SPI 0701.8.2
I can identify an author’s point
of view.
Types of Point of View
First Person
Third Person
Limited
Omniscient
•the narrator provides all the
information about the story
•A character within the story tells
the story from his/her viewpoint
•Uses First Person Pronouns
• I, me, myself, my, mine, we, us,
ourselves, our, and ours
Examples of First Person
 I was minding my own business when Mom burst in.
“What’s with you?” I grumbled.
 As I walked by the corner of my room, where my
computer table was set up, I pressed the on button,
slid a cd into the computer……..
 “User Friendly” page 272
•a narrator relates all action in third person
•The narrator tells the story as an outsider
• using third person pronouns
• he, she, it, him, her, himself, herself, himself, his, her, hers, its,
they, them, themselves, their, and theirs
•allows a writer more freedom in how a story is told
•Example: He gripped the dollar bill tightly. “You
can’t have it,” he told her.
Third Person Point of View
 When Jane and Elizabeth were alone, the
former, who had been cautious in her praise
of Mr. Bingley before, expressed to her sister
how very much she admired him. "He is just
what a young man ought to be," said she,
"sensible, good humored, lively; and I never
saw such happy manners! -- so much ease,
with such perfect good breeding!"
•narrator knows only the thoughts
and feelings of a single character
•other characters are presented
externally
•reveal what the viewpoint
character is thinking or feeling.
Third Person Limited
 There was such a lot to know and understand about
being a dragonrider that sometimes Keevan was
overwhelmed. How would he ever be able to
remember everything he ought to know at the right
moment?
 “The Smallest Dragonboy” pg 147
Novels in Third Person Limited
The Harry Potter books
by JK Rowling
Come to Grief by Dick Francis
One True Thing
by Anna Quindlen
•told by an all-knowing narrator
•Allows the reader to see the world through
the eyes of many characters
•tell the reader of events and motivations
unknown to the characters
•Knows the characters past, present, and
future.
•Narrator is not in the story (above the
action)
•Her loveliness made her seem a
heavenly being and the king suddenly
knew in his heart that he had found his
true love.
Novels in Third Person Omniscient
“Yen-Shen” page 383
A Tale of Two Cities
by Charles Dickens
The Lord of the Rings
by JRR Tolkien
The House of the Spirits
by Isabel Allende (alternates
limited and omniscient)
Literature Book
 Read page 348-349
 Complete Pages 468-469