Point of View
There are 5 types of point of views
● First-person point of view
● Second-person point of view
Third-person:
● Objective point of view
● Limited point of view
● Omniscient point of view
First-person point of view
When a story is told in the first person, the
narrator is one of the characters, describing
the tale from their perspective.
First-person pronouns are…
I, me, my, mine, we, us, and ours
Second-person Point of View
In the second person, the reader is a character in
the story. The text address the reader using the
word "you." The narrator can use "you" to
describe to the reader things like behavior,
thoughts, and experiences… making the reader
feel as if they are part of the text.
Second-person pronouns are…
you, your, yours
Third Person Objective
The narrator of a third-person objective
point of view is able to see and hear all that
is occurring in a scene but is not aware of
the characters' feelings or thoughts. They
are speaking from the outside (an outsider).
Third-person pronouns are…
he, she, it, they, them
Third Person Limited
Third person limited involves only one character
at a time, allowing you to see into that
character's feelings but not those of other
characters in the scene. We are essentially
viewing the scene through the eyes of that
individual character.
Third-person pronouns are…
he, she, it, they, them
Third Person Omniscient
Because the narrator has access to every
aspect of the story, including every character's
knowledge, thoughts, feelings, and actions,
omniscient point of view is when we know what
all the characters are thinking and feeling. It’s
also referred to as god-like or all-knowing.
Third-person pronouns are…
he, she, it, they, them
Third-person Limited
Third Person
First Person
Omniscient
Second Person Third Person Third Person
Limited Objective
PRACTICE
Point of View
Read the story and select the correct Point of View.
My pen falters, then falls from my knuckly grip, leaving a worm’s trail of ink across Fedwren’s paper. I have
spoiled another leaf of the fine stuff, in what I suspect is a futile endeavor. I wonder if I can write this history, or
if on every page there will be some sneaking show of a bitterness I thought long dead. I think myself cured of all
spite, but when I touch pen to paper, the hurt of a boy bleeds out with the sea-spawned ink, until I suspect each
carefully formed black letter scabs over some ancient scarlet wound.
- Robin Hobb, Assassin’s Apprentice
A First-person Point of View
B Second-person Point of View
C Third-person Objective
D Third-person Limited
E Third-person Omniscient
Point of View
Read the story and select the correct Point of View.
You know the darkness beyond despair, just as intimately as you know the soaring heights. Because in this
and all universes, there is balance. You can’t have the one without facing the other. And sometimes you think
you can take it because the joy is worth the despair, and sometimes you know you can’t take it and how did
you ever think you could?
– Neal Shusterman, Challenger Deep
A First-person Point of View
B Second-person Point of View
C Third-person Objective
D Third-person Limited
E Third-person Omniscient
Point of View
Read the story and select the correct Point of View.
It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed. With the
brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the world, the blood pounded in his
head, and his hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning to
bring down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history. With his symbolic helmet numbered 451 on his stolid head, and his
eyes all orange flame with the thought of what came next, he flicked the igniter and the house jumped up in a gorging
fire that burned the evening sky red and yellow and black. He strode in a swarm of fireflies. He wanted above all, like the
old joke, to shove a marshmallow on a stick in the furnace, while the flapping pigeon-winged books died on the porch
and lawn of the house. While the books went up in sparkling whirls and blew away on a wind turned dark with burning.
Montag grinned the fierce grin of all men singed and driven back by flame.
– Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
A First-person Point of View
B Second-person Point of View
C Third-person Objective
D Third-person Limited
E Third-person Omniscient
Point of View
Read the story and select the correct Point of View.
Occupied in observing Mr. Bingley’s attentions to her sister, Elizabeth was far from suspecting
that she was herself becoming an object of some interest in the eyes of his friend. Mr. Darcy had
at first scarcely allowed her to be pretty: he had looked at her without admiration at the ball; and
when they next met, he looked at her only to criticise.
– Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
A First-person Point of View
B Second-person Point of View
C Third-person Objective
D Third-person Limited
E Third-person Omniscient
Point of View
Read the story and select the correct Point of View.
The American and the girl with him sat at a table in the shade, outside the building. It was very hot and the
express from Barcelona would come in forty minutes. It stopped at this junction for two minutes and went on
to Madrid.
“What should we drink?” the girl asked. She had taken off her hat and put it on the table.
“It’s pretty hot,” the man said.
- Earnest Hemmingway. Hills like White Elephants
A First-person Point of View
B Second-person Point of View
C Third-person Objective
D Third-person Limited
E Third-person Omniscient
