Narration and Point of View

first-person narrator

An internal narrator who consistently refers to himself or herself using "I" (or, infrequently, "we").

central consciousness

A character whose inner thoughts, perceptions, and feelings are revealed by a third-person limited narrator who does not reveal the thoughts, perceptions, or feelings of other characters.

style

A distinctive manner of expression; each author's style is expressed through his or her diction, rhythm, imagery, and so on.

limited narrator

A narrator who relates the thoughts, feelings, and perceptions of only one character (the central consciousness).

irony

A situation or statement characterized by a significant difference between what is expected or understood and what actually happens or is meant.

second-person narrator

An internal narrator who consistently uses the pronoun "you" (a very uncommon technique).

diction

Choice of words. Diction is often described as either informal or colloquial if it resembles everyday speech, or as formal if it is instead lofty, impersonal, and dignified. Tone is determined largely through diction.

omniscient narrator

Literally "all-knowing." A narrator who describes the inner thoughts and feelings of multiple characters.

narrator

Someone who recounts a narrative or tells a story. Though we usually instead use the term speaker when referring to poetry as opposed to prose fiction, narrative poems include at least one speaker who functions as a narrator.

tone

The attitude a literary work takes toward its subject, especially the way this attitude is revealed through diction.

real author

The historical person who actually wrote a work and is the focus of biographical criticism, which interprets a work by drawing on facts about the person's life and career.

point of view

The perspective from which people, events, and other details in a work of fiction are viewed; also called focus, though the term point of view is sometimes used to include both focus and voice. This term is said to be limited when we see things only from one character's perspective; it is said to be omnisicient or unlimted when we get the perspective of multiple characgters.

voice

The verbal aspect of point of view, the acknowledged or unacknowledged source of a story's words; the speaker; the "person" telling the story and that person's particular qualities of insight, attitude, and verbal style. See also focus.

implied author

The vision of the writer's personality and outlook implied by the work as a whole. Thus when we make a claim about the author that relies solely on evidence from the work rather than from other sources, our subject is the implied author.

focus

The visual component of point of view, the point from which people, events, and other details in a story are viewed; also called focalization. See also voice.

third-person narrator

Uses pronouns such as "she," "he," "they," "it," and so on. This type of narrator is almost always external. Said to be omniscient (literally "all-knowing") when they describe the inner thoughts and feelings of multiple characters. They are said to be limited when they relate the thoughts, feelings, and perceptions of only one character (the central consciousness). If a work encourages us to view a narrator's account of events with suspicion, the narrator (usually first-person) is called unreliable. An intrusive narrator is a third-person narrator who occasionally disrupts his or her narrative to speak directly to the reader or audience in what is sometimes called direct address.

unreliable narrator

When a work encourages us to view a narrator's account of events with suspicion. Usually a first-person narrator.

internal narrator

When the person telling the story is a character within the work, telling the story to an equaly fictional auidtor or listener.

external narrator

When the person telling the story is not a character within the work.