Narrative Perspective

NarrativePerspective Author’s Point of View

Dialogue and Narration • Dialogue = when characters speak. • Narration = when the narrator speaks. • “Quotation marks” separate narration from dialogue. Example “Help” my cousin Jack said. 1 2

Identifying Narrative Perspective It's about the narrator(who tells the story) We're not looking atdialogue. We don't care what characters say. Only the narrator's voice matters.

PronounCase We are trying to figure out the narrator's view point on the story. Perspectives and Signal Words

Secret “I am in the room” I = 1stPerson “You come in the room.” You = 2ndPerson “Then he or she came in the room.” He or She = 3rdPerson

First-Person Narrator is a part of the story (character). Often uses I or we. Example Iwent home. Tim came over. I couldn't play.

Second-Person Usually for instructions Uses “You”; from “your” perspective. Examples First, gather your materials. Add 1 cup sugar to flour.

Third-Person • Narrator usually isn’t involved. • Tells other's stories. • Lots of “He,” “She,” & character names. Three Types of Third-Person Narration Does the narrator tell… Thoughts and Feelings of Characters?

Third-Person Omniscient Narrator is allknowing. Narrator tells thoughts and feelings of more than one character. Omni = All Scient = Knowing Example Tim was mad at Shay. He blamed her. Shay knew Tim would be mad, but she wanted to live her life.

Third-Person Limited Narrator is limited to one character. Tells thoughts & feelings ofonecharacter Example Tim was mad at Shay. He blamed her. Shay just left without saying anything. She left a note and then left him.

Third-Person Objective Narrator does not reveal any character’s thoughts or feelings. Only character’s dialogue and actions are narrated. Example Tim slammed the door. He walked upstairs & read a note from Shay. He kicked her trash can & started crying.

Tips on Identifying • Check 1st or 2nd-person before worrying about objective, limited, or omniscient. • Ask, “Who’s story is the narrator telling: his, mine, or someone else’s?” • Focus on narration not dialogue.

Practice • Read the following passages. • Determine the narrator’s perspective. • Write down your answer.

1 When I was four months old, my mother died suddenly and my father was left to look after me all by himself… I had no brothers or sisters. So through boyhood, from the age of four months onward, there was just us two, my father and me. We lived in an old gypsy caravan behind a filling station”

2 The huge man dropped his blankets and flung himself down and drank from the surface of the green pool. The small man stepped behind him. "Lennie!" he said sharply. "Lennie, for God" sakes don’t drink so much." Lennie continued to snort into the pool. The small man leaned over and shook him by the shoulder. "Lennie you gonna be sick like you was last night." Lennie dipped his whole head under, hat and all… "Tha’s good," he said. "You drink some, George." He smiled happily

3 Foresight in Relationships The previous night, make your plans for the next day and write them down… If you attend an exclusive Samurai’s party and feel timid, you cannot do your part in making it a successful party. You had first better prepare by convincing yourself that you will have a grand time. And you should feel grateful for the invitation.

4 Harold Davis took a deep breath and slowly started to peel the gauze from the wound on his grandmother’s leg. “Hold on, Grandma. I’m almost done,” He said quietly. “Don’t worry, baby. It doesn’t hurt too much,” she quietly replied. “Just take your time.” Harold glanced up at his grandmother lying on the couch. He could tell she was in pain from the way she gripped the cushions, but still she managed to smile back at him.

5 They were standing under a tree, each with an arm round the other's neck, and Alice knew which was which in a moment, because one of them had "DUM" embroidered on his collar, and the other "DEE." "I suppose they've each got "TWEEDLE" round at the back of the collar," she said to herself. They stood so still that she quite forgot they were alive, and she was just looking round to see if the word "TWEEDLE" was written at the back of each collar, when she was startled by a voice coming from the one marked "DUM."

Crispy Treats by LaDanna Wafford • First, wash your hands and gather all of your materials. Once you’ve done that, follow all of the directions in your cookbook. Put the crispy treats in the oven and cook for 30-35. While your treats cook, you might want to clean your work place. When you take the treats out of the oven, pour the honey and lemon sauce on immediately.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee • We lived on the main residential street in town-Atticus, Jem, and I, plus Caplurnia our cook. Jem and I found our father satisfactory: he played with us, read to us, and treated us with courteous detachment. Our mother died when I was two, so I never felt her absence. She was a Graham from Montgomery; Atticus met her when he was first elected to the state legisture.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll • Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, “and what is the use of a book,” thought Alice, “without pictures or conversations?” So she was considering, in her own mind whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies.

A Retrieved Reformation by O.Henry • “Annabel,” said Jimmy, “give me that rose you are wearing, will you?” Hardly believing that she had heard him right, she unpinned the flower from her dress and placed it in his hand. Jimmy Valentine put on his coat and walked outside the railing toward the front door. As he went he thought he heard a faraway voice that he once knew.

Answers • First-Person • Third-Person Objective • Second-Person • Third-Person Limited • Third-Person Limited

Narrative Perspective