Narration and Point of View

Tone

(see "Style")

Auditor

A listener within the fiction whose possible reaction is part of the story.

Limited Narrator

An external, third-person narrator who tells the story from a distinct point of view, usually that of a single character, revealing that character's thoughts and relating the action from his or her perspective.

Point of View

Both voice and focus together. The understanding of how the story is narrated.

Irony

Discrepancies or gaps between the vision and voice, intentions and understandings, or expectations and outcomes.

Objective Narrator

Does not explicitly report the characters' thoughts and feelings but may obliquely suggest them through the characters' speech and actions.

Narrator

Fiction is always mediated or represented to us by someone else.

Style

From echoing the characters' feelings to mocking their pretentious speech or thoughts to stating their actions in formal diction; conveys clues that a character or a narrator's perspective is limited.

Omniscent or Unlimited Narrator

Has access to the thoughts, perceptions, and experiences of more than one character (often of several), though such narrators usually focus selectively on a few important characters.

Second-Person Narration

Speaks using "you" and "we."

Third-Person Narrator

Tells an unidentified listener or reader what happened, referring to all characters using the pronouns he, she, they.

Central Consciousness

The focal character.

First-Person Narrator

The most common form of narration - this is used when the narrator says "I."

Focus

The visual angle of the narrator. This acts much as a camera does, choosing the direction of our gaze, the proportions and framework in which we see things.

Voice

The words that the reader knows are from the narrator, as it shows above others. The verbal quality of the narrator.