MYP Unit One:
“How I Impact the World”
Unit Question: “How do challenges shape us?”
Areas of Interaction (AOI): Health & Social , Community &
Service
Character and Point –of- View in Non- Fiction
Significant Concepts
 Non- fiction can come in many forms: personal
narrative, memoir, autobiography, and biography.
 Everyone has a story to tell. Personal experiences
help our foundations for thought and make us
unique.
 There are different points-of-view
 Injustice, prejudice, and discrimination can come in
many shapes and forms.
 One person can make a difference.
Point of View: The vantage point
from which a story is told.
First- Person
 The narrator:
 Is a main or minor character in
the story
 Uses the pronouns “I” and “me”
 Shares his/her subjective, or
personal, view of other
characters and events.
 Doesn’t know the thoughts/
feelings of other characters
Third-Person Limited
 The narrator:
 Is not a characters in the story,
but an outside observer
 Zooms in on the thoughts and
feelings of one character
Point of View 2
Third- Person Omniscient
 The narrator:
 Is not a character in the story,
but an outside observer, whose
observations can be objective,
or unbiased.
 Is “all knowing”- he or she has
access to all thoughts/ feelings
and opinions to ALL other
characters.
Character Traits:
Qualities that are used
to describe how people
look, talk, and act.
*Physical Appearance
*Speech, Thoughts, & Actions
* Other Characters
Character Motivation
• The reasons behind the
character’s actions.
• Ex: Did the boy go volunteer at the
animal shelter because he wanted
to help the animals, or because a
girl he liked also worked there??
Understanding
Motivations:
In order to understand the character’s
motivations, the reader should
consider:
1. The narrator’s direct comments.
2. The characters actions, thoughts,
and values.
3. The readers own understanding of
emotions that drive human
behavior.
Non- Fiction
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Writing that tells us about real people, places, and events.
Written to convey factual information
Non-fiction is real and can be verified by other sources
Examples of Non-fiction writing:
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Newspaper articles
Letters
Essays
Biographies
Movie reviews
Speeches
advertising
Autobiography
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
 A writer’s account of
his/her own life
 Diary: Popular form of
autobiography
 Almost always told from 1st
person POV
 Similar to Memoir
 Appeals to the public in a
more personalized wayrather than factual or
technical
 First Person P.O.V
 Uses pronouns “I” and
“me”
 The narrator only knows
his/her thoughts, feelings,
and motivations
Non-Fiction- Autobiography
Memoir- a form of autobiographical writing where a
writer shares personal experiences & observations of
significant events or people.
Memoirs usually give insight into the impact of a
historical event
Textbook example: “My First Free Summer” pg. 116
Biography
 A TRUE account of a person’s life, written by another
person.
 Usually told from THIRD person POV.
 Writers researches the subject in order to give
accurate information.
 Textbook example: pg. 268
Who is Anne Frank?
Key Facts:
 Born June 12, 1929
 Jewish
 Born in Frankfurt,
Germany
 Family moved to the
Netherlands, in
Amsterdam, when Hitler
began to rise to power.
 Diary covers
approximately 2 years in
hiding
 Was arrested three days
after last diary entry