Page 3 Voice

Voice


Companies create brands to communicate with their audience.  They create a personality for their company that is hip, communal, playful, educational, sophisticated, luxurious, fun, irreverent, inspirational, or helpful. For example Apple 's brand: inspire, innovate, and dream is different than Red Bull 's brand: adventure, try, and adrenaline.

Similarly, voice in literature is not just the physical ability to speak; it is the ability to take inner thoughts or observations about the world and express them in a way that will be understood by others.

Voice is a unique reflection of the writer 's personality.  It is both the individual message and how it resonates with the audience.  Voice:

  • makes writing sound authentic
  • causes an emotional response in the reader
  • is memorable

Point of View


The point of view is the perspective from which the story is told.
The story may be told by one of the following:


  1. First Person Narrator: The character tells the story from his or her own point of view us "I", "me", "my", "mine" when narrating the story. Recall "The Tell Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe in the short story unit. Click here to review.

  1. Third Person — Limited Omniscient Narrator: This story is told by a narrator that can see into the mind and feelings of one of the characters only. Recall "The Street That Got Mislaid" by Patrick Waddington in the short story unit.

  1. Third Person — Omniscient Narrator: The story is told by a narrator who knows everything about all the characters. Click here to review.

  1. Third Person — Objective Narrator: This story is told by a narrator who is not involved in the action of the story but records the facts as an unbiased observer. Think of this point of view as that of a camera watching, but not judging, the action. Recall "The Lion, the Chamois, and the Fox" by Kriloff in the short story unit.


Below are five different examples of voice from Pirate's Passage by William Gilkerson:

1
2
3
  4
  5
Captain Charles Johnson...at your service...I'm getting too old for this kind of life...An inn's what I need, and a hot bath, and this snug berth for my little boaty, an '  a bit of good company, which I can tell is what's here, to my great good luck.                  Grendel was my nemesis, a raw muscle of a big mongrel dog with lots of teeth, an active animal intelligence, and a thirst for my blood.
 Are you carrying any bonded stores? ...Spirits, tobacco, or firearms? ...Have you carried anything ashore?...Since your entry here was accidental, how come you asked the harbour master to point you to the Admiral Anson's dock?...How long do you plan to stay?...Who told you about the Admiral Anson Inn? Mind your manners boys...  If they don't behave; call in.  Jed will get me on the radio, and I'll come over and sort them out.
 What a nice surprise to see you, and you Jim...How can I help you?...My concern, is that you now, at this time, have the opportunity to sell the inn, getting a good enough sum for it to start an easier, and, I think, happier, life.  The alternative, foreclosure, means a tedious process that will leave you with next to nothing by the time it 's all finished.  I'm speaking to you as a friend.  Why ruin yourself with a hopeless effort when you don 't have to let everything go to the dogs?



Show What You Know

In your downloaded assignment file for Lesson 4, complete Sections 1 and 2.  Be sure to save your work.  



When you have completed all parts of Assignment 4,

    • be sure you have renamed your file (YOURNAME) la 8-5-4
    • upload the completed assignment into the 5.4 Assignment file on the next page
Check in two to three days to retrieve the marked assignment and review the feedback from your teacher.