CHAPTER 8: POINT OF VIEW

The Definition of Point of View

•Point of view determines how we see the story.

• Each version of the facts is a personal truth.

• Example:

   - Voices in the park  by Anthony Browne 

Types of Point of View 

•First-Person Point of View 

•Story told in fist-person – I  

• The first-person narrator is limited.

• It creates a sense of autographical truth.

• Speech and language are compatible with the age and personality of the narrator.

• Examples:

- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time

Indian by Sherman Alexie 

- Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper

• Omniscient Point of View

• Recount relevant information about any and each character.

• Flash back into past experiences, feelings, and thoughts, or forward into what will happen in the future.

• Adult – conflict and character; children – reader’s understanding

• Examples:

  - Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White

  - It’s  a Secret by John Burningham

• Limited Omniscient Point of View

•Through the eyes of one character – occasionally several characters – and to report that character’s  thoughts.

• Show what the character sees, hears, feels, and believes.

• Example:

   - Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine

• Objective (Dramatic) Point of View

• Figure out for itself the meaning of the actions and speech.

• Makes heavier demands on the reader’s imagination and understanding.

• Example:

   - April and Esme: Tooth Fairies by Bob 

Graham

   - Museum Trip by Barbara Lehman

Variations in Point of view

• Using first-point of view and different perspectives

    - A Hero Ain’t Nothin But a Sandwich by Alice Childress

• Combination of omniscient and first-person point of view

    - The View from Saturday by E. L. Konigsburg

• Omniscient point of view with authorial interjections

    - The Lamp, the Ice, and the Boat Called Fish: Based on a True Story by Jacqueline Briggs Martin 

• Limited omniscient point of view

    - The Invention of Hugo Cabret: A Novel in Words and Pictures by Brian Selznick 

Why Consider Point of View

•Maturity of the Reader

•The choice of point of view affects acceptance of a  story.

• Younger readers may have difficulties in first-person point of view.

• Objective point of view can be problematic for children who are inexperienced in drawing conclusion.

• Animal Fantasy and Realism

• A realistic animal story needs an objective or dramatic point of view.

• Example:

    - Black Beauty by Anna Sewell 

• Vantage Points

• A story’s credibility may depend on a consistent point of view, particularly with fantasy.

• Illustration can assist with or even counter the point of view in the words.

• Examples:

   - The Borrowers by Mary Norton

   - Two Bad Ants by Chris Van Allsburg

• Cultural Considerations 

• Quality stories need to be as authentic as possible in their portrayal of characters from any cultural background.

• Present human truth of human nature

• Example:

    - Christmas in the Big House, Christmas

       in the Quarters by Patricia C.               McKissack

Summary

•Point of view, an integral part of storytelling, determines the view the reader gets of events, character motivation, suspense and climax, and theme.

•The pleasure of literature comes form style, character, or plot – all the literacy elements.