Point of View 10

first person narration

When the story is narrated by one of the characters and that character tells the story to the audience. You can recognize first person because it uses I, me, my, mine, and myself (first person pronouns).

unreliable narration

When a narrator shares the story in a way that we cannot trust as fact. This occurs when the narrator (usually a character in the story) reveals a lack of credibility. For example, the narrator may be motivated to lie to us for some reason, or the narrator may appear to be insane or delusional.

third person omniscient narration

When the story is narrated through the eyes of an all-knowing and uninvolved third party. The narration uses he, she, they, him, her, and them (third person pronouns). ADDITIONALLY, the narrator shares the thoughts and feelings of all of the characters and knows things that individual characters do not know.

third person limited narration

When the story is narrated through the eyes of an uninvolved third party who has limited information. The narration uses he, she, they, him, her, and them (third person pronouns). ADDITIONALLY, the narrator may follow and know the thoughts and feelings of one character but does not know about all of the characters and events.

second person narration

When the story is narrated through the perspective of the reader, which is YOU. You can recognize second person because the writing feels like it is directly addressing you. It uses you, your, yours, and yourself (second person pronouns).

voice (also called "narrative voice"

a description of how the story is conveyed, and in whose voice. Stories that are written in first person are most often written in character voice. A character's voice may be reliable (trustworthy) or unreliable (untrustworthy). Stories that are written in third person may be subjective, sharing thoughts and feelings of the character, or they may be objective, where they only share facts and leave out opinions.

perspective

a helpful word when describing point of view, perspective means the specific way of looking at something that each person has. Characters in stories have different perspectives based on what they see and experience throughout a story. This may shape who they are and/or add to the narration, voice, plot, or themes.

point of view

a narrator's or character's position in relation to the story being told. This includes both the narration type (second person, first person, etc.) as well as the beliefs, motivations, or values that the narrator or other characters may have, which may influence their perspective or way of seeing things.

motivation

the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way. A character's or narrator's motivation is crucial to understanding the narration, characterization, voice, plot and themes of a story.

narration

the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration can refer to the the position of the narrator, which can be first person, second person, third person limited, or third person omniscient.