What point of view uses the word we

Personal pronouns are used to indicate point of view in most types of writing. Here are some common points of view: A paper using first-person point of view uses pronouns such as “I,” “me,” “we,” and “us.”

What point of view is we and our?

First-

What POV is it when there is a narrator?

third-person point of view

How do you determine first person point of view?

In Short

1. If the text uses “I,” “we,” “me,” “us,” “my,” “mine,” or “ours” as pronouns, then you have a first-person point of view.
2. If it uses “you,” “your,” or “yours” as pronouns, then you have a second-person point of view.

Is the word they second person?

Second Person (in Grammar) The term “second person” refers to the speaker’s audience (i.e.,”you”). The personal pronouns (“I,” “you,” “he,” “she,” “it,” “we,” “they”) are grouped into one of three categories: First person: “I” and “we” Second person: “you”

What can I use instead of we?

WORDS RELATED TO WE

• individually.
• our own selves.
• personally.
• privately.
• we.
• without help.

What is the third person narrative?

A narrative or mode of storytelling in which the narrator is not a character within the events related, but stands ‘outside’ those events. Third-person narrators are often omniscient or ‘all-knowing’ about the events of the story, but they may sometimes appear to be restricted in their knowledge of these events.

What are the 3 types of narration?

In a moment, we’ll work through three types of narration: first person, second person, and third person. Each serves its own purpose. But, before we enjoy some examples of narration, it’s important to distinguish between a narrative and narration.

Can a first person narrator be omniscient?

A rare form of the first person is the first person omniscient, in which the narrator is a character in the story, but also knows the thoughts and feelings of all the other characters. It can seem like third person omniscient at times.

Why is third person narrative effective?

The primary advantage to writing fiction in the third person (using the pronouns he, she, they, etc.) is it allows the writer to act as an omniscient narrator. Information can be given to the reader about every character and situation, whether or not the individual characters know anything about it.

What are the disadvantages of third person narration?

The Disadvantages of Third-Person Perspective The more characters you focus on, the more diluted the reader’s connection is with each. It is very difficult to ensure the reader will empathise with all your characters and the longer the gap between following each, the less the reader will be involved with them.

What is the effect of first person narrative?

A first-person narrator gives the reader a front row seat to the story. It also: Gives a story credibility. First-person point of view builds a rapport with readers by sharing a personal story directly with them.

What are the advantages of second person?

The Advantages of Second-Person Perspective Second-person puts the reader into the story, and if done right can submerge the reader into the narrative completely. You can effectively communicate how each moment feels, delivering sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch directly to the narrator.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of second person point of view?

What is an advantage of the second-person point of view can sometimes become a disadvantage. Addressing the audience as “you” works best if the reader feels that it is applicable to them. Novels solely written in second person make it more of a possibility that the reader may feel disconnected from the story.

What are the disadvantages of first person narration?

List of Disadvantages of First Person Narration

• It is limited to a single story thread.
• It would risk making the narrative self-indulgent in the narrator’s emotions.
• It tends to be bias.
• It narrows the experience.
• It would be difficult to describe the narrator.

What are disadvantages of Multiperspectivity?

Disadvantages: It’s not easy to employ multiple POVs well. Each POV character’s voice must be spot on and easily recognizable. Most readers will not flip back to a chapter heading to remember who is speaking if it’s not obvious.

First-

What POV uses the word we?

Personal pronouns are used to indicate point of view in most types of writing. Here are some common points of view: A paper using first-person point of view uses pronouns such as “I,” “me,” “we,” and “us.”

What POV is it when there is a narrator?

third-person point of view

How do you determine first person point of view?

In Short

1. If the text uses “I,” “we,” “me,” “us,” “my,” “mine,” or “ours” as pronouns, then you have a first-person point of view.
2. If it uses “you,” “your,” or “yours” as pronouns, then you have a second-person point of view.

Is the word they second person?

Second Person (in Grammar) The term “second person” refers to the speaker’s audience (i.e.,”you”). The personal pronouns (“I,” “you,” “he,” “she,” “it,” “we,” “they”) are grouped into one of three categories: First person: “I” and “we” Second person: “you”

What can I use instead of we?

WORDS RELATED TO WE

• individually.
• our own selves.
• personally.
• privately.
• we.
• without help.

What is the third person narrative?

A narrative or mode of storytelling in which the narrator is not a character within the events related, but stands ‘outside’ those events. Third-person narrators are often omniscient or ‘all-knowing’ about the events of the story, but they may sometimes appear to be restricted in their knowledge of these events.

What are the 3 types of narration?

In a moment, we’ll work through three types of narration: first person, second person, and third person. Each serves its own purpose. But, before we enjoy some examples of narration, it’s important to distinguish between a narrative and narration.

Can a first person narrator be omniscient?

A rare form of the first person is the first person omniscient, in which the narrator is a character in the story, but also knows the thoughts and feelings of all the other characters. It can seem like third person omniscient at times.

Why is third person narrative effective?

The primary advantage to writing fiction in the third person (using the pronouns he, she, they, etc.) is it allows the writer to act as an omniscient narrator. Information can be given to the reader about every character and situation, whether or not the individual characters know anything about it.

What are the disadvantages of third person narration?

The Disadvantages of Third-Person Perspective The more characters you focus on, the more diluted the reader’s connection is with each. It is very difficult to ensure the reader will empathise with all your characters and the longer the gap between following each, the less the reader will be involved with them.

What is the effect of first person narrative?

A first-person narrator gives the reader a front row seat to the story. It also: Gives a story credibility. First-person point of view builds a rapport with readers by sharing a personal story directly with them.

What are the advantages of second person?

The Advantages of Second-Person Perspective Second-person puts the reader into the story, and if done right can submerge the reader into the narrative completely. You can effectively communicate how each moment feels, delivering sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch directly to the narrator.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of second person point of view?

What is an advantage of the second-person point of view can sometimes become a disadvantage. Addressing the audience as “you” works best if the reader feels that it is applicable to them. Novels solely written in second person make it more of a possibility that the reader may feel disconnected from the story.

What are the disadvantages of first person narration?

List of Disadvantages of First Person Narration

• It is limited to a single story thread.
• It would risk making the narrative self-indulgent in the narrator’s emotions.
• It tends to be bias.
• It narrows the experience.
• It would be difficult to describe the narrator.

What are disadvantages of Multiperspectivity?

Disadvantages: It’s not easy to employ multiple POVs well. Each POV character’s voice must be spot on and easily recognizable. Most readers will not flip back to a chapter heading to remember who is speaking if it’s not obvious.

One of the best ways to prepare for the AP Literature exam is to learn about different literary devices and how you can use them to analyze everything from poetry to novels. Not only will this help you on the multiple choice section of the test, it’s critical for earning perfect scores on your essays, too!

Today, we’re going to take a closer look at one specific device: point of view. First, we’ll give you the point of view definition, then we’ll explain how the work’s narrator affects its point of view. Then we’ll explain the four types of point of view and provide examples and analysis for each one.

By the end of this article, you’ll be a point of view expert! So let’s get started.

Point of View: Definition and Meaning

In literature and poetry, point of view is defined as the perspective from which a story is told. Put another way, a story’s point of view is a way to articulate and analyze the position of the narrator in relation to the story they’re telling. Is the narrator a participant in the story they’re telling? Or are they describing events that happened to someone else? Both of these perspectives are different types of point of view (which we’ll talk about in a lot more depth later in this article, so hang tight)!

So how do you figure out the point of view in a text? In order to find the point of view of a story, you first have to identify whose perspective the story is told from. That’s because the perspective of the story determines a piece of literature’s point of view! That means that in order to establish a text’s point of view, you have to figure out the narrator of the text first.

What Is a Narrator?

Okay…so obviously figuring out the narrator of a piece of literature is important. But what’s a narrator, exactly? No matter what type of text you’re reading—whether it’s a newspaper article, a textbook, a poem, or a best-selling novel—someone is communicating the story to the reader. In literary terms, we call that someone the text’s narrator.

In other words, the narrator of a piece of literature is the person telling the story. And you know what’s even more helpful than that? Almost all written texts—whether they’re fiction, non-fiction, poetry, or otherwise—have a narrator.

And since a narrator and point of view go hand in hand, that means that almost all texts have a point of view, too!

Finding the Narrator

So how do you figure out the narrator of a text? Sometimes the narrator of a text is pretty easy to determine. For example, for a newspaper article, the narrator of the story is obviously the reporter who’s written the piece to report the facts. They’re the person who followed the story’s trail, and now they’re sharing the story with you!

Another good example of an “easy to find” comes from Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. The very first sentence of the book reads, “Call me Ishmael.” Because that’s a line in the text rather than a piece of dialogue that uses quotation marks, you know it’s the narrator speaking to the audience. In other words, the narrator of Moby Dick identifies himself and tells you his name in the very first line of the book!

But figuring out the narrator of the text isn’t always that easy. For example, the Harry Potter books by J.K Rowling don’t have an easily identifiable narrator. Neither do some classic works, like The Giver by Lois Lowry or Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. What do you do in those situations? Well, just hang tight: we’ll walk you through how point of view can help you figure out the narrator in these tricky situations!

Narrator vs. Point of View: What’s the Difference?

Before we start really digging into point of view, it’s worth pausing a minute to talk about the differences between point of view and narration. Because narration and point of view are closely linked, it’s tempting to think of them as interchangeable terms.

But the narrator of a text and the point of view of a text are two different things. The narrator is who is telling the story. In contrast, a text’s point of view is the perspective the story is being told from. If you think of the narrator as a person, their point of view is the angle they’re taking on the story.

Think of it this way: in literature, point of view and narrators go together like…well, like thunder and lightning. You can’t have one without the other, but they’re definitely not the same thing.

The 4 Types of Point of View

Okay, let’s look more closely at the four different types of point of view found in literature. In the following sections, we’ll explain each type of point of view, give you tips for figuring out if something is written in that perspective, and then walk you through a real-life example of that point of view in literature.

In first person point of view, you see the story through the narrator’s eyes

First Person Point of View

In first person point of view, the story is told from the narrator’s perspective. This allows the narrator to give readers their first-hand experience, including what they saw, felt, thought, heard, said, and did. Think of it kind of like The Blair Witch Project: in first person point of view, it’s like the narrator is wearing a GoPro camera strapped to their forehead. The reader sees exactly what the narrator sees and gets their singular perspective on the events that unfold. In other words, a first person point of view makes the narrator the eyewitness to the plot of the story.

Using a first person point of view allows an author to dive much more deeply into the narrator’s character, since the reader gets to hear the narrator’s inner thoughts and experience the narrator’s emotions. Additionally, it makes the narrator the main character, or protagonist, of the story. If something is written in first person, it’s a pretty big indicator that the narrator is going to play a pivotal role in communicating the text’s messages or themes.

But there are also some pretty major limitations to a first person point of view, too. Just like real life, readers won’t be able to get the thoughts and feelings of other characters in the novel. Also, the narrator’s observations might be skewed depending on how they feel about other people. Because of that, first person narrators can be unreliable, meaning that their perspective skews the accuracy of the story they’re telling. That means it’s up to the reader to determine whether they believe the narrator is being truthful or not.

Tips for Identifying First Person Point of View

In many ways, a first person point of view is one of the easiest to pick out because it uses first person pronouns, like I, we, me, my, our, and us. If the book is written using these terms, then you can pretty much guarantee that the author is using first person!

Keep in mind that not all first person narrators are the book’s main character, like Moby Dick’s Ishmael or The Hunger Games’ Katniss Everdeen. That’s because first person narrators aren’t always the main characters in the work. Take, for instance, the Sherlock Holmes stories, where Dr. John Watson is the narrator. While he’s an important character in the story, he’s definitely not the main character—Sherlock Holmes is!

Additionally, sometimes first person narrators are anonymous, like third person narrators often are. (Don’t worry: we’ll get into third person narration in just a minute.) That’s why it’s best to look for pronouns when trying to figure out a work’s point of view! If you’re trying to find the narrator’s name, it might not always be there. A good example of this is Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 130,” where the narrator is describing the woman he loves. The narrator of the poem is never named, but because he uses pronouns like “I” and “my,” you know it’s written in first person.

Example of First Person Point of View: Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 29”

Many of Shakespeare’s sonnets are written in first person, and “Sonnet 29” is no different. Let’s look at the full poem and see why it qualifies as being written in first person:

Remember, we can tell that something’s written in first person if it uses first person pronouns outside of dialogue. Since there’s no dialogue in this poem at all, we can look at the entire text to find evidence of the first person point of view.  

Notice that the narrator (or speaker, as the narrator is often referred to in poetry) uses words like “I,” “me,” and “myself” throughout the poem. This is a clear indicator that this poem is written in a first person point of view!  

Actually, “Sonnet 29” is a good example of something written in first person where the narrator isn’t named. But we can still learn quite a bit about them through the poem itself! For example, we learn that he’s an outcast (line 2) who is unhappy with his current status (line 4). Despite his all-encompassing misery (line 9), when he thinks upon his love, his spirits are lifted (lines 10, 11, and 12). As we start piecing the evidence together, we begin to get a clearer picture of who the narrator of the poem is, and the power love has to lift us out of even the bleakest circumstance.

Other Works Written in First Person Point of View

First person is a really popular writing technique, so it’s no surprise that there are tons of books written in this point of view! Here are a few other poems, books, and book series that you might be familiar with that use first person point of view:

• Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18”
• Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games book series
• Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird
• Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories

Second person point of view uses pronouns like «you» and «your» to tell the story.

Second Person Point of View

In second person point of view, the story is told from the perspective of another character. Sometimes this character is another person in the book, but it can also be the reader themselves! More importantly, when a writer uses second person, they want readers to connect emotionally with the topic they’re writing about!

Here’s an example of what we mean. Say you’re reading an article about the amount of plastic pollution in the ocean. If the writer wants to pull on your heartstrings and make you take the issue they’re writing about seriously, they might use a second person point of view and write something like this:

“Imagine you’re on the vacation of your dreams sailing across the Caribbean. You can’t wait to get out into the open water, where everything will be calm, peaceful, and gorgeous. You take a nap as the captain sets sail, and when you return to the deck, you’re shocked by what you see. Instead of a vast expanse of sparkling blue water, you see a huge, bobbing mound of trash. Fast food containers, plastic bags, and discarded water bottles bob along the surface as far as you can see. It looks like you’re sailing through a garbage dump, and you feel equal parts disgust and despair.”

Using the second person point of view in a passage puts the reader into the story—in this case, it’s a story about pollution. Second person makes the reader feel like they’re making every move…from the joy of going on vacation, to the shock of seeing so much plastic in the water, to the “disgust and despair” of realizing what pollution is doing to the sea. Suddenly, the reader becomes more invested in what the author has to say about the problem, since the second person point of view makes them feel like they’ve experienced it first-hand!

While it’s very rare to find a text that’s written completely in second person, many authors will switch to this perspective when they want readers to feel connected to the topic they’re writing about.

Tips for Identifying Second Person Point of View

Like first person point of view, it’s pretty easy to spot the second person point of view…when you know what you’re looking for, that is. When something is written in second person, the writer uses second person pronouns (like “you,” “yourself,” and “your”) in the text that falls outside of dialogue, too.

Like we just mentioned, it’s pretty rare to find a whole text that’s written this way. More than likely, you’ll find a few paragraphs written in second person, rather than an entire work. The one exception to this rule is the classic Choose Your Own Adventure book! You probably remember these from when you were a kid: each book had a topic, and at the bottom of each page, you were given decisions to make. Depending on what you chose, you’d flip to a different page in the book, and your decisions would affect the story!

Example of Second Person Point of View: Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerny

Jay McInerny uses second person to open his book, Bright Lights, Big City, which tells the story of life in the fast lane in 1980s New York. Let’s look at the first paragraph to see the second person point of view in action:

You are not the kind of guy who would be at a place like this at this time of the morning. How did you get here? It was your friend Tad Allagash. Your brain is rushing with Brazilian marching powder. You are talking to a girl with a shaved head. You want to meet the kind of girl who isn’t going to be here. You want to read the kind of fiction this isn’t. You give the girl some powder. She still doesn’t want you. Things were fine once. Then you got married. 

Notice that all the pronouns in this section are either “you” or “your,” which is a clear indicator that this is written in second person! It’s also a good example of how using second person can immediately pull someone into a narrative by making the reader and the main character one in the same. In this case, McInerny is creating a whole backstory for your character—from giving you friends like Tad to hinting at your dysfunctional marriage.

Other Works Written in Second Person Point of View

Second person is probably the rarest of the points of view. Usually writers will use second person in sections of their work to emphasize a point, rather than throughout their entire work. Here are some pieces of literature that use a second person point of view (at least in part):

• Langston Hughes’ “Hard Luck”
• Italo Calvino’s If On A Winter’s Night A Traveller
• Claudia Rankine’s Citizen: An American Lyric
• Emma Campbell Webster’s Lost in Austen: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure

In third person omniscient point of view, the narrator is god-like and tells the reader everything!

Third Person Omniscient Point of View

The third type of perspective you can find in literature is a third person omniscient point of view. In third person omniscient, the narrator uses third person pronouns like “he,” “she,” “they,” and “their” to refer to all the characters in the work. As a result, the narrator removes themselves as a critical character in the work (unlike the narrators that use a first or second person point of view).

Additionally, because this is a third person omniscient perspective, the narrator is given god-like qualities over the story. (Merriam-Webster defines an “omniscient” person as someone who has “universal or complete knowledge”!) That means the narrator can dive into any character’s head and share their thoughts and emotions with the reader. Additionally, the narrator can move around in time and place to show the reader events that the characters themselves may not be aware of! That includes jumping around from location to location, or even moving backward and forward in time.

Using a third person omniscient narrator lets an author show the reader the whole gameboard, so to speak. There’s no real limit to what a narrator can show the readers! Consequently, it allows the author to build a robust world full of well-developed characters, since the author no longer has to contend with the single-character limits of a first or second person point of view. It’s also a particularly useful technique in works with large casts of characters, since the narrator can introduce the reader to each character more quickly—and with more detail—than other points of view would allow!

Example of Third Person Omniscient Point of View: Middlemarch by George Eliot

The narrator of George Eliot’s Victorian novel, Middlemarch, is an excellent example of how a third person omniscient narrator can give readers a comprehensive view of a text. Let’s take a look at the book’s opening paragraph to see this type of point of view in action:

Miss Brooke had that kind of beauty which seems to be thrown into relief by poor dress. Her hand and wrist were so finely formed that she could wear sleeves not less bare of style than those in which the Blessed Virgin appeared to Italian painters; and her profile as well as her stature and bearing seemed to gain the more dignity from her plain garments, which by the side of provincial fashion gave her the impressiveness of a fine quotation from the Bible,—or from one of our elder poets,—in a paragraph of to-day’s newspaper. She was usually spoken of as being remarkably clever, but with the addition that her sister Celia had more common-sense. Nevertheless, Celia wore scarcely more trimmings; and it was only to close observers that her dress differed from her sister’s, and had a shade of coquetry in its arrangements; for Miss Brooke’s plain dressing was due to mixed conditions, in most of which her sister shared. The pride of being ladies had something to do with it: the Brooke connections, though not exactly aristocratic, were unquestionably «good:» if you inquired backward for a generation or two, you would not find any yard-measuring or parcel-tying forefathers—anything lower than an admiral or a clergyman; and there was even an ancestor discernible as a Puritan gentleman who served under Cromwell, but afterwards conformed, and managed to come out of all political troubles as the proprietor of a respectable family estate. Young women of such birth, living in a quiet country-house, and attending a village church hardly larger than a parlor, naturally regarded frippery as the ambition of a huckster’s daughter. 

Remember: omniscient narrators are god-like in that they can give you more information than a single character could provide from their limited perspective. In this case, Eliot’s omniscient narrator gives us tons of information about Miss Brooke. We know that she’s beautiful but not financially well off ( the narrator calls this living in “mixed conditions”), which is reflected in her “plain garments.” Regardless, Miss Brooke is also “remarkably clever.”

Beyond that, the narrator tells us about Miss Brooke’s family by looking into her past—which is easy given that the narrator is omniscient! We learn that she and her sister, Celia, aren’t aristocratic, but they come from a good family that includes admirals, clergymen, and politicians. This helps Eliot develop characters and situations quickly, which is important in a book with a large cast of characters like Middlemarch.

Other Works Written in Third Person Omniscient Point of View

Third person omniscient is a common point of view, especially in longer texts. Here are some examples of other works that feature an omniscient point of view:

• Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women
• Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest
• Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter
• Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

In third person limited point of view, it’s as if the narrator is standing behind one character’s shoulder.

Third Person Limited Point of View

Example of Third Person Limited Point of View: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

Like we mentioned earlier, all texts have a point of view…which means that the Harry Potter stories do, too! Let’s look at a passage from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone to get a better idea of how a third person limited point of view works. In this scene, Harry and his friends, Hermione and Ron, are looking through the library to learn more about the sorcerer’s stone:

Hermione took out a list of subjects and titles she had decided to search while Ron strode off down a row of books and started pulling them off the shelves at random. Harry wandered over to the Restricted Section. He had been wondering for a while if Flamel wasn’t somewhere in there. Unfortunately, you needed a specially signed note from one of the teachers to look in any of the restricted books, and he knew he’d never get one. These were the books containing powerful Dark Magic never taught at Hogwarts, and only read by older students studying advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts. 

Other Works Written in Third Person Limited Point of View

The third person limited point of view is a popular perspective for writers to use, so there’s no shortage of examples! Here are a few works you might be familiar with that feature a third person limited point of view:

• Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “Christabel”
• Eudora Welty’s The Golden Apples
• Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice
• Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle In Time

 

What’s Next?

If you’re studying for the AP Literature exam, you’ll need to know about more literary devices than point of view. Why not check out our other comprehensive guides, like this one on personification? The more familiar you are with literary terms, what they mean, and how to use them, the better your test score will be!

Did you know that there are two English AP tests? One is the literature exam, which focuses on literary analysis and comprehension. The second test is the language exam, which tests your ability to understand argument and write persuasively. Click here to learn more about the AP Language exam, how it differs from the literature exam, and what you need to do to knock it out of the park!

After you learn the fundamentals, the best way to prepare for an AP exam is to take practice tests. Check out this article on how to find the best AP practice exams, and learn how to use them to boost your score!

Have friends who also need help with test prep? Share this article!

When you tell a story, an important thing to choose is the point of view that the story should take. Point of view determines who tells the story, as well as the relationship that the narrator has to the characters in the story. A story can have a much different feel depending on who is doing the telling.

The main points of view are first person and third person, with second person appearing less frequently but still common enough that it gets studied in writing classes. These are also the terms used to distinguish the personal pronouns. The pronouns I and we are first-person pronouns; they refer to the self. The pronoun you, used for both singular and plural antecedents, is the second-person pronoun, the person who is being addressed. The third person pronouns—he, she, it, they—refer to someone or something being referred to apart from the speaker or the person being addressed. Narratives are often identified as first, second, or third person based on the kinds of pronouns they utilize.

In first-person narration, the narrator is a person in the story, telling the story from their own point of view. The narration usually utilizes the pronoun I (or we, if the narrator is speaking as part of a group). The character who tells the story might be in the middle of the action or more of a character who observes the action from the outer limits, but in either case you are getting that character’s recounting of what happens.

It also means that impressions and descriptions are colored by that character’s opinions, mood, past experiences, or even their warped perceptions of what they see and hear.

There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. We had been wandering, indeed, in the leafless shrubbery an hour in the morning; but since dinner (Mrs. Reed, when there was no company, dined early) the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds so sombre, and a rain so penetrating, that further outdoor exercise was now out of the question.

I was glad of it: I never liked long walks, especially on chilly afternoons: dreadful to me was the coming home in the raw twilight, with nipped fingers and toes, and a heart saddened by the chidings of Bessie, the nurse, and humbled by the consciousness of my physical inferiority to Eliza, John, and Georgiana Reed.

— Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, 1847

In Jane Eyre, the narration is provided by the story’s title character, a governess. The information shared comes from her memories and impressions—of the weather, her knowledge of Mrs. Reed’s dining habits, and her dread at receiving a lecture from Nurse Bessie. We are likewise shielded from information that Jane doesn’t know.

Many classic works of fiction feature characters made memorable by their first-person voices: The Catcher in the Rye (Holden Caulfield), The Handmaid’s Tale (Offred), or To Kill a Mockingbird (Scout Finch). In some stories, such as in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the first person narrator (Nick Carraway) is an observer of the character around whom the story is centered (Jay Gatsby).

Second Person

Second-person narration is a little-used technique of narrative in which the action is driven by a character ascribed to the reader, one known as you. The reader is immersed into the narrative as a character involved in the story. The narrator describes what «you» do and lets you into your own thoughts and background.
The most well-known piece of fiction that employs second-person narration might be Jay McInerney’s novel Bright Lights, Big City.

At the subway station you wait fifteen minutes on the platform for a train. Finally a local, enervated by graffiti, shuffles into the station. You get a seat and hoist a copy of the New York Post. The Post is the most shameful of your several addictions.

— Jay McInerney, Bright Lights, Big City, 1984

You will also find second-person narration used in the «Choose Your Own Adventure» style of books popular with younger readers, in which readers determine where the story goes by which page they turn to next. Allowing the reader to «be» the central character in the story provides an immersive reading experience, enhancing what is at stake for the character and reader.

Third Person Point of View

In third-person narration, the narrator exists outside the events of the story, and relates the actions of the characters by referring to their names or by the third-person pronouns he, she, or they.

Third-person narration can be further classified into several types: omniscient, limited, and objective.

Third Person Omniscient

Omniscient means «all-knowing,» and likewise an omniscient narrator knows every character’s thoughts, feelings, and motivations even if that character doesn’t reveal any of those things to the other characters.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott serves as a good example of third-person omniscient narration:

«Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents,» grumbled Jo, lying on the rug.

«It’s so dreadful to be poor!» sighed Meg, looking down at her old dress.

«I don’t think it’s fair for some girls to have plenty of pretty things, and other girls nothing at all,» added little Amy, with an injured sniff.

«We’ve got Father and Mother, and each other,» said Beth contentedly from her corner.

The four young faces on which the firelight shone brightened at the cheerful words, but darkened again as Jo said sadly, «We haven’t got Father, and shall not have him for a long time.» She didn’t say «perhaps never,» but each silently added it, thinking of Father far away, where the fighting was.

— Louisa May Alcott, Little Women, 1868

The story is not told from the point of view of Meg, Jo, Beth, or Amy, but from someone who is observing the four sisters as they talk to one another. Each character is therefore referred to by their names or the third-person pronoun she. The narrator does not exist as a character in the story, and the girls do not acknowledge the narrator’s presence.

However, the narrator is omniscient, which means that they know what the characters are thinking. This is demonstrated in the last line of the excerpt, when the girls silently ponder the thought of their father never returning from the war.

Third Person Limited

In third-person limited narration, the narrator still exists outside the events of the story, but does not know the motivations or thoughts of all the characters. Rather, one character is the driver of the story, and the reader is given a closer peek into that character’s psyche than the others.

J. K. Rowling utilizes third-person limited narration in the Harry Potter novels. Even though the narrator is not Harry, and Harry is referred to as ‘he,’ the reader is allowed into Harry’s thoughts—what he is wondering without saying out loud. We are also, like Harry, left uncertain about what other characters are thinking:

Three days later, the Dursleys were showing no sign of relenting, and Harry couldn’t see any way out of his situation. He lay on his bed watching the sun sinking behind the bars on the window and wondered miserably what was going to happen to him.

What was the good of magicking himself out of his room if Hogwarts would expel him for doing it? Yet life at Privet Drive had reached an all-time low. Now that the Dursleys knew they weren’t going to wake up as fruit bats, he had lost his only weapon. Dobby might have saved Harry from horrible happenings at Hogwarts, but the way things were going, he’d probably starve to death anyway.

— J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, 1999

Third-Person Objective

In third-person objective narration, the narrator reports the events that take place without knowing the motivations or thoughts of any of the characters. We know little about what drives them until we hear them speak or observe their actions. The resulting tone is often matter-of-fact, not colored by any opinions or commentary, nor of knowledge of what takes place outside the scene.

The people of the village began to gather in the square, between the post office and the bank, around ten o’clock; in some towns there were so many people that the lottery took two days and had to be started on June 25th. But in this village, where there were only about three hundred people, the whole lottery took less than two hours, so it could begin at ten o’clock in the morning and still be through in time to allow the villagers to get home for noon dinner.

— Shirley Jackson, «The Lottery,» 1948

What point of view will best serve your piece? You should ask yourself this question before every project, whether it’s a report for work or the beginning of a novel. First person point of view is a default for many writers, though its use can be controversial depending on the context and may be completely inappropriate in some instances. So what is first person point of view and how should you use it? Here’s the breakdown of this literary term and how its use impacts your writing.

What Does “First Person Point of View” Mean?

“Point of view” describes narrators and their relationship to a piece’s subject. There are three POV types:

• First person
• Second person
• Third person

First and third person are the most prevalent in fiction, while second person is generally used in more technical or nonfiction writing. The first person point of view is when narrators directly address their audiences as subjects or observers of the story, as in the following examples:

• Narrator tells the story of a personal experience
• Narrator gives an account of an event he or she witnessed
• Narrator describes his or her plans for an upcoming project

First person point of view words include “I” and “we,” though second person and third person pronouns may be used throughout the writing as well. In fact, many pieces written in second person point of view may arguably be first person; one such example is a letter that specifically addresses the reader. This ambiguity may be overwhelming to new writers, but it also provides many opportunities for innovative styles and narratives.

First Person Point of View Words List

If you spot these first person pronouns, you’re likely reading something in the first person POV.

I	we
me	us
my	our
mine	ourselves
myself

What Kind of Writing Uses First Person Point of View?

There are many opinions about when first person perspective should or shouldn’t be used, so let’s start with one of the most simple examples. In grade school, you were probably assigned to write an essay about a significant personal event. Well, the personal essay happens to be the quintessential first person point of view example. The writer is both the subject and the narrator, using “I” and “we” to describe memories and internal dialogue.

This example is quite cut-and-dried, but there are many situations where point of view is a stylistic choice. For instance, fiction writers have to decide which point of view best suits their work. This decision can be made difficult by the fact that, at times, more than one option works perfectly well.

Even more controversial is first person use in formal writing. Some people believe the first person point of view definition includes informality, which automatically bars it from use in research papers and other formals writing. Others believe first person perspective to be a purely stylistic choice and therefore fair game depending on the writer’s intent. So who’s right?

Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as one group being “right” and the other being “wrong.” Instead, it’s essential that we look at each situation individually to determine if first person POV meets our needs. For context, let’s look at the different types of writing in which first person is commonly used.

Memoirs

One area where it is indisputably appropriate to use first person is recounting your own experiences. This includes autobiographies, personal blogs and memoirs. In fact, when presenting examples of the first person point of view literary definition, these are some of the first genres to come up.

In any piece of writing that details your beliefs, memories or opinions, first person is not only appropriate but the ideal option. Use of second or third person point of view may feel disingenuous, undermining the emotional impact most of these genres aim for.

Fiction

Many fictional works use the first person point of view as a stylistic choice. Interestingly, early English novels tended to be written in first person either as epistolary works or pieces directly addressing the reader. This approach was thought to increase the narrator’s authority and to assist the audience with the suspension of disbelief, as the format allowed a greater possibility of the story being true.

Blogs

While blogs are created for a variety of reasons, many are used to address the audience directly. As a result, first person point of view words are common among blogs, even when the narrator is a business or other organization. As an informal genre, first person tends to feel more comfortable, while third person can feel stilted or downright awkward.

Social Media Posts

There’s a lot of leeway when it comes to social media posts, especially if a meme, GIF or humor is involved. However, as a way to communicate directly to followers, posts naturally lend themselves to first person POV. In fact, unless otherwise specified, many readers assume a post author is speaking in first person even if no first person point of view words are used.

Formal Writing

Here, at last, is the big debate: Is it appropriate to use first person POV in formal writing? Early in your writing instruction, you were probably told that first person is too informal and therefore never acceptable to use in formal writing. However, if you’ve ever read research papers or books by academic professionals, you’ve probably come across a first person point of view example or two. So what gives?

The answer is complicated but worth a look. While first person point of view can feel informal when used a certain way, it can also be authoritative and deliberate in the right hands. However, it’s essential to differentiate between personal opinion and objective fact when delving into more complex and abstract studies. For newer writers, it can be difficult to write in first person and maintain an objective distance from the subject; as a consequence, writers are encouraged to use third person to avoid this misstep. However, as your mastery of rhetoric grows, there’s no reason to avoid first person point of view words if they achieve your desired effect.

Why Choose First Person Point of View?

Now that we’ve established genres that commonly use first person POV, let’s talk about why you may choose to use it. The number one reason, of course, should be that this point of view serves your purposes better than the other options. But what purposes might you desire in your writing? Here are a few things first person perspective does well.

Connect to Your Audience

One of the most common goals for writers is to establish an emotional connection between their audience and the main character or characters. Since the first person point of view definition sets the narrator and subject as one and the same, it’s a good tool for quickly forming a connection between the reader and subject. Just like with a nonfiction personal essay, audiences hear the character’s feelings and thoughts directly from the source, allowing them to freely inhabit the subject’s headspace and take on those emotions as their own.

First person point of view may also make it easier for writers to connect to their characters, as it forces them to put themselves in the character’s shoes in a literal way. Plenty of authors have used this advantage to create autobiographical works that explore personal experiences through a fictional lens, allowing readers, writers and characters to cross identity boundaries for greater empathy.

Limit Reader Information

While often unspoken, part of the first person point of view literary definition is that the reader only knows what the narrator knows. This allows writers to build suspense by having multiple storylines going on in the background, which generates information the main character and, by extension, the audience isn’t privy to. This may be especially useful to mystery writers, who can then unveil a surprising twist toward the narrative’s end.

First person also works well with an unreliable narrator, which is a narrator who misleads the audience through lies, manipulation, omission or insanity. Psychological thrillers and horror stories are well-known for using this literary device to keep audiences guessing, to build tension and to craft exquisite twists. Of course, third person limited can also be used for this purpose, but first person may make the danger feel more immediate due to the connection between writer, reader and subject.

Are There Different Kinds of First Person Point of View?

There are two types of first person POV. Both use first person point of view words, but the narrator’s relation to the story is slightly different.

First Person Peripheral

In first person peripheral, the narrator is not the main character but an observer. Narrators may be directly involved with the story, as is John Watson in many of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories, or recounting a story secondhand, as Mr. Lockwood does in “Wuthering Heights.”

This format allows the writer to present events through a distorted lens. It’s also a convenient technique if you intend for the main character to die but need a way to deliver the narrative aftermath.

First Person Central

First person central describes a point of view where the narrator is also the protagonist. This is what people most often think of when asked, “What is first person point of view?”  The main character speaks directly to the reader, either while the action occurs, as Katniss Everdeen does in “The Hunger Games,” or by looking back on past experiences, as the unnamed protagonist does in “The Ocean at the End of the Lane.”

Why choose central over peripheral? Unless you need the audience to connect to a character other than the protagonist, you’re better off using first person central POV.

What Pitfalls Should You Avoid When Writing in First Person Point of View?

Though first person POV may be the easier choice for new writers, that doesn’t mean there aren’t pitfalls to watch out for. In fact, there are several issues that writers of any skill level can encounter when writing in first person.

Filler

Honestly, the majority of your first person piece shouldn’t contain that many first person point of view words. Unless your narrator is actively doing something, you’re better off excluding “I” and “we.” Otherwise, your writing can become cluttered and stilted. Just take a look at the difference between these two sentences:

• I watched the countryside speed by the car window.
• The countryside sped by the car window.

Your audience already knows your protagonist is in the car, so there’s no need to clarify who is watching the countryside. Additionally, making other nouns the subject of a sentence can help you avoid another pitfall: repetitive sentence structure.

Repetitive Sentence Structure

When writing in first person perspective, you’ll undoubtedly use first person point of view words plenty of times. This typically won’t stand out to readers, as they’re used to this necessity, but repetitive sentence structure can make the presence of first person pronouns stand out. This is especially true if you frequently use them at the beginning of a sentence:

• I always eat breakfast in the morning because it’s the most important meal of the day. I prefer cooking bacon and eggs, but sometimes I only have time for cereal. I pick up a fast-food breakfast sandwich if I’m really running late.

The paragraph is awkward, right? One way to improve flow is to switch up your sentence structure so the subject isn’t always at the beginning:

• Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so I always make sure to eat something in the morning. When possible, I cook bacon and eggs, but sometimes there’s only time for cereal. If I’m really running late, I’ll pick up a fast-food breakfast sandwich.

Author Voice

Since the first person point of view literary definition requires authors to write from the narrator’s point of view, there’s a chance the narrator’s voice can begin sounding an awful lot like the author’s. While this may be the point for some pieces, many readers can identify when the author, rather than the character, is speaking to them, and it can bring them out of the story. If you prefer a heavily stylized narrator voice, you may do better with third person omniscient point of view.

There you have it — those are the basics of first person POV. Remember that while the above rules are considered standard, that doesn’t mean they’re ironclad. Many writers have experimented with the first person POV and created intricate and admirable pieces. Of course, the most important thing is that your finished work accomplishes what you intended. If that means easy consumption or direct communication, you’re better off following the standard.

Do you now feel like you can answer the question, “What is first person point of view?” Have you read a story or article that used this POV effectively? Have you happened upon a piece that successfully broke the “rules”? If so, we’d love to hear about it down in the comments.

Point of view definition

In English, the point of view is the narrator’s position or perspective through which the story is being communicated. An author’s point of view tells the reader who the person is experiencing the event or the topic of the writing.

All types of writing — fiction, song lyrics, nonfiction — are written from a point of view.

First, Second, And Third Person

First, second, and third person are the three main types of point of view.

• First person is the I / we perspective

• Second person is the you perspective

• Third person is the she / he / they / it perspective

The author chooses a point of view to relate the story as if you were experiencing it, to force you into the story, or to allow the author to show different points of view.

How to identify point of view

Identifying a point of view in a writer’s work can sometimes be challenging. The best way to find the point of view is to skip the dialogue, go to the narration, and look at the pronouns used in the narrative:

• I, me, my, mine, myself, we, our, ours, ourselves — First person

• You, your, yours, yourself — Second person

• She, her, hers, herself, he, him, his, himself, they, them, themselves, their, theirs — Third person

First person point of view

Usually, we speak in the first person when we talk about ourselves, our opinions, or our experiences.

Anytime a writer wants to share another person’s life, you will see the first-person perspective. With a first-person view, every person reading the passage sees into the character’s life.

The first-person point of view is identified by singular pronouns such as; me, my, I, mine, and myself or plural first person pronouns like we, us, our, and ourselves.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote the song, “In My Life” in first person:

There are places I’ll remember
All my life, though some have changed
Some forever, not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places had their moments
With lovers and friends, I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life, I’ve loved them all

New Yorker magazine writer and children’s book author E.B. White often wrote in the first person, especially in his nonfiction essays. This excerpt is from «Goodbye to Forty-Eighth Street»:

One day a couple of weeks ago, I sat for a while staring moodily at a plaque that had entered my life largely as a result of some company’s zest for promotion.

Choose first person when you want the reader to go along for the ride with you. You direct the action, sure, but the reader feels it. Consider these famous first-person plural words:

We the People of the United States in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Novels from around 1900 to the present usually show this active, engaged point of view. Tasks ideal for the first person (singular or plural) include:

• Autobiographies

• Journals or diaries

• Fiction

• Essays

• Blogs

• Reading records

• Song lyrics

• Poems

• Letters (formal or friendly)

Places to avoid the first person:

• Academic work

• Instructions

Types of first person

First person narration can take different forms:

• Reliable – the writer’s character speaks the truth

• Unreliable – the writer’s character is hiding something; they are an unreliable narrator

• First-person central – the narrator is the main character and central to the plot

• First-person peripheral – the narrator is a witness, but not the main character

To read a gripping first-person narrative, revisit Suzanne Collins’ «Hunger Games» trilogy.

Second person point of view

Second person point of view is known as the “you” perspective. It is the perspective of the person or persons that the narrator is addressing. The second person perspective is identifiable by the author’s use of second-person pronouns: you, yourself, your, yours, or yourselves.

The second person point of view attempts to turn the reader into the character. It is seldom used in novels but does give an immediate jolt.

Second person point of view examples

The use of second-person perspective in novels or stories is rare, but it does exist. Consider this example from fiction, «Earth and Ashes» by Atiq Rahimi and Erdag Goknar:

With your back to the autumn sun, you are squatting against the iron railings of the bridge that links the two banks of the dry riverbed north of Pul-i-Khumri.

Second person helps to deeply immerse new readers in many children’s books. The entirety of «How to Babysit a Grandpa» is written as a second-person book of instructions:

As soon as your grandpa says, “I give up,” jump out and shout, “Here I am!”

The second person point of view is perfectly natural for recipes and directions. Here is a way to make lemonade, written in the second person:

1. You need six lemons, six cups of cold water, and one cup of sugar.

2. You’ll need a large pitcher for mixing everything and a juicer.

3. Before you juice the lemons, you can make your work easier by rolling the lemons on the counter, hard.

4. Then you just juice them normally.

5. You combine the fresh lemon juice, water, and sugar in the pitcher.

6. Stir; you may want to adjust sweetness or water to taste.

With instructions and directions, second person can be an “understood” point of view:

“Turn to page 178 and solve problems 6 through 10.”

The understood but unwritten subject of that sentence is “You”, the pronoun is just left out.

Third person point of view

The third-person point of view belongs to the people or person the narrator is referring to. Third-person pronouns are she, he, her, him, hers, his, herself, himself, it, its, itself, they, their, theirs, them and themselves.

For the writer who must tell several interwoven stories, provide psychological distance between the subject and the reader, or who needs to stay neutral, nothing beats the third-person viewpoint.

All academic writing, most advertising, many novels, and most quotations or aphorisms are written in the third person.

Third person limited

The third-person limited point of view is when the narrator only has some access to the experiences and thoughts of the characters. Many times, the third person limited perspective limits the narrators access to the thoughts and experiences of just one character.

Third person omniscient

The third-person omniscient point of view is when the narrator has access to all the experiences and thoughts of all the characters in the story. An omniscient narrator knows the main character’s thoughts and those of every other character in the novel or short story.

Third person point of view examples

Here is a passage from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, showing the power of third person:

Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn’t have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself…

In fiction, third person allows a writer to put the reader into the heads of all the characters, explain important plot points, and present information in a seemingly neutral way.

Speaking In Third Person

Speaking in the third person is not typical, but people do it. It can be an excellent  comedic effect or to grab someone’s attention.

Here is an example of Larry speaking in the third person:

Fourth person point of view

The fourth person point of view is a term used for indefinite or generic referents. A common example in the English language is the word one as in “one would think that’s how it works.” This example sentence is referring to a generic someone.

You may also see the fourth person point of view called the third person generic.

Choosing a point of view

We all like to write in a natural way. As a writer, you have a duty to your reader to think carefully about your point of view. Many writers rewrite their work if the point of view seems awkward.

That paragraph went from first person to second person to third person, all in just three sentences!

The first-person point of view or a first-person narrator can fool a reader into trusting the narrator when the narrator is not a reliable reporter (great for mysteries, recounted tales, and fictional confessionals).

Many great novels such as «The Great Gatsby» are written from a first-person perspective. Another classic in first person POV is Herman Melville’s «Moby Dick.» It is clear who is narrating with the line «Call me Ishmael.»

The second person is suitable for simple, direct storytelling (for children, recipes, assembly instructions, and the like).

A third person narrator creates the most distance between events and the reader. It is almost always seen as a reliable, neutral viewpoint. With the third person, the author can select the point of view of a single character or be omniscient (all-knowing, all present) and move in and out of the minds of all the characters.