Point of View and Theme:
A character’s perspective leads to
lessons learned.
Point of view=perspective.
• It’s a specific way of seeing the world.
The cartoonist’s point of view is that…?
People aren’t being smart about how they’re treating
Earth.
The picture of a person’s face painted
like Earth suggests that…
Earth is like a person.
It’s Earth personified!
Children’s hands holding up Earth
suggest that…
The Earth’s future is in the hands of
our children.
From all these perspectives, we get
which theme or message?
One interpretation is this theme:
• We should take care of Earth.
In literature, authors choose the point
of view because it’s how they want the
story to be told.
• First Person=This is the person who
experienced the story.
• Second person=This is telling the story so
“you” can imagine what it was like.
• Third person=This is the person retelling
someone else’s story.
Points of View:
• First person= “I,” “me,” “my.”
• Second person= “you,” “you’re,” “your.”
• Third person=“he,” “she,” “they,” “him,” “her,”
“his,” hers.”
Which point of view is used in…?
• “Thank You, Ma’am”
• “Amigo Brothers”
• “The War of the Wall”
Third Person Limited:
• This is from one character’s point of view.
• “He did not trust the woman not to trust him.
And he did not want to be mistrusted now.”
Third Person Omniscient (“all-knowing”):
• This is from more than one character’s point
of view.
• Antonio: “He tried not to think of Felix, feeling
he had succeeded in psyching his mind.”
• Felix: “Up in the South Bronx, Felix decided to
take in a movie in an effort to keep Antonio’s
face away from his fists.”
Third Person Objective:
• This is when we’re given only the facts.
• Antonio went to the roof of his tenement. He
did some dance steps, bobbing and weaving
as he threw punches.
• Felix saw the movie “The Champion” starring
Kirk Douglas. It was the third time he’d seen it.
Third Person Subjective
• This is when there’s a clear point of view.
Events are given from an emotionally slanted
perspective.
• The narrator wanted to grab hold of that
ladder and shake it. What the painter lady was
doing was unfair.
Theme
• This is the message or lesson learned.
We look at how the character faces the conflict
or problem. The climax or turning point helps
us figure out the theme.
What’s the theme…
• in “Thank You, Ma’am?”
• Roger’s conflict was he didn’t know if he could
trust Mrs. Jones. In the climactic moment, he
decided he could trust her.
What’s the theme…
• in “Amigo Brothers?”
• The conflict faced by Antonio and Felix was,
will their friendship get in the way of the
fight? In the climactic moment, they proved it
wouldn’t change anything. They kept fighting
well after the bell rang.
What’s the theme…
• in “The War of the Wall?”
• The narrator’s problem was with the painter
lady taking over his wall. In the climactic
moment, people gathered to admire the
painting that had become theirs.
Characters in literature give us
perspectives on life, which lead to
lessons learned.
Tone and Mood:
• The point of view used by the author will,
besides “pointing to the theme,” reveal the
author’s attitude or tone.
Tone in “Thank You, Ma’am:”
• She switched on the light and left the door
open. The boy could hear other roomers
laughing and talking in the large house. Some
of their doors were open, too, so he knew he
and the woman were not alone.
• How are we supposed to feel about Roger?
Tone in “Amigo Brothers”
• While some youngsters were into street
negatives, Antonio and Felix slept, ate, rapped,
and dreamt positive. Between them, they had a
collection of “Fight” magazines second to none,
plus a scrapbook filled with torn tickets to every
boxing match they had ever attended and some
clippings of their own.
• What should we think about Antonio and Felix?
Tone in “The War of the Wall”
• Find evidence in the story to show this tone:
The community is a place where people come
together and share experiences.
Mood
• What’s the mood or feeling we get when
reading…?
• “Thank You, Ma’am”
• “Amigo Brothers”
• “The War of the Wall”
So, point of view, tone, and mood
work together to show a theme!
• If only everyone on Earth could do the same!