Reading and Writing Fiction

6
Lesson
Reading and Writing Fiction
ELEMENTS OF FICTION
POINT OF VIEW IN FICTION
The point of view is the lens that the author provides its readers so that they will see the
story in a particular view or angle. It can be presented in different ways, and each way has its
problems, responsibilities, and effects. One should always think of the intention in telling the
story before identifying the type of point of view to use. This may significantly strengthen the
story or may confuse the readers.
Point of view is the position of the narrator in relationship to the plot of a piece of
literature. In other words, point of view is the perspective from which the story is told. Point of
view is also known as POV. This is one of the things that the reader should find out when
reading fiction. Who is the person telling the story? Through POV, the reader follows the story
and is introduced to the different environment, people and situations through the chosen
perspective of the author. The point of view can be chosen from three types : First Person,
Second Person, and Third Person.
First Person is the most personal type of POV. Here, the narrator tells the story from
his/her perspective and frequently uses the pronoun “I”. Most often than not, the main
character of the story is the narrator. He/she provides the readers the situations. Popular
books in the market using the first person include Harper Lee’s “To Kill a
Mockingbird” and the “Hunger Games Trilogy” by Suzanne Collins. Sometimes
the POV is also given to minor characters. These characters can retell the story but did
not witness the events first-hand.
 Major - a major character in the story tells what happened

 Minor - a minor character or observer tells what happened
“In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been
turning over in my mind ever since.”
“Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,” he told me, “ just remember that all the people
in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.”
Nick Carraway, The Great Gatsby
Second Person this type of POV is rare and provides a different form of intimacy.
Here, the author gives the reader a certain level of experience to be one of the characters
in the story, we imagine “you” as a listener of the story, as a different personality of the
narrator, as a character that anonymously makes its way through the story. Some stories
with second person POV include George Perec’s “A Man Asleep (1967)” and some works
of the French Author Albert Camus and Michael Butor. The second person is mostly
used when a loved one is addressed directly in romantic poetry.
Adjust the light so you won’t strain your eyes. Do it now, because once you’re absorbed in
reading there will be no budging you. Make sure the page isn’t in shadow, a clotting of
black letters on a gray background, uniform as a pack of mice…
Italo Calvino’s “If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler”
Third Person is a type that tells the story from the perspective of someone outside of
the story. Here, the narrator usually describes the characters using pronouns such as
“he” or “she”, and they. This type can be elaborated into three major categories :
objective third person, limited third person, and omniscient third person. The three
categories vary on the approach on what the narrator wants the readers to know about
the characters, especially their feelings.
 Objective Third Person – it is used when the author relies only on external
facts of the story and does not reveal the characters’ innermost feelings and
intentions, it’s using the objective type of the third person.
 Limited Third Person – it is used when the author does the other way around.
Here, the narrator perfectly describes the feeling and intentions, it’s using the
objective type, the story is told from the perspective of the person involved in the
action but does not require the character to be directly speaking. This approach
can be seen in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter book series.
 Omniscient Third Person – this type provides a picture of a narrator that

knows more about events that will happen in the future including motives and
feelings of the minor characters.
“Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again. Fawkes the phoenix let out a
low, soft, musical cry. To Harry’s intense embarrassment, he suddenly realized that
Dumbledore’s bright blue eyes looked rather watery, and stared hastily at his own knee.”
– J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Activity : Below are literary excerpts from different fictional stories. Accomplish the form below
by identifying if the excerpt is using first, second or third person type of view.
Excerpt Point of View
“He is just what a young man ought to be,” said

she, “sensible, good-humoured, lively; and I never
saw such happy manners! –so much ease, with
such perfect good breeding!”
-Jane Austen in Pride and Prejudice
“And I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At

small parties, there isn’t any privacy.”
-The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
“Eventually, you ascend the stairs to the street.

You think of Plato’s pilgrims climbing out of the
cave, from the shadow world of appearances
toward things as they are, and you wonder if it is
possible to change in this life.”
-Jay McInerney, Bright Lights, Big City
“It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in

torrents, except at occasional intervals, when it
was checked by a violent gust of the wind which
swept up the streets”
-Edward George Bulwer-Lyt-ton in Paul Clifford

“I cannot but conclude that the bulk of your
Natives, to be the most pernicious Race of little
odious Vermin that Nature ever suffered to crawl
upon the Surface of the Earth.”
-Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift

“Adjust the light so you won’t strain your eyes. Do
it now, because once you’re absorbed in reading
there will be no budging you. Make sure the page
isn’t in shadow, a clothing of black letters on gray
background, uniform as a pack of mice…”
-If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino

Reading and Writing Fiction

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6

POINT OF VIEW IN FICTION

 Major - a major character in the story tells what happened

Nick Carraway, The Great Gatsby

Italo Calvino’s “If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler”

 Omniscient Third Person – this type provides a picture of a narrator that

Excerpt Point of View

“He is just what a young man ought to be,” said

-Jane Austen in Pride and Prejudice

“And I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At

-The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

“Eventually, you ascend the stairs to the street.

-Jay McInerney, Bright Lights, Big City

“It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in

-Edward George Bulwer-Lyt-ton in Paul Clifford

-Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift

-If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino

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