Types of Point of View
Third Person (he, she, it, they, them, etc.)
A: Third Person Omniscient—non-participant third person all-knowing narrator who sees
through the minds of all the characters
B: Third Person Limited Omniscient—third person narrator who sees through the mind of
a single character.
C: Objective (dramatic narrator)—describes events from the outside (fly on a wall)—no
inner thoughts
First Person (I, we, me, us, etc.)
First person narratives contain a participant telling story through his/her eyes
A: Direct first person contains a narrator who is part of the action. This may also be
called first person participant.
B: Indirect first person contains a narrator who is not actually part of the action, but sees
what is going on. This is also called first person observer.
Second Person (You)
A: Second person is typically a monologue addressed directly to the reader (one part of a
dialogue with no other characters--you as reader are the second character).
Different Types of ObserversA: Major character- this narrator is part of the main action; may be the protagonist. For
example, Huckleberry Finn.
B: Minor character- this narrator tends to be observing the action. He she is often on the
outside looking in.
C: Naïve observer—a character who fails to understand all the implications of the story (a
child, someone without experience, someone with diminished mental capacity).
D: Unreliable narrator-a character who will exaggerate the action or tone it down due to
his/her role in the action.