Point of View Shapes the Story
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Objective
I can analyze how a narrator's perspective shapes the portrayal of events in a text.
Part 1 of 4
Warm-up video
TED-Ed · 5:20Vetted channel
We don't generate video — this one is by TED-Ed on YouTube. The practice questions and exit ticket below were drafted by AI for this objective, and every question is editable in the teacher guide.
Part 2 of 4
Key concepts
3 concepts
- 1
In a story told from third person point of view, the narrator is outside of the story, while in a story told from first person point of view, the narrator is a character in the story, as seen in the Rapunzel examples.
- 2
A first person narrator creates closeness between the reader and the narrator, but the narrator can be unreliable, as seen in Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel, "The Remains of the Day".
- 3
Second person point of view requires the writer to make the reader suspend disbelief to become another “you,” and can be used to create urgency or distance, as in Italo Calvino's "If on a winter’s night a traveler".
Part 3 of 4
Practice
10 questions
What is the primary difference between a first-person and a third-person narrator?
In the context of narration, what does 'limited' mean when describing a third-person narrator?
Part 4 of 4
Exit ticket
Quick comprehension check
“Consider a scene where a character is lost in a forest. First, describe how the events might be portrayed from a third-person omniscient point of view. Then, explain how the portrayal would change if told from the first-person perspective of the lost character. Finally, how would the story change if it were told from the perspective of an animal in the forest observing the lost character?”
Sample answer included in the free materials
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