POINT OF VIEW
Point of View ~ P.O.V.
Definition:
The position from which
something or someone is
observed; a perspective.
POINT OF VIEW SCALE
Objective
Subjective
In both fiction and non-fiction narratives
(storytelling), the point of view tells us
who is telling the story as well as
whose story is being told.
Literary narration includes:
• First-person singular (‘I’)
• First-person plural (‘we’)
• Second-person (‘you’)
• Third-person (‘he/she’) objective, subjective, and omniscient
• Also - the “Unreliable Narrator”
“You are not the kind of guy who would be at a place like this at this
time of the morning. But here you are, and you cannot say that the
terrain is entirely unfamiliar, although the details are fuzzy.”
– Bright Lights, Big City, Jay McInerney
“Finally, here are some questions about ourselves and the world:
How can we be sure that the world is really like we take it to be?
What is knowledge, and how much do we have?”
– Think, Simon Blackburn
“The old priest tottered exhaustedly into his little house and
closed himself into the bathroom. Washed his face, his hands,
dried them carefully and slowly with a soft hand towel.”
– The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse, Louise Erdrich
"I could picture it. I have a rotten habit of picturing the bedroom
scenes of my friends. We went out to the Cafe Napolitain to have
an aperitif and watch the evening crowd on the Boulevard."
– The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway.
Motion pictures also employ points of view in
their narrative forms. What are some examples
of the following in film/tv/video?
First-person = one main protagonist
around whom the story revolves and is in almost
every scene
Second-person = instructional programs
addressed directly to the viewer
Third-person = 2 main characters, certain
documentaries
Polyphonic Narrative:
A story told from several points of view.
Authors known for using this style include
William Faulkner, Dostoevsky, and
Barbara Kingsolver.
One examples of a polyphonic motion
pictures is Citizen Kane. What are some
other examples?
In media production, “P.O.V.”
refers to a shot or a sequence of
shots that represent what a
particular character is seeing.
In a P.O.V. shot, the camera is
placed in the position of the
character’s eyes, so that what the
audience sees is what the
character would be seeing.
ASSIGNMENT #1:
Please visit the Katherine E. Nash Gallery exhibit, Vis/a/Vis: U of M
Faculty Show, and pick one work of art from the show to which you felt a
strong connection. Write a 2-3 paragraph entry on the main blog page
describing the piece you chose and the connection you felt to it.
Then answer these 3 questions:
1. Is there a story and, if so, whose story is it?
2. Whose point of view is being expressed in this piece?
3. What do you feel is the “truth” of this piece?
Please post your entry by midnight, Sunday Sept. 19. This Assignment
is in addition to your weekly journal entry, which is also due at that time.
Late assignments and journal entries will not be given credit.
For information on the Nash Gallery and this event:
http://nash.umn.edu/events/
Terms related to the Point of View
of an Individual or Group
Culture: the customs, arts, social institutions, and
achievements of a particular nation or social group
Aesthetics: a set of rules guiding the work of a
particular artist or artistic movement
Metaphor: a thing regarded as symbolic of
something else
Truth: a piece of information or belief that is
accepted as fact or reality
F for Fake, Orson Welles (1974)
Questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Whose story is being told?
Who is telling the story?
What are the main metaphors?
What is the truth?