109 Point of View
The level of formality most commonly dictates the point of view of a piece of writing.
First-Person
First-person point of view focuses on the writer. Examples include letters, emails, personal journals, expressions which center around the author. In these instances, pronouns such as the singular I, me, my, as well as the plural we, us, our indicate that the provided information ties directly to the person writing the text.
Second-Person
Second-person point of view focuses on the audience. Examples include instructions or recommendations, expressions that center around the reader. In these instances, pronouns such as you and your direct the reader to take some type of action, such as: You should first open the jar of peanut butter. Another variant is the understood you, in which the “you” is never stated: First, open the jar of peanut butter.
Third-Person
Third-person point of view focuses on the subject or other people. Examples include academic essays and articles. In these instances, pronouns such as he, she, they, it, his, her, their, its indicate a person or object that is being discussed.
Singular/Plural
First-person pronouns: I, me, mine / We, us, our
Second-person pronouns: You, your / You, your
Third-person pronouns: He, his, she, hers, / They, them, theirs
It its
Point of View in Literature
How a story is told from the narrator’s perspective
Four Types of Point of View:
| First Person | Second Person | Third Person, Limited | Third Person, Omniscient |
| The narrator is a character within the story and knows only their own perspective. | The narrator is within or outside the story but informs “you” the audience and character of the plot. | The narrator is removed from the story, and only knows the perspective of the main character. | The narrator is removed from the story, and knows the perspective of all the characters |
| Pronouns: I, me, my | Pronouns: You, your | Pronouns: He/She, Him/Her, They/Them | Pronouns: He/She, Him/Her, They/Them |
| Example:
“Knowing I wouldn’t make the meeting in time; I called my boss to let her know I’d be ten minutes late.” |
Example:
“You know how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich!” |
Example:
“Henry stood bewildered, mouth agape before the beast. He noticed Matilda, silent and shocked, vulnerable to the potential advances from the beast.” |
Example:
“Henry stood bewildered, mouth agape before the beast. Matilda, equally in shock, froze while calculating her escape from the beasts’ advances.” |
| Examples from Literature:
“Call me Ishamel.” — Hermann Melville, Moby Dick |
Examples from Literature:
“You keep thinking that with practice you will eventually get the knack of enjoying superficial encounters, that you will stop looking for the universal solvent, stop grieving. You will learn to compound happiness out of small increments of mindless pleasure.” –Jay McInerney, Bright Lights, Big City |
Examples from Literature:
“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.” –George Orwell, 1984 |
Examples from Literature:
“At home in Moscow everything was in its winter routine; the stoves were heated, and in the morning, it was dark when the children were having breakfast and getting ready for school…” Anton Chekov, “The Lady with the Dog” |