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Point of View First Person Central First Person Peripheral Third Person Limited Third Person Omniscient Third Person Shifting Objective Stream of Consciousness

Jennifer Bennett Sanderson High School Point of View (POV) Definition: The relationship between the story and the storyteller (narrator) The eyes through which the story is seen

Clues to help determine POV: Is the narrator a character in the story? How much is narr. allowed to know? Can the narr. get inside the characters heads and report their thoughts and feelings? First Person Central POV The 1st Person Central narrator uses first person pronouns (I) is the main (central) character in the story

the protagonist relates the events in which he or she is involved. is close to the action. gives a limited scope of the story, a limited view of the truth readers can know only what the narrator knows and chooses to tell us. First Person Central POV

N Reader First Person Peripheral POV Same basic rules as First Person Central Narrator is a character in the story Refers to himself or herself as I Tells the story as he/she sees it

Major Difference Narrator is NOT the protagonist Tells the protagonists story through his or her limited perspective First Person Peripheral POV P N Reader

Third Person Limited POV Narrator tells the story through the eyes of one particular character and refers to that character in the 3rd person (he or she). is not a character in the story. reveals only the thoughts of the one character;

does not have access to the thoughts of any other character--limited to his or her perspective. has complete access to the main characters thoughts and feelings. Third Person Limited Pro/ MC

N Reader Third Person Omniscient POV Author becomes an all-knowing narrator with a Gods-eye viewpoint. Narrator stands outside of the story and has complete access into the minds of all of the

characters. Narrator is not limited in any way--has access to past, present, and future knowledge that none of the characters may have. Third Person Omniscient POV N Pro/

MC past future present Reader Third Person Shifting POV Like third person limited p.o.v. but is

able to shift from one characters perspective to anothers (without making any omniscient connections between them) Not omniscient- can only get into one characters mind at a time cannot tell us anything that each character doesnt think, feel, or know for himself/herself

Objective POV Objective: observable facts only; no emotions; no judgments; no interpretations Subjective: allowing emotions, judgments, and interpretations to color the objective facts Narrator is not a character in the story; refers to characters in the third person Fly on the wall or camera view Can only reveal what we would see and hear if we

were an invisible observer Does not go into a characters mind Maintains extreme objectivity Does not explain, judge, or evaluate Faithfully records just the facts Leaves the readers to find the meaning for themselves Stream of Consciousness Often uses I like first person p.o.v.but not

the same perspective presents a characters mind in its pre-editor state as it rambles from one level of consciousness to another presents a characters mind in the rawwithout filters, without regard for logical sequence, chronology, syntax, or punctuation Often makes no distinction between various levels of realitybetween dreams,

imaginings, memories, or real sensory perceptions (Character Repository) More characters/shapes Grouped Illustrations