Point of View Analysis: First and Third Person

Point of View Analysis: First and Third Person

Read each passage or question carefully and provide thoughtful responses. Pay close attention to the narrative perspective used in each excerpt.

Excerpt 1:

I walked through the desolate streets, the chill wind biting at my exposed skin. Every shadow seemed to hold a hidden threat, every creak of a distant door sending a jolt of fear through my weary frame. I clutched the worn leather journal tighter, its secrets a heavy burden in my hands. The city had changed, and so had I, irrevocably altered by the events of that fateful night.

1. Identify the point of view used in Excerpt 1. Explain how you determined this.

Excerpt 2:

Eleanor watched the old man from across the crowded cafe. He sipped his tea slowly, his eyes scanning the newspaper with an intensity that belied his age. She wondered what stories lay hidden behind those watchful eyes, what triumphs and regrets shaped his quiet demeanor. A sudden gust of wind rattled the cafe door, and she saw him flinch, a fleeting tremor that revealed a vulnerability he usually kept concealed.

2. Identify the point of view used in Excerpt 2. What effect does this point of view have on the reader's understanding of Eleanor's observations?

3. Which of the following pronouns is most commonly associated with a first-person point of view?

4. In a third-person omniscient point of view, the narrator:

5. In a first-person narrative, the reader experiences the story through the eyes and feelings of the  .

6. A third-person limited narrator focuses on the thoughts and feelings of   character.

7. Discuss a specific novel or short story you have read that uses a first-person point of view. How did this perspective enhance or limit your understanding of the events and characters?

8. A third-person objective narrator reveals the thoughts and feelings of all characters.