Narrator's Point of View
Compare and contrast the point of view from which different stories are narrated, including distinguishing between first-person and third-person narration and explaining how the narrator's perspective shapes the reader's understanding
What a learner can do afterwards
- Identify whether a story is told in first person (I/we) or third person (he/she/they) and explain how this affects what the reader knows about characters' thoughts and feelings
- Compare two versions of a story or event told from different points of view and explain how each narrator's perspective changes what is emphasised, omitted, or revealed
- Explain why an author might choose first person for a character's personal voice or third person to follow one or several characters, and explain that either form can limit what readers learn
1 · Read
The narrator is the voice telling a story, not always its author. First person uses "I" or "we" for the teller. Third person uses names or "he", "she" and "they" for characters. Second person tells a story using "you". Check who the narrator is as well as the words.
In first person, a character tells their own experience: "I opened the door. My hands were shaking." The narrator can share private feelings in their own voice. An author might choose this form for a diary-style adventure or personal account. The narrator can still name and describe other people.
Third person can follow one character closely or move between several. It does not automatically reveal every mind or give a fair view. "Maya opened the door. She felt nervous" is third person and shares a feeling. To retell "I opened the door" in third person, use a name: "Maya opened the door." An author may choose this form to follow several people.
In an ordinary story without mind-reading, a first-person teller knows their own thoughts. They can report what they see, hear or are told, including things learnt later. They can guess from actions: "She must be tired; she keeps yawning." A guess is not direct knowledge of a private thought. Third person may share one person's thoughts, several people's, or none.
Compare two tellings by checking what each includes and leaves out. Ana writes, "I watched the kite land." Bo writes, "I ran indoors when thunder began." Their accounts select different details of one afternoon. A missing detail does not mean a fact changed. A retelling can keep an event and add a thought. Either first person or third person focused on one character can hold back a surprise.
In these extracts, quotation marks show a character speaking. Check the surrounding narration to identify the teller. Read: "My boot is stuck," said Tomas. Then he pulled until the mud let go. Tomas says "my" aloud, but the narrator uses "Tomas" and "he". That is third person. A spoken "I" does not make the surrounding narration first person.
Check the teller's role and words. Compare what each account reveals, whose thoughts it shares and how the teller knows.
The reading "Where did the teller learn that?" was written for this dataset. The linked video "First person vs. Second person vs. Third person - Rebekah Bergman" is credited to Rebekah Bergman and TED-Ed.
More to read
Where did the teller learn that?
Anika writes, "I stopped at the puddle. I worried about my shoes. Joel walked ahead without looking back." She tells her own experience in first person. The account shares her worry and Joel's action, but leaves his thoughts unstated.
Another version says, "Anika stopped, worried about her shoes. Joel walked ahead, hoping to reach the bus stop before the rain began." This third-person version shares both characters' thoughts. The author could instead keep Joel's hope hidden and stay close to Anika.
First person does not prevent a teller from learning about someone else. Later, Anika might write, "Joel told me he was afraid of missing the bus." His words supply a source for that information.
She might instead write, "He must have been worried; he kept checking his watch." That is a conclusion from an action. It could be mistaken, so it differs from reporting what Joel told her.
When comparing accounts, identify the teller and check the details each version supplies. Separate the narrator's words from a character's spoken words. Ask what readers learn, what stays hidden and how the teller knows.
Explore more
2 · Watch
Take it off screen
Where it sits
This opens up
Where this leads
23 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.