"POINT OF VIEW" PDF Notes ENGLISH HONOURS (B.A)

        Point Of View

Comment on the different kinds of point of view.

➣ In literature, the authors use several types of point of view to represent their desired goal in a text.These are—

(i) First Person point of view: -

In this point of view, the narrator is a character within the story and he/she expresses his/her personal experiences and thoughts by using pronouns like ‘I’ or ‘we’. Here, subjective view point plays dominant role.

(ii) Second Person point of view: -

Here, the narrator addresses other characters as well as the readers as “you”.

(iii) Third Person limited point of view: -

Here an external narrator tells the story using third person-point of view (he/she/they) and focuses mainly on one character’s mainly  on one character’s thoughts and experiences. The readers gain insight into this specific character’s inner world while maintaining distance from other characters.

(iv) Third Person omniscient point of view: -

Here, an all-knowing external voice narrates the story using third person pronouns and focuses on multiple characters’ thoughts and feelings. Inside into various characters’ perspective is shown here.

(v) Intrusive narrator: -

Here, a self-conscious narrator directly addresses or interacts the reader and breaks the four wall to provide a commentary on some aspect of the story or on a more general topic.

(vi) Unreliable narrator: -

Here, the narrator mis-represents events due to bias, mental state memory issues and challenges interpretation of the readers. The rendition of the narrator about events mustbe taken with grain of salt.

2.Discuss the significance of point of view.

➣ Point of view is the writer’s way of deciding who in telling the story to whom. Establishing a clear point of view is important because it dictates how your reader interprets character, events and other important details. 

Mainly there are three kinds of point of view—

first person, Second person and third person. In the

First-person point of view, the narrator speaks as or we and exposes personal experiences or events where he/she is directly involved. This point of view allows the readers to experience (enjoy) events through the eyes and thoughts of one particular character. A prime example of this point of view is “The catchers in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger. 

       Second person point of view uses the pronoun ‘you’. This point of view establishes the reader as the protagonist or main character. This immediacy making readers feel intimately involved in the events. 

      In third-person point of view, an external narrator presents a more objective view points that help the narrator and the readers to access into multiple characters. This point of view which uses pronouns like he, she, they provide greatest flexibility and most complexity. 

      Thus, points of view shapes the readers’ understanding of characters, influences theiremotional connection to events, and determines the degrees of subjectivity or objectivity conveyed by an author.