BBL 3207
Point of View
Point of View in Conversation
• Consider the sentence below, said by one
male student to another in a coffee bar.
Whose viewpoint do the highlighted parts
of the sentence express/take into account,
and how do you know?
When I come to your
place tomorrow, will
your sister be there?
• When I come to your place tomorrow, will
your sister be there?
The discourse could be represented as below:
Addresser 1
Message
Addressee 1
The same discourse structure would appear to account for
prototypical poems, like Wordsworth's 'Daffodils'. The poet,
Wordsworth, appears to write directly to the reader, and so
he is the addresser. There is no specific person that the
poem is addressed to, and so by default the reader
appears to be the addressee.
Addresser 1
Message
Addressees 1,2,3
When I met Sharon yesterday she told
me that her sister was ill.
How many levels of discourse this time?
Who are the addressers and addressees?
When I met Sharon yesterday she told me that her
sister was ill.
How many levels of discourse this time? Who are the
addressers and addressees?
There are two levels of discourse here. Student A talks
to student B, and in doing so, he reports what Sharon
said to him on a previous occasion. Hence one
discourse situation is reported, or embedded, inside
another.
ADDRESSER 1
ADDRESSER 2
Message
Message
ADDRESSEE 1
(Current
Discourse)
STUDENT B
ADDRESSEE 2
(Previous
Discourse)
STUDENT A
The prototypical 'doubled' discourse structure of
drama
• The one-level discoursal structure is typical of most
poems, but the two-level discourse structure is more
typical of drama.
• Playwrights write plays for audiences and readers, but
they do not communicate directly with their addressees,
as poets typically do. Instead, they communicate
meanings indirectly to their audience by having their
characters communicate with one another on stage.
• So the following diagram represents the discourse
structure involved when one character says something to
another character in a play:
ADDRESSER 1
(Playwright)
ADDRESSER 2
(Character A)
Message
Message
ADDRESSEE 1
(Audience / Reader)
ADDRESSEE 2
(Character B)
Note that in a play which has just two characters,
there are at least FOUR points of view to consider,
the viewpoint of each of the two characters, that of
the playwright and that of the reader.
ADDRESSER 1
(Playwright)
ADDRESSER 2
(Character A)
Message
Message
ADDRESSEE 1
(Audience / Reader)
ADDRESSEE 2
(Character B)
Discourse structure of 1st
and 3rd person novels
• Because novels always have narrators
present, as well as authors, readers and
characters, they prototypically need three
discourse levels in their discourse
architecture.
Discourse structure of 1st
and 3rd person novels
Note that the term usually used for the person
who the narrator addresses is the 'narratee'.
Discourse structure of 1st and 3rd
person novels
• The discourse architecture of 1st-person
narration: Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre
• In Charlotte Brontë's famous novel Jane Eyre,
Jane tells the story of what happened in her life
from when she was a small girl to her marriage to
Mr Rochester at the end of the novel.
• She is thus a typical 1st-person narrator, a narrator
who is a character in her own story.
• Readers also often feel that she is telling the story
to them directly, and indeed at the end of the novel
she actually says 'reader, I married him'.
The discourse architecture of 1st-person
narration: Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre
• The following is the overall discourse architecture
for this novel
ADDRESSER 1
(Charlotte
Bronte)
Message
ADDRESSER 2
(Jane Eyre:
narrator)
Message
ADDRESSER 2
(Jane Eyre:
character)
Message
ADDRESSEE 1
( Reader)
ADDRESSEE 2
(Narratee:
ReaderB)
ADDRESSEE 2
(Mr Rochester)
The discourse architecture of 3rdperson narration
• 1st-person narrators tell their own tale, and so
use the 1st-person pronoun when referring to
themselves.
• But there is another very common form of
narration where all the characters are referred to
in the 3rd person.
• These narrations will seem much more
'objective' than 1st-person narrations because
they are not automatically attached to the
viewpoint of a particular character.
The discourse architecture of 3rdperson narration
• Indeed, with 3rd-person narrators there is a
strong tendency for readers to collapse together
levels 1 and 2 on the left-hand side of the
discourse structure diagram and assume that
the narrator and the author are really the same
person.
• This leads to the idea that 3rd-person narrators
are omniscient. They know everything and can
take us inside the mind of any character if they
so wish.
Discourse Structure and Viewpoint
Addresser 1
Author
Addressee 1
Reader
Addresser 2
Narrator
Addressee 2
Narratee
Addresser 3
Character
Addressee 3
Character
The discourse architecture of 3rdperson narration
• In other words, 3rd-person narrators (= authors)
know everything and tell the truth, whereas 1stperson narrators (= characters) are notoriously
unreliable.
• The '3rd-person narrator = author' equation
appears to be a default reading assumption. But
beware: there are some well-known cases
where the assumption does not hold. Not all
authors invent narrators whose views and
attitudes they share!
The discourse architecture of 3rdperson narration
• Even with a 3rd-person narration, it is possible
for the narrator to take up a viewpoint that
coincides with that of a particular character or
characters.
• Indeed, one if its strengths is that it is possible to
adopt the viewpoint of more than one character
at different points in a story, whereas the choice
of a 1st-person narrator aligns us with that
particular narrator-character throughout.
Dialogue and Narration
• Dialogue = when characters speak.
• Narration = when the narrator speaks.
• “Quotation marks” separate narration
from dialogue.
Example
“Help” my cousin Jack said.
1
2
Identifying Narrative Perspective
It's about the narrator (who tells the story)
We're not looking at dialogue.
We don't care what characters say.
Only the narrator's voice matters.
Pronoun Case
We are trying to figure out the narrator's
view point on the story.
Perspectives and Signal Words
First-Person
I, me, my, mine, we, us,
ours,
Second-Person you, your
Third-Person
he, she, her, they, them
(also character's names)
Secret
“I am in the room”
I = 1st Person
“You come in the room.”
You = 2nd Person
“Then he or she came in the room.”
He or She = 3rd Person
POINT OF VIEW
• The term point of view describes the
perspective from which an author chooses
to present an essay, story, or other piece
of writing.
• There are several points of view that the
authors often use. They include:
1.1st person narrator
2.3rd person limited
3.3rd person omniscient
Objective Point of View
• In the objective point of view, the writer
tells what happens without stating more
than can be inferred from the story’s action
and dialogue.
• The narrator never tells the reader
anything about what the character thinks
or feels, and remains a detached observer
of the story.
First-Person
Narrator is a part of the story (character).
Used when one of the characters tells the story
and speaks as I, an eyewitness
Look for phrases or sentences with I, me, or
my, that show the narrator’s thoughts and
feelings.
e.g.
I went home. Tim came over. I couldn't play.
First Person Point of View
• When reading stories in the first person,
you need to realize that what the narrator
is recounting might not be the objective
truth.
• You should question the trustworthiness of
the narrators account of the events of the
story.
Third-Person
• Narrator usually isn’t involved.
• Tells other's stories.
• Lots of “He,” “She,” & character names.
Three Types of Third-Person Narration
Does the narrator tell…
Thoughts and Feelings of Characters?
Third Person Point of View
• The narrator does not participate in the action of the
story as one of the characters, but lets us know exactly
how the characters think and feel.
• There are two different types of point of view; Limited
and Omniscient.
Third person limited - used when we see the story from
only one character’s point of view but not first-hand.
• knowledge is limited to one character, either major or
minor, has a limited point of view. It is limited to the one
character with whom the story is being told through.
Third-Person Limited
Narrator is limited to one character.
Tells thoughts & feelings of one character
Example
Tim was mad at Shay. He blamed her.
Shay just left without saying anything.
She left a note and then left him.
Third-Person Omniscient
Narrator is all knowing.
Narrator tells thoughts and feelings of
more than one character.
Omni = All
Scient = Knowing
Example
Tim was mad at Shay. He blamed her.
Shay knew Tim would be mad, but she
wanted to live her life.
Third-Person Omniscient
Look for phrases and sentences that
describe the emotions, feelings, and
reactions of the characters.
You will be able to see if the point of
view is limited or omniscient by the
range of viewpoints presented.
Third-Person Objective
Narrator does not reveal any character’s
thoughts or feelings.
Only character’s dialogue and actions
are narrated.
Example
Tim slammed the door. He walked
upstairs & read a note from Shay. He
kicked her trash can & started crying.
Tips on Identifying
• Check 1st or 2nd-person before worrying
about objective, limited, or omniscient.
• Ask, “Who’s story is the narrator telling:
his, mine, or someone else’s?”
• Focus on narration not dialogue.
Practice
1. Read the following passages.
2. Determine the narrator’s perspective.
3. Write down your answer.
1
When I was four months old, my
mother died suddenly and my father was
left to look after me all by himself… I had
no brothers or sisters. So through
boyhood, from the age of four months
onward, there was just us two, my father
and me. We lived in an old gypsy caravan
behind a filling station”
First-Person
2
The huge man dropped his blankets and flung
himself down and drank from the surface of the
green pool. The small man stepped behind him.
"Lennie!" he said sharply. "Lennie, for God"
sakes don’t drink so much." Lennie continued to
snort into the pool. The small man leaned over
and shook him by the shoulder. "Lennie you
gonna be sick like you was last night." Lennie
dipped his whole head under, hat and all… "Tha’s
good," he said. "You drink some, George." He
smiled happily
Third-Person Objective
4
Harold Davis took a deep breath and
slowly started to peel the gauze from the
wound on his grandmother’s leg. “Hold on,
Grandma. I’m almost done,” He said quietly.
“Don’t worry, baby. It doesn’t hurt too much,”
she quietly replied. “Just take your time.”
Harold glanced up at his grandmother lying
on the couch. He could tell she was in pain
from the way she gripped the cushions, but
still she managed to smile back at him.
Third-Person Limited
5
They were standing under a tree, each with
an arm round the other's neck, and Alice knew
which was which in a moment, because one of
them had "DUM" embroidered on his collar, and
the other "DEE." "I suppose they've each got
"TWEEDLE" round at the back of the collar,"
she said to herself. They stood so still that she
quite forgot they were alive, and she was just
looking round to see if the word "TWEEDLE"
was written at the back of each collar, when she
was startled by a voice coming from the one
marked "DUM."
Third-Person Limited
Different kinds of point of view
1. Spatial viewpoint
The most basic manifestation of viewpoint has to do with
our position in space.
• Looking at something from one position is different from
looking at it from another position. Compare
i. 'The tiger disappeared into the distance'
ii. 'The tiger got larger and larger’
Sentence (i) represents a viewing position behind the
tiger, with the tiger moving away, and sentence (ii) is
from a position in front of the tiger with it moving nearer
and nearer to the viewing position.
Spatial viewpoint encodes distance (nearer/farther)
as well as position in relation to other objects.
Different kinds of point of view
2. Temporal viewpoint
• Refers to the presentation of events in a fictional world
from a particular position in time.
• 'Yesterday, the exam' and 'Tomorrow, the exam'
position us 'behind' and 'in front of' the exam.
• The notion of distance and proximity that pertain in
spatial point of view apply metaphorically to temporal
view point.
• Time points can also be nearer or further away from the
'time viewing' position, as well as being on one side or
the other of that position. All these spatial metaphors for
time indicate that spatial viewpoint is the most basic.
Different kinds of point of view
2. Temporal viewpoint
• Refers to the presentation of events in a fictional world
from a particular position in time.
• 'Yesterday, the exam' and 'Tomorrow, the exam'
position us 'behind' and 'in front of' the exam.
• The notion of distance and proximity that pertain in
spatial point of view apply metaphorically to temporal
view point.
• Time points can also be nearer or further away from the
'time viewing' position, as well as being on one side or
the other of that position. All these spatial metaphors for
time indicate that spatial viewpoint is the most basic.
Different kinds of point of view
3. Social viewpoint
• We can also talk of social viewpoint. We can talk refer to
people as being above or below us in status (note the
use of spatial metaphors again), and as being close or
distant from us (cf. 'sister' and 'step-sister', or 'mother'
and 'mother-in-law').
Different kinds of point of view
4. Personal / ideological viewpoint
• Whatever their social status, we can look down on, or up
to the opinions of others (cf. the spatial metaphors
again!), depending upon whether we agree or disagree
with their personal or socio-political views.
• If someone in an organisation makes public what they
see as some wrongdoing, they might be seen as a
dreadful 'traitor' or a benign 'whistle blower', which likens
them to a referee in a football match.
Different kinds of point of view
5. Conceptual viewpoint
• Sometimes the representation of a viewpoint can be so different
from ours that it represents a different way of conceptualising the
world we live in.
• If a small child calls all male adults 'daddy', it is because he has not
yet properly made the conceptual distinction between his father and
other male adults.
• In other words, his conceptual viewpoint is different from ours.
• A good example of conceptual viewpoint in a poem is Craig Raine's
'A Martian Sends a Postcard Home', where a Martian visiting Earth
refers to what are ordinary objects for us in very different terms. So
books, for example, are described as 'mechanical birds'. For us the
Martian has completely misunderstood what books are because of
his conceptual viewpoint. We can see how he has done it, because
half-open books do look a bit like large birds in flight, but we can
also see that he has a completely different conceptualisation of the
world from us.
Different kinds of point of view
5. Attitudinal viewpoint
• Someone's viewpoint can also apply to how they feel about
something, or what their attitude to it is.
• Consider the quotation below from a short story by D. H. Lawrence.
Fanny is an educated woman who had left her village and the
working class man she would otherwise have had to marry, in order
to become a governess. Now her job has come to an end because
her charge has now grown up, she is forced to return to the village
to marry Harry, something which she appears very unwilling to do.
She opened the door of her grimy branch-line carriage, and
began to get down her bags (1). The porter was nowhere, of
course, but there was Harry (2). There, on the sordid little
station under the furnaces, she stood, tall and distinguished, in
her well-made coat and skirt and her broad grey velour hat (3).
Different kinds of point of view
5. Attitudinal viewpoint
She opened the door of her grimy branch-line carriage, and
began to get down her bags (1). The porter was nowhere, of
course, but there was Harry (2). There, on the sordid little
station under the furnaces, she stood, tall and distinguished, in
her well-made coat and skirt and her broad grey velour hat (3).
•
The adjectives concerning the carriage of the train and the railway
station are not just descriptive.
• They also have connotations which suggest disapproval on the part
of the narrator and the character Fanny, from whose viewpoint the
scene is surveyed.
• The external description of Fanny herself is, by contrast, approving
in terms of the adjectives used. She appears to be a cut above her
surroundings. The use of the distal deictic 'there' being used not just
to suggest physical apartness from the perceiver, but also an
analogical attitudinal distance. Harry is being coded in the same was
as the unpleasant surroundings.
Different kinds of point of
view
• Find out about psychological viewpoint.
• You will present/discuss this tomorrow
• Please read: 26-30, 77-80, 123-130