Point Of View

Point Of View
Point of view in a story is the perspective in which the story is told. There are five different types of point of view. The first being first-person point of view. When first person is being use the author will only use first person pronouns like “I” or “we”. The second point of view is second person. Second person will only use second person pronouns such as “you”. Second person is popular among “choose your own adventure” style books. The third type of point of view is third-person. There are two sub-types of third person, one being omniscient and the other being limited.

The fourth kind of point of view is hybrid where is combines two or three of the previous perspectives. Usually used so the author can add their own thoughts and observations. The fifth type is alternating person. Alternating person is just like third-person limited except for instead of staying with one character, it switches between multiple characters. In English 101 you will talk about point of view mainly during the narrative section of the class.

Point Of View of a narrative
The point of view in a narrative or the narrative’s perspective describe the position of the narrator. The narrator is the character of the story teller.

First-person
In first-person the narrator is a character in the story. When in first person the character will refer to self as “I” or “we”. First-person point of view is used as a way to convey the unspoken thoughts and emotions of the main character. The main character, or protagonist, inner thoughts are expressed to the reader to develop plot, connection, or develop the character itself. First-person narratives may be told like a third person style under the way that the character is undergoing the story unaware of the fact that everything is being conveyed to a reader. The narrator can also be conscious of telling the story, giving times, places, and reasons to certain things.The first-person narrator is always a character within his/her own story. This character takes action, makes judgments and expresses feelings, emotions, and opinions. Because of this it gives an impartial and incomplete view of the other characters in the story.

Second-person
In second-person point of view the narrator refers to themselves as ‘you’ in a way that describes alienation from the events or provides and ironic or emotional distance. This is less common in fiction writing. However this style is popular in “choose your own adventure” style books.

Third-person
Third-person storytelling is the most common style used in narrative writing. Everyone in the story is referred to as “he”, “she”, “it”, or “they” but never “I” or “you”. In third-person the narrator is sort of like a god or an unspecified entity or unidentified character not in the story. The third-person perspective can either be omniscient or limited. When the point of view is third-person omniscient the narrator will know the feeling and thoughts of all the characters as well as having knowledge of the all locations and different settings of the story. When the point of view is third-person limited the narrator will only describe and know the thoughts and feelings of one character and only the same amount of knowledge the character has about the settings. When using third person a writer should always be careful about slipping into another point of view.

Hybrid point of view
Hybrid point of view is when an author mixes two or all three of the points of view. This usually happens when the author wants to interject their own observations and thoughts whether actually being there or not.

Alternating-person
It is usually a general rule that an author should stick to one point of view it is not mandatory. In fact many authors use an alternating point of view. George R. R. Martin does this in his series Game of Thrones, author Cinda Williams Chima does this her series Seven Realms. When using alternating-person the point of view is omniscient in a sense that the point of view is third-person limited for multiple characters. In Game of Thrones, to explain it better, one chapter will focus on a character in a third person limited point of view. When the next chapter begins it will be about a different character in the story and the point of view will be third-person limited to just that character. References "First Person Point of View - The Writer's Craft." First Person Point of View - The Writer's Craft. Web. 04 Mar. 2016. . "First, Second, and Third Person." Quick and Dirty Tips. Web. 04 Mar. 2016. . "Omniscient vs. Third Person Point of View." About.com Careers. Web. 04 Mar. 2016. .

Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 04 Mar. 2016. . "Point of View Examples and Definition - Literary Devices." Literary Devices. 2014. Web. 04 Mar. 2016. .