This document discusses point of view in stories. It defines three main points of view: omniscient, first-person, and third-person limited. Omniscient point of view means the narrator knows everything about all characters. First-person uses "I" and is from the perspective of a character in the story. Third-person limited focuses on the thoughts and feelings of just one character. The document provides examples of each point of view and exercises for readers to practice identifying point of view in short passages.

1. What Is Point of View?
Omniscient Point of View
First-Person Point of View
Third-Person-Limited Point of View
Practice
Point of View: Through Whose Eyes?
Feature Menu

2. Point of view is the point from which someone
views a scene.
What Is Point of View?
How is the point of view different in these two
photographs?

3. In a short story or novel, point of view is the
vantage (view) point from which the writer tells
the story.
What Is Point of View?
Listen to a mother’s point of view on this
scene.

4. What Is Point of View?
Now listen to Justin’s point of view on the
scene.
Even a cat can have a point of view in a
story!

5. What Is Point of View?
Why does point of view matter?
Think about how each
character in this scene
would describe the event.
Would you hear the
same story each time?

6. What Is Point of View?
1. Who is the narrator?
2. Can I rely on this
narrator to tell the
truth?
3. What is the narrator’s relationship to the
meaning of the story?
When you’re reading, think about point of view
by asking these questions:

7. Most novels and short stories are told from one
of these points of view:
What Is Point of View?
omniscient
first-person
third-person-limited
[End of Section]
all-knowing
“I” tells the story
narrator tells story—from
just one character’s
perspective

8. In the omniscient point of view the narrator is
above the action, looking down on it like a god.
“Tonight’s Most Valuable Player
is . . . Didi Blake!”
Didi could hardly believe it! Her
coach and teammates were not
surprised, though. They knew
how hard she had worked.
Didi would have been even more
excited if she had known what
was in store for her the following
week.
Omniscient Point of View

9. In the omniscient point of
view the narrator
Omniscient Point of View
• is not a character in the
story
• can tell us the thoughts
and feelings of all the
characters in the story
• can tell us the past,
present, and future
[End of Section]

10. In the first-person point of view, the narrator
is a character in the story.
I learn a lot when Dad takes
Neela and me hiking. Dad’s a
botanist so he knows a lot about
trees and flowers—even their
Latin names! I especially like
hearing the history of each park
we visit. Dad probably wishes
Neela would stay at home
because she complains about all
the walking.
First-Person Point of View

11. In the first-person point of
view the narrator
First-Person Point of View
• uses first-person pronouns
(I, me, my, mine, we, us,
our, ours)
• is a character in the story
[End of Section]
• only tells us what he or she
knows or chooses to tell
(may not be reliable)

12. In the third-person-limited point of view, the
narrator reveals the thoughts and feelings of just
one character.
Rowdy loves his afternoon
runs with Jamie, but he can’t
wait to be set free from his
leash! Rowdy knows they’re
headed for the park where all
of his buddies will be. “Maybe
this time I’ll take that dumb
bulldog’s tennis ball away
from him,” he thinks.
Third-Person-Limited Point of View

13. In the third-person-limited
point of view the narrator
Third-Person-Limited Point of View
• uses third-person
pronouns such as he, him,
she, hers, it, and they.
• is not a character in the
story
• focuses on the thoughts and
feelings of one character
[End of Section]

14. Practice
1. Whose
thoughts and
feelings are
revealed?
2. Is the
narrator a
character in
the story?
Let’s Try It
“How happy they look!” thought Swetha,
as she watched her classmates fill the
cafeteria. Being the new kid at Blane
Middle School wasn’t easy. Sure, some of
the girls had talked to her, but no one
had been especially friendly.
As the girls and boys filed by—some
smiling, some not—Swetha picked at her
lunch and thought about all the good
friends she had left behind.
“Hey, what’s your name?” A tray plopped
down beside hers, and a very tall boy
folded himself into the seat beside her.
3. What is the
point of view?

15. Practice
1. From which
point of view is
this story told?
Explain your
answer.
Let’s Try It
1. There was Slade and here was Mr.
Baumer with his bills and here I was,
just as before, just like in the second
go-round of a bad dream. I felt like
turning back, being embarrassed and
half scared by trouble even when it
wasn’t mine. Please, I said to myself,
don’t stop, Mr. Baumer!
“Bargain”

16. Practice
2. From which
point of view
is this story
told? Explain
your answer.
Let’s Try It
2. In town, on the shadowy step of the
grocery store, the men sat with their
hands on their knees, conversing with
great leisure and ease.
Mr. Bittering wanted to fire a pistol in the
air.
What are you doing, you fools! he
thought. Sitting here! You’ve heard the
news—we’re stranded on this planet.
Well, move! Aren’t you frightened? Aren’t
you afraid? What are you going to do?
“Hello, Harry,” said everyone.
“The Naming of Names”

17. Practice
3. From which
point of view
is this story
told? Explain
your answer.
Let’s Try It
3. At the spring festival young men and
young women from the village hoped to
meet and to choose whom they would
marry. How Yeh-Shen longed to go!
But her stepmother had other plans.
She hoped to find a husband for her
own daughter and did not want any
man to see the beauteous Yeh-Shen
first.
“Yeh-Shen”

18. Practice
On Your Own
1. Write the first group of sentences from the
omniscient point of view. You might want to
let your reader know how this unusual
situation came about and give some hints about
how it will end.
Write three groups of sentences about the
situation in the cartoon on page 348 in your
textbook.

19. Practice
On Your Own
3. In the third group of sentences, take the
third-person-limited point of view. You
are going to zoom in and focus on just one
character. Concentrate on the boy in the
bed.
2. In the second group of sentences, write
from the first-person point of view of the
monster. Now you will write as “I.”

20. The End
Point of View: Through Whose Eyes?