Point of View – NOTES

To determine Point of View, ASK:

Who tells the story?

How much is this person allowed to know?

To what extent does the narrator look inside the characters and report their thoughts and feelings?

ARE 4 BASIC TYPES of Point of View

1. Omniscient – story told in third person by a narrator whose knowledge

is unlimited

- can see inside the minds and hearts of characters and tell readers

what they are thinking or feeling

-may vary widely in the amount of omniscience the narrator is

allowed

-is the most flexible point of view and permits the widest scope

-is also the most subject to abuse

2. Third Person Limited – story told from the view point of one character

in the story

-filters – authors may move inside and outside of the character

-show no direct knowledge of what other characters think, feel or do

-chosen character may be either a MAJOR or MINOR character – the

use of minor characters is very rare

-approximates more closely the conditions of real life

-offers a ready-made unifying element and offers an additional device

of characterization

-variation – stream of consciousness – present apparent random

thoughts of character within a certain time frame or time period

3. First Person Point of View – author uses one character who tells the

story in first person

-may be either a MAJOR or MINOR character

-shares the virtues and limitations of the third person limited view

point

-offers an excellent opportunity for dramatic irony and studies in

limited or blunted human perceptiveness

4. Objective Point of View – ‘dramatic’ – like a roving sound camera

-narrator can go anywhere but can record only what is seen and heard

-sometimes also called dramatic point of view

-readers are placed in the position of spectators

-requires readers to draw their own inferences

-relies heavily on external action and dialogue

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

The choice of point of view depends upon the materials and the purposeof the story.

For readers, examining the point of view is important both for

UNDERSTANDING and EVALUATING a story.

WHEN ANALYZING POINT OF VIEW:

FIRST, know whether the events of the story are being interpreted by

a narrator or one of the characters

NEXT, ask whether the author has chosen the point of view for

maximum revelation of material or for another reason

FINALLY, ask whether the author has used point of view fairly and

consistently

REMEMBER: Point of View must be consistent – if it shifts, it should do so for a justifiable, artistic reason.