Point of View, Part I, video and worksheet.
In this video you're going to learn
about different points of view, including first person,
second person, and third person point of view.
While you listen to the video, use the worksheet
to take notes and practice.
So what is point of view?
Point of view is the perspective or eyes
a story is told from.
So for example, here is our narrator.
The narrator is the person who tells the story.
The area shown in blue is the narrator's point of view.
The point of view includes everything
that the narrator sees from the angle of her eyes.
Let's look at another point of view.
Here's a child who wants to play with the other children.
His point of view is shown in green.
He sees the same things as the girl,
but if he's the narrator, the story will be
a little different because his point of view
is a little different from hers.
Here's one more interesting point of view,
the point of view of a bird in the sky,
and again, even though the bird
is looking at the same things as the girl and boy narrators,
his point of view is totally different from theirs.
Now let's look at three narrators
that show us the different types of point of view.
There's narrator one, narrator two, and narrator three.
Narrator one says, I was sad.
I felt nervous.
I didn't want to tell my mom
that I broke the window in my room.
Look how his words are different
from the words of narrator two.
You were sad.
You felt nervous.
You didn't want to tell your mom
that you broke the window in your room.
And then let's look at how both of these narrators
differ from narrator three.
He was said.
He felt nervous.
He didn't want to tell his mom
that he broke the window in his room.
What are the major differences
in narrators one, two, and three?
One major difference is that narrator one
uses first person pronouns like I and my.
Narrator two uses second person pronouns, you and your.
And narrator three uses third person pronouns, he and his.
Narrator one uses the first person point of view.
That means narrator one is actually talking about himself,
not only other characters.
Narrator two uses what we call
the second person point of view.
Narrator two is talking directly to the reader
using the pronoun you.
Narrator number three is using
the third person point of view,
talking about other people in the story.
So the three main types of point of view
are first person point of view,
second person point of view, and third person point of view.
So let's put what we've learned into a table.
First person point of view uses pronouns I,
my, we, our, me, and us.
For example, I was sad; I felt nervous.
The narrator speaks about himself or herself.
This means that the narrator is usually
also the main character of the story.
In second person point of view,
the narrator uses pronouns you and your.
For example, you were sad; you felt nervous.
The narrator speaks directly to the reader.
Remember that second person point of view
is rarely used in stories.
And finally, third person point of view
uses third person pronouns like he, she, it,
they, his, her, and their.
In third person point of view,
the narrator watches the story but is not in the story.
So our narrator says he looked sad; he seemed nervous.
Notice he's talking about a boy he sees,
but he's not talking to the boy,
and he's not interacting with the boy.
That's because this narrator is not in the story.
He's just watching the story and telling us about it.
Third person point of view narrators
speak about other characters but not himself or herself.
Most stories use this point of view.
Also note that there are different types
of third person point of view.
In this video, I won't teach about the different types.
To learn about those, watch Point of View Video Part II.
Now let's practice what we've learned
about first, second, and third person point of view.
Practice number one, these words are taken
from Hoot, chapter one, by Carl Hiaasen:
"Being the new kid, Roy always sat alone,
"at the end of the table, whenever he was in the cafeteria.
"Roy was an old pro at being the new kid.
"Trace Middle was the sixth school
"he had attended since he started going to school.
"Coconut Cove was the tenth town
"his family had lived in since Roy could remember."
Question one, the point of view is, A, first person,
B, second person, or C, third person.
Question two, how do you know?
For question one, just circle the correct answer.
For question two, you can refer back to the chart
that we completed right before these questions.
Record your answers, and pause the video while you work.
We'll check all the answers in just a moment.
Practice number two; these words are taken from
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler,
chapter one, by Italo Calvino.
"Well, what are you waiting for?
"Stretch your legs, go ahead and put your feet
"on a cushion, on two cushions, on the arms
"of a sofa, on the wings of a chair.
"Take your shoes off first.
"If you want to, put your feet up; if not, put them back."
Question one, the point of view is, A, first person,
B, second person, or C, third person.
Question two, how do you know?
Pause the video while you answer the questions,
and we'll check them in a moment.
Practice number three.
These words are taken from the story
The Girl with No Past, chapter four, by Kathryn Croft.
"I wanted to tell her that I was happy with how I lived.
"My actions didn't affect or hurt anyone around me,
"and I was free in a way she could never understand.
"But I was beginning to doubt this myself.
"When our time was up, I shook Dr. Redfield's hand,
"promising to keep my appointment next month."
Question one, the point of view is A, first person,
B, second person, or C, third person.
Question two, how do you know that?
Pause the video while you work,
and we'll check the answers in a moment.
Practice number four.
These words are taken from the story
Guardians of Ga'Hoole, chapter 11, by Kathryn Lasky.
"The two little owls looked at each other
"and moved their beaks, turning the sound
"of their numbers into something
"that might pass for a name, any name but their own.
"And now, tonight, they would try the second part
"of their strategy for the first time."
Question one, the point of view is A, first person,
B, second person, or C, third person.
Question two, how do you know that?
Pause the video while you work,
and we'll check the answers in a moment.
Now let's check our answers.
Practice number one, question one.
The point of view is third person.
How do we know that?
Because the narrator uses third person pronouns he and his.
They're underlined here.
Also, the narrator watches the story
but is not in the story.
We know he's watching the story
because he's talking about the new kid Roy.
The narrator says, "Being the new kid,
"Roy always sat alone, at the end of the table,
"whenever he was in the cafeteria."
But we know the narrator isn't in the story
because he isn't talking to Roy,
he isn't in the cafeteria with Roy.
He's just telling the reader about Roy.
Finally, the narrator tells about other characters
but not himself, so he's observing Roy
and he's telling about Roy, but he's telling us
nothing about himself.
When a narrator does that,
the point of view is third person.
Practice number two, question one.
The point of view is second person.
Question two, how do you know that?
First, the narrator uses
second person pronouns you and your.
Here they are.
And secondly, the narrator speaks directly
to the reader using these pronouns.
So in the first sentence where the narrator says,
"Well, what are you waiting for?
"Stretch your legs, go ahead put your feet
"on a cushion, on two cushions."
In these sentences, see how the narrator
uses the words you and your?
That's because the narrator is speaking
directly to the person reading the story.
That means the narrator is speaking to you and me.
When the narrator speaks directly to the reader,
we know that the narrator is using
second person point of view.
Practice number three, question one.
The point of view is first person.
Question two, how do you know that?
We know because the narrator uses first person pronouns,
like I and my.
Here they are.
Let's re-read her words.
"I wanted to tell her that I was happy with how I lived.
"My actions didn't affect or hurt anyone around me."
The narrator uses those pronouns
because the narrator's speaking about herself.
This tells us that the narrator is the main character
in the story.
When the narrator talks about him or her self
using the pronouns I, my, and other first person pronouns,
and the narrator's the main character,
that means that the narrator is using
first person point of view.
Practice number four, question one.
The point of view is third person.
Question two, how do you know that?
We know that because the narrator
uses third person pronouns they and their.
The narrator uses these pronouns to tell
about the characters, the owls.
The narrator says, "The two little owls
"looked at each other and moved their beaks,
"turning the sound of their numbers
"into something that might pass for a name."
Here, the narrator is watching the owls
and telling the reader what the owls are doing.
But the narrator isn't talking to the owls
or interacting with the owls.
The narrator isn't in the action of the story.
He's just telling us the action of the story.
Finally, the narrator tells about other characters
but not about himself.
When the narrator is watching the story
and not in it, and talking about other characters
but not himself using third person pronouns,
that means that the narrator uses
third person point of view.
The end.
Our lesson on point of view is complete.
I hope this video helped you understand
what point of view is and how to identify
each point of view.
Watch Point of View Par II to learn the different types
of third person point of view.