4.5 Lesson


Point of View


Target


Assignment



From a dog's point of view, his master is an elongated and abnormally cunning dog. –Mabel L. Robinson



In fiction, the story is told by the author, a narrator, or participating character.

Point of view refers to the character telling the story and how the story is told. In narrative texts, point of view is a place behind the eyes of the story-teller, not an opinion.

We study point of view to understand:
  • how we are affected by the narrator's thoughts and actions
  • how point of view affects our responses to characters
  • how much we can trust the narrator
In this lesson, you will read two stories: one from an objective (distant) perspective and one from a (subjective) private perspective.

Why is point of view important?


Point of view draws you closer to a fictional world. It should give you an emotional connection to an object or person.

If there are too many shifts in a point of view, the audience will not care about the object or character.



View the following video that explains point of view.

 


 



In this unit, you will examine four points of view: objective, omniscient, limited omniscient, and first person.



  Please contact your teacher if you have questions.