Narrative Perspective

NARRATIVE PERSPECTIVE

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NARRATION

Narration is when the narrator of the storyspeaks. The narrator of a story is the person whois telling the story.

NARRATIVE PERSPECTIVE

The narrator of a story can speak usingdifferent viewpoints, or perspectives.

TYPES OF NARRATIVE PERSPECTIVES

There are 5 different types of narrative perspectives thata narrator can use in a story:

 First-Person

 Second-Person

 Third Person Limited

 Third Person Objective

 Third Person Omniscient

FIRST-PERSON PERSPECTIVE

In first-person perspective, the narrator istelling the story as a character in the story.

In first-person perspective, the narratoroften uses words like me, my, I, or we, since heor she is a part of the story.

EXAMPLE OF FIRST-PERSON PERSPECTIVE

As my mom handed me the grocery list, I knew what wascoming. She often gave me the task of going shoppingwhen she was too busy to do it herself. Without needingany explanation, I was out the door and on my bike,making my way to the store.

Notice how the underlined words give you a cluethat this story is in the first-person perspective.

SECOND-PERSON PERSPECTIVE

In second-person perspective, the narrator isdirectly talking to you. This perspective is oftenused for instructions.

In second-person perspective, the narratoroften uses words like you or your, since he or she istalking directly to you.

EXAMPLE OF SECOND-PERSON PERSPECTIVE

First, you need to make the dough. Then, you’ll need to flattenand smooth it out to the size of your choice. After that, youneed to spread on the sauce. Finally, you need to add on thetoppings of your preference.

Notice how the underlined words give you a clue thatthis story is in the second-person perspective.

THIRD-PERSON PERSPECTIVE

In third-person perspective, the narrator isn’tinvolved in the story. Instead, he or she tells thestory of another person or other people.

In third-person perspective, the narrator oftenuses words like he, she, they, or other characters’names, since he or she isn’t a part of the story.

TYPES OF THIRD-PERSON PERSPECTIVE

There are three different types of third-personperspective:

 Third-person limited

 Third-person objective

 Third-person omniscient

THIRD-PERSON OMNISCIENT

In third-person omniscient, the narrator isall-knowing. He reveals the thoughts andfeelings of multiple characters.

omni = all scient = knowing

EXAMPLE OF THIRD-PERSON OMNISCIENT

Betty didn’t know what she should do. Mike’s words hadintrigued her, but she wasn’t sure if she should accept hisoffer. She wasn’t how things would turn out.

Mike knew Betty would be hesitant. He knew that shewould be stubborn. But he didn’t care how long it took her tomake her decision, just as long as she made the right one.

Notice how the underlined words give you a clue thatthis story is in the third-person perspective.

And since the story reveals the thoughts and feelings ofmultiple characters, it is third-person omniscient.

THIRD-PERSON LIMITED

In third-person limited, the narrator islimited to only one character. He or she onlytells the thoughts and feelings of that character.

EXAMPLE OF THIRD-PERSON LIMITED

Bob was very excited when he heard the news of the familyvacation. Although he knew that his family was planning a tripof some nature, he definitely wasn’t expecting anything big,anything really extravagant… He definitely wasn’t expectinganything like this.

Notice how the underlined words give you a clue thatthis story is in the third-person perspective.

And since the story only reveals the thoughts andfeelings of one character, it is third-person limited.

THIRD-PERSON OBJECTIVE

In third-person objective, the narratordoesn’t tell any thoughts or feelings of anycharacters. He or she only tells the actions andwords of the characters.

EXAMPLE OF THIRD-PERSON OBJECTIVE

Tim quickly slammed the front door and dashed into his roomas fast as he possibly could. After making sure the door to hisroom was shut, he pulled out the note from inside his pocketand started to read.

Notice how the underlined words give you a clue thatthis story is in the third-person perspective.

And since the story doesn’t reveal any thoughts orfeelings of the characters, it is third-person objective.

IDENTIFYING NARRATIVE PERSPECTIVE TIPS

Use these tips to help you as you identify thenarrator’s perspective:

IDENTIFYING NARRATIVE PERSPECTIVE TIPS

 Focus only on the narration, and not on the dialogue!(Dialogue is what the characters say, which is in quotationmarks.)

First, find out if it is first- , second-, or third-personperspective before finding out if it is omniscient,limited, or objective.

IDENTIFYING NARRATIVE PERSPECTIVE TIPS

Ask yourself: “Whose story is the narrator telling?”

First-PersonPerspective

The narrator is telling his/her own story.

Second-PersonPerspective

The narrator is telling your story; what youshould do.

Third-PersonPerspective

The narrator is telling someone else’s story.

IDENTIFYING NARRATIVE PERSPECTIVE TIPS

Look for these key words the narrator speaks:

First-PersonPerspective

I, me, we, us, my, our

(since the narrator is part of the story.)

Second-PersonPerspective

you, your

(since the narrator is talking directly to YOU.)

Third-PersonPerspective

he, she, they, them, him, her, characters’ names

(since the narrator is NOT a part of story.)

PRACTICE

PRACTICE IDENTIFYING NARRATIVE PERSPECTIVE

Can you figure out which perspective thenarrator is using in each story?

Write your answers down on a sheet of paper.

It was 3:30 in the morning. I definitely wasn’t ready to getup yet, but I knew that if I was going to catch my flight intime, I would have to. I knew that I would probably betired all day, but when I got to my destination, I knew itwould all be worth it. I couldn’t wait!