Let's say we're examining a crime scene.
The police may have 10 witnesses who all
saw the same crime. Yet they may give 10
different descriptions of what happened.
Because they saw the same crime from
different angles and from different
lengths of time, they may have different
perspectives on what happened. These
different perspectives are called "points
of view."
In prose and poetry, fiction or non-fiction,
someone is always between the reader
and the events inside the writing. This
"someone" is the author (as narrator), or
the characters that the author creates.
The narrator or the characters are the
"witnesses," and you - the reader - are the
police officer. You'll have to use your
judgment to understand what exactly is
going on.
There are different types of point of view.
A story can be told from the first person
("I", "my") or from the third person ("she",
"they"). We can get into the minds of the
characters ("omniscient") or we can
simply see them from the outside, like
real life ("objective"). We can see the story
from a main character who is central to
the plot, or from a minor character who is
largely just an observer.
1ST PERSON CENTRAL:
This perspective is told from the p.o.v. of the
main character. It allows the author to bring
the reader closer to the character, and
create more sympathy for the character's
struggles. However, it also limits the reader
to one person's perspective, and we don't
have a broader, more balanced point of view.
Nevertheless, this view grants a sense of
immediacy: we see everything through this
character's eyes
2ND PERSON:
This is a relatively rare point of view and is difficult
to sustain. It is based upon the address of one
speaker to a second person. It uses the "you" and
"your" pronouns throughout, which, as you can
imagine, is difficult to maintain without sounding
repetitive. Here's an example: You will receive the
revised essay criteria by Tuesday, September 22.
You will have an opportunity to respond to it in
writing before October 17. In fiction, the "you"
being addressed is often a central character, and
the effect is to turn the reader into the character.
3RD PERSON OBJECTIVE
Here the outside narration is completely bereft of
(lacking) any interior thinking. The author, and the
readers, can only observe exterior actions and
dialogue, and from that infer a character's
thoughts. In other words, the author must describe
gestures and actions that indirectly show how a
character feels, thinks and deals with
internal conflict. Authors will use this p.o.v. to
achieve a high degree of realism, since it mimics
how we interact in real-life. It's also useful to shield
the reader from the true thoughts and feelings of
3RD PERSON LIMITED
In order to limit the information, and focus
the attention of the reader onto one
character, the author will sometimes tell a
story by entering the mind of one key
character (usually the protagonist). As in all
3rd person p.o.v.'s, limited omniscience
does not use "I" or "my"
3RD PERSON OMNISCIENT
Told from the p.o.v. of an outside narrator,
the "omniscient" author nevertheless gets
inside the thoughts and feelings
of any character he or she wishes (in other
words, two or more characters). This p.o.v.
offers a lot of information, and is suitable for
large, complex novels. This was a common
p.o.v. in 18th and 19th century novels
[authors of the time often entered the story
as all-judging moralists], but it's much less
common today
POINT OF VIEW IS A MAJOR TOOL FOR AN AUTHOR. YOU
CAN UNDERSTAND A LOT ABOUT THE CRAFT OF WRITING
BY SEEING HOW AN AUTHOR CHOOSES HIS OR HER POINT
OF VIEW. ASK YOURSELF IF THE STORY WOULD BE
DIFFERENT IF IT WAS TOLD FROM ANOTHER POINT OF
VIEW. HOW DOES IT AFFECT YOUR FEELINGS FOR THE
CHARACTERS, OR YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT IS
HAPPENING? DO YOU FEEL CLOSELY CONNECTED TO A
PARTICULAR CHARACTER, OR CAN YOU UNDERSTAND
MANY OF THE CHARACTERS, INCLUDING THE
ANTAGONIST? YOU'LL BE SURPRISED BY HOW DIFFERENT
A STORY MIGHT BE WITH THESE DIFFERENT
PERSPECTIVES.
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1ST PERSON CENTRAL:
Told from the p.o.v. of the main character.
Allows author to bring reader closer to the
character.
Creates more sympathy for character's
struggles.
Also limits reader to one person's perspective.
Don't have a broader, more balanced point of
view.
This view grants sense of immediacy.
Everything seen through this character's eyes
2ND PERSON:
 Relatively rare p.o.v. - difficult to sustain.
 Based upon address of one speaker to a
second person.
 Uses the "you" and "your" pronouns throughout,
Difficult to maintain without sounding
repetitive.
 In fiction, the "you" being addressed is often a
central character.
 The effect is to turn the reader into the
character.
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3RD PERSON OBJECTIVE
Outside narration completely lacking any interior
thinking.
Author, & readers, can only observe exterior
actions and dialogue.
From that must infer a character's thoughts.
Author must describe gestures and actions that
indirectly show how a character feels, thinks and
deals with internal conflict.
Can achieve a high degree of realism, since it
mimics how we interact in real-life.
Can also shield the reader from the true
3RD PERSON LIMITED
 Author will sometimes tell a story by
entering the mind of one key character
(usually the protagonist).
 Limits the information
 Focuses attention of the reader onto one
character.
 As in all 3rd person p.o.v.'s, 3rd person
limited does not use "I" or "my.”
3RD PERSON OMNISCIENT
 Told from the p.o.v. of an outside narrator.
 “Omniscient" author gets inside thoughts
and feelings of any character he or she
wishes (in other words, two or more
characters).
 Offers a lot of information, and is suitable
for large, complex novels.
 This was a common p.o.v. in 18th and
19th century novels.
 Much less common today