno, where summer days reached 110 degrees in the shade.
Narrative Perspective: ______
How do you know?______
10. Rikki-tikki-tavi by Rudyard Kipling
Rikki-tikki heard them going up the path from the stables, and he raced for the end of the melon patch
near the wall. “I was not a day too son,” he said; for he could see the baby cobras curled up inside the
skin, and he knew that the minute they were hatched they could kill a man or mongoose. He bit off the
tops of the eggs as fast as he could, taking care to crush the young cobras. Nagaina spun clear round,
forgetting everything for the sake of her eggs. She saw she had lost her chance of killing Teddy, and the
last egg lay between Rikki-tikki’s paws.
Narrative Perspective: ______
How do you know?______
11. Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
Marilla’s lips twitched understandingly. She had expected Mrs. Rachel to say this; she had known that
the sight of Matthew jaunting off so unaccountably would be too much for her neighbor’s curiosity. If
Marilla had said that Matthew had gone to Bright River to meet a kangaroo from Australia Mrs. Rachel
could not have been more astonished. She was actually quiet for five seconds. It was unsupposable that
Marilla was making fun of her, but Mrs. Rachel was almost forced to suppose it.
Narrative Perspective: ______
How do you know? ______
______