NARRATIVE POINT OF VIEW LOOK AT THE FOLLOWING IMAGES AND TAKE NOTE OF THE POINT OF VIEW (POV)

POV: You ARE the character. You are in the game.

POV: You are watching and controlling ONE character, but you are NOT the character.

POV: You are watching MULTIPLE characters and can control any character you need to. POV IN NARRATION • In narratives (stories), there are a couple of different points of view (POV) that authors will use to tell their stories • The three primary points of view are: • 1st person • 3rd person (limited) • 3rd person (omniscient) • To see which POV a story has, ask yourself two questions: • “WHO is narrating this story?” • “How much does this narrator KNOW?” 1ST PERSON

• 1st person narration has the narrator as a character in the story • The main character is the one telling you the story, so look for personal pronouns: • I • Me • My • In 1st person, we can only know what the character knows • We only see the world from the character’s eyes • Example: The Hunger Games series

3RD PERSON (LIMITED)

• In 3rd person, the narrator is NOT a character in the story • The narrator is watching the events and describing them to the reader • In 3rd person LIMITED, the narrator only knows the thoughts and feelings of ONE character, but can see all the other characters’ actions • It is similar to first person, but gives the writer more freedom since the narrator can see things the character can’t • Example: The Giver

3RD PERSON (OMNISCIENT)

• Like 3rd person limited, the narrator is NOT a character in the story, but watches the characters and events • The word ‘omniscient’ means ‘all-knowing’ • 3rd person omniscient narrators know the thoughts and feelings of MULTIPLE characters • Example: The Game of Thrones series

So how is POV like these video games? First person The narrator is a character IN the story. Uses “I” and “me” as pronouns

Third person (limited) The narrator is NOT a character, but is observing one character and telling the reader the events. “Limited” means the narrator only knows the thoughts and feelings of the MAIN character Third person (Omniscient) The narrator is NOT a character, but is observing one character and telling the reader the events. “Limited” means the narrator only knows the thoughts and feelings of the MAIN character BUT IS THERE A 2ND PERSON?

• Yes, 2nd person exists, but it’s rare in narratives • YOU (the reader) are the “character” in the text • Examples: • Choose your own adventure books • Self-help books • How-to manuals • Cook books BE CAREFUL!!!

• When we want to know the POV, we have to look at narration and NOT dialogue!

• Dialogue = When the characters speak out loud • Narration = when the narrator is telling you events in the story

• You can tell the difference by looking for quotation marks