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Last updated on Nov 14, 2022

Point of View: The Ultimate Guide to Writing Perspectives

Point of view (POV) is the narrative perspective from which a story is told. It’s the angle from which readers experience the plot, observe the characters’ behavior, and learn about their world. In fiction, there are four types of point of view: first person, second person, third person limited, and third person omniscient. 

This guide will look at each point of view, and provide examples to help you understand them better. Let’s dive in.

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First person

First person narratives are quite common and relatively intuitive to write: it’s how we tell stories in everyday life. Sentences written in first person will use the pronouns I , we , my , and our . For example:

I told my mother that we lost our passports.

First person can create intimacy between the reader and the characters, granting us direct access to their emotions, psyches and inner thoughts. In stories where the protagonist’s internal life is at the fore, you will often find a first-person narrator.

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Having a single fixed narrator can limit the scope of a story 一 the reader can only know what the narrator knows. It’s also said that a first person narrator is biased, since they provide a subjective view of the world around them, rather than an objective one. Of course, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and intentionally unreliable narrators are fascinating literary creatures in their own right. 

Genres that commonly use a first person POV

Young Adult . Introspective coming-of-age narratives often benefit from a first-person narrative that captures the protagonist’s voice and (often mortifying) internal anxieties. Some examples are novels like The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins , The Fault in Our Stars by John Green , and The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.

Science Fiction . In sci-fi novels, a first person perspective can nicely convey the tension and awe associated with exploring unfamiliar environments and technologies. Some examples of this approach include Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, and Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.

A close up shot of actor Ryan Gosling in a space suite

Memoir . The first person is perfect for memoirs, which allow readers to relive life events with the author. Some pageturners in this genre are Open by Andre Agassi, Educated by Tara Westover, and Becoming by Michelle Obama. 

As you might expect, after first person comes…

Second person

Second person narratives are far less common in literature — but not entirely unheard of. The pronouns associated with second person include you , your , and yours , as in:

You instruct the chief of police to bring the prisoner to your office.

Second person POV is all about putting the reader directly in the headspace of a particular character: either the protagonist or a secondary figure. When mishandled, this POV can alienate readers — but when executed well, it can create an intimate reading experience like no other.

Since this POV requires quite a lot of focus for most readers, it’s often suited to shorter, lyrical pieces of writing, like poetry. It can also be used alongside other points of view to provide variety in a longer novel, or to indicate a change of character (see: The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin).

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Genres that commonly use a second person POV

Creative Fiction . Short stories, poetry, and screenplays can benefit from the immediacy and intimacy of the second person. Two examples are The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, or Pants are Optional by Aeris Walker 一 a brilliant piece from Reedsy’s Short Story competition. 

Nonfiction . In self-help in particular, the second person can be used to ‘enter the reader's mind’, establish rapport, and guide them through a transformation process. For example, in Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now many teachings are conveyed through a series of questions and answers written in second person.

Now that you have seen how second person narratives work, let’s meet some third person limited narrators and see how they handle things.

Third person limited

Everyone has read a third person limited narrative, as literature is full of them. This POV uses third-person pronouns such as he , his , she , hers , they , their , to relate the story:

She told him that their assessment of the situation was incorrect. 

Third person limited is where the narrator can only reveal the thoughts, feelings, and understanding of a single character at any given time — hence, the reader is “limited” to that perspective. Between chapters, many books wrote in this POV switch from character to character, but you will only hear one perspective at a time. For instance:

“ She couldn't tell if the witness was lying.”

A group of actors standing in a train, still from the movie Murder on The Orient Express

The limited third person POV portrays characters from a bit of distance, and asks the readers to engage and choose who they’re rooting for 一 but this POV poses a challenge for authors when trying to create truly compelling characters . A limited perspective definitely adds intrigue, but writers should bear in mind that being able to tell only one side of the story at a time can limit their ability to reveal important details.

Genres that commonly use a third person limited POV

Romance . A love story always has two sides, and the third person point of view is ideal for authors who wish to convey both. Examples in this genre include Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell, and The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer.

Thriller . In suspense-driven plots the limited third person POV works well, since it’s fun to try and solve a mystery (or mysterious characters) alongside the protagonists. Two examples are Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie, or Nine Perfect Strangers by Moriarty Liane. 

A solid story structure will help you maintain a coherent point of view. Build it with our free book development template.

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If you’re done with the intimacy of “close” viewpoints, perhaps we can interest you in one final POV — a God’s-eye view of storytelling.

Third person Omniscient

The third person omniscient is as popular as the limited one, and uses the same pronouns. The difference, however, is that the narrator is “all knowing” — meaning that they’re not limited to one character’s perspective, but instead can reveal anything that is happening, has happened, or will happen in the world of the story. For example:

He thought the witness was honest, but she didn't think the same of him .

It’s a popular point of view because it allows a writer to pan out beyond the perspective of a single character, so that new information (beyond the protagonist’s comprehension) can be introduced. At the same time, it heavily relies on the voice and authority of the narrator, and  can therefore take some focus away from the character.  

Genres that commonly use a third person omniscient POV

Fantasy fiction . In elaborate fantasy worlds, being unencumbered from a character’s personal narrative means that the narrator can provide commentary on the world, or move between characters and locations with the flick of a pen. You’ll see this approach in action in Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett, Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, and The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis.

Literary fiction . An all-encompassing perspective can allow authors to explore different character quirks, but also interpersonal dynamics between characters. Leo Tolstoy does this masterfully in his great classics Anna Karenina and War and Peace .

Now that we have established the basics of the major points of view, let’s dig a little deeper. If you’re ready for a closer look at POV, head over to the next post in this guide to learn more about first person perspective.

5 responses

Aysha says:

19/04/2020 – 19:56

The Book Thief would be considered First Person POV, similar to Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, right? Thank you for the wonderful information. It gave a lot of insight into choosing which POV would be most suitable for a particular story. Pretty clear-cut.

Sasha Anderson says:

31/05/2020 – 10:41

I sometimes have difficulty telling the difference between third person limited and omniscient. For example, in the quote from I am Legend, the sentence "If he had been more analytical, he might have calculated the approximate time of their arrival" sounds very omniscient to me, because Robert wasn't, and didn't. Is there an easy way to tell that this is limited rather than omniscient, or does it not really matter as long as it reads well?

Lilian says:

18/06/2020 – 05:15

This was a very helpful piece and I hope it's okay to share the link for reference.

↪️ Martin Cavannagh replied:

18/06/2020 – 08:51

Of course! Share away :)

18/06/2020 – 05:44

It deal with the challenges associated with POV in writing. I like that it clearly distinguishes between third person limited POV and third person omniscient POV as most beginner writers are guilty of abrupt and inconsistent interchange in the two leading to head hopping. Greattach piece, I muse confess.

Comments are currently closed.

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essay about perspective point of view

Point of View

essay about perspective point of view

Point of View Definition

What is point of view? Here’s a quick and simple definition:

Point of view refers to the perspective that the narrator holds in relation to the events of the story. The three primary points of view are  first person , in which the narrator tells a story from their own perspective ("I went to the store");  second person , in which the narrator tells a story about you, the reader or viewer ("You went to the store"); and third person , in which the narrator tells a story about other people ("He went to the store"). Each point of view creates a different experience for the reader, because, in each point of view, different types and amounts of information are available to the reader about the story's events and characters.

Some additional key details about point of view:

  • Each different point of view has its own specific qualities that influence the narrative. It's up to the author to choose which point of view is best for narrating the story he or she is writing.
  • Second person point of view is extremely rare in literature. The vast majority of stories are written in either the first or third person. 
  • You may hear "point of view" referred to simply as "perspective." This isn't wrong, it's just another way of referring to the same thing.

The Three "Modes" of Point of View

Stories can be told from one of three main points of view: first person, second person, or third person. Each of the different modes offers an author particular options and benefits, and the point of view that an author chooses will have a tremendous impact on the way that a reader engages with a story.  

First Person Point of View

In first person point of view, the narrator tells the story from his or her own perspective. You can easily recognize first person by its use of the pronouns "I" or "We." First person offers the author a great way to give the reader direct access to a particular character's thoughts, emotions, voice, and way of seeing the world—their  point of view  about the main events of the story. The choice of which  character gets to have first person point of view can dramatically change a story, as shown in this simple scenario of a thief snatching a lady's purse

  • Thief's POV: "I was desperate for something to eat. Judging by her expensive-looking shoes, I figured she could afford to part with her purse."
  • Victim's POV: "He came out of nowhere! Too bad for him, though: I only had five dollars in my bag."

Consider also one of the most famous examples of first person point of view, the very first line of Herman Melville's  Moby-Dick :

Call me Ishmael.

Melville uses first person here because he wants to establish a confessional tone for the protagonist. He wants the reader to feel like Ishmael has just sat down next to him on a bar stool, and is about to tell him his life's story. Only first person can have this colloquial and intimate effect. Saying, "His name was Ishmael," for instance, would insert more distance between the reader and the character Ishmael, because the third person narrator would sit between  the reader and Ishmael. First person, in this way, can have the effect of connecting the reader directly with the story.

First Person Point of View and the Protagonist

In a story told in the first person, the character who acts as narrator will often also be the protagonist of the story. However, some stories told from the first person do  not  make the narrator the protagonist:

  • First person in which the narrator is the protagonist: In The Catcher in the Rye , the first person narrator Holden Caulfield is the clear protagonist of the story. His voice dominates the story, and the story he tells is his own.
  • First person in which the narrator is  not  the protagonist:  The novel The Great Gatsby is narrated by Nick Carraway, but the protagonist of the novel is Jay Gatsby. Nick Carraway tells the story, and the reader is limited to understanding the story through what Nick himself sees, knows, and thinks, but nevertheless the story that Nick tells is not his own but rather Gatsby's.

Second Person Point of View

Second person point of view uses the pronoun "you" to immerse the reader in the experience of being the protagonist. It's important to remember that second person point of view is different from simply addressing the reader. Rather, the second person point of view places the reader "on the playing field" by putting them in the position of the protagonist—the one to whom the action occurs. Few stories are appropriate for such a perspective, but occasionally it is quite successful, as in Jay McInerney's  Bright Lights, Big City , a novel in which the reader is taken on a wild night through Manhattan.

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 really are, and you wonder if it is possible to change in this life. Being with a philosopher makes you think.

Of the three points of view, second person is the most rarely used, primarily because it doesn't allow the narrator as much freedom as first person and third person, so it's hard to sustain this style of narration for very long.

Third Person Point of View

In third person point of view, the narrator is someone (or some entity) who is  not  a character in the story being told. Third person point of view uses the pronouns "he," "she," and "they," to refer to all the characters. It is the most common point of view in writing, as it gives the writer a considerable amount of freedom to focus on different people, events, and places without being limited within the consciousness of a single character. Below is an example of dialogue written in third person by Joseph Heller in his novel  Catch-22 :

"What are you doing?" Yossarian asked guardedly when he entered the tent, although he saw at once. "There's a leak here," Orr said. "I'm trying to fix it." "Please stop it," said Yossarian. "You're making me nervous."

The exchange above is narrated by a narrator who is outside the interaction between Yossarian and Orr; such distance is the hallmark of third person point of view.

Third Person and Degree of Distance

The third person mode is unique from first and second person in another way as well: third person has different variants. These variants depend on how far removed the narrator is from the events of the story, and how much the narrator knows about each character:

  • Third Person Omniscient Point of View: "Third person omniscient" means that the narrator knows all the thoughts and feelings of every character and can dip in and out of the the internal life of anyone, as needed. Omniscient just means "all-knowing." This type of narrator is more god-like than human, in the sense that their perspective is un limited.
  • A story like Young Goodman Brown , which follows one character closely and reports on that character's thoughts and feelings (but not the thoughts and feelings of others), is an example of third person limited point of view. This type of story gives the reader the feeling that they are inside one person's head  without  using first person pronouns like "I."

Alternating Point of View

Many stories are told from alternating points of view—switching between different characters, or even between different modes of storytelling.

  • Stories can switch between third person points of view: Many novels switch between different third person points of view. For instance, the chapters of George R.R. Martin's The Song of Ice and Fire books are all named after characters, and each chapter is told from the limited third person point of view of the named character. 
  • Stories can switch between first person points of view: William Faulkner's novel As I Lay Dying is structurally similar to the Song of Ice and Fire books in the sense that each chapter is named after a character. However, each chapter is told in the first person by the named character. The Darl chapters are told in the first person by Darl, the Cash chapter are narrated by Cash, the Vardamon chapters by Vardamon, and so on. 
  • Stories can even switch between modes of storytelling:  Though less common than other sorts of alternating points of view, some stories can shift not only between different character's points of view, but between actual modes of storytelling. For example, Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury has four parts. The first three parts are all narrated in the first person, with the first part narrated by Benjy, the second part by Quentin, and the third part by Jason. But the fourth part is told in the third person omniscient and follows a bunch of different characters at different times.

Point of View Examples

Every work of literature has a point of view, and so there are essentially endless examples of point of view in literature. The examples below were chosen because they are good examples of the different modes, and in the case of The Metamorphosis the the subtle shift in the nature of the narrator's point of view also shows how an author can play with point of view to suit the themes and ideas of a story.  

Third Person Point of View in Kafka's  Metamorphosis

A great example of third person point of view in literature is the first line from Kafka's  The Metamorphosis . 

As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.

For the remainder of the book, Kafka follows the protagonist, Gregor Samsa, in a limited third person point of view as he struggles to come to terms with his sudden transformation into an insect. For as long as Gregor remains alive, the third person narrator remains limited by Gregor's own consciousness—the story is told in the third person, but the narrator never knows or sees any more than Gregor himself does. 

However, in the few pages of the story that continue after Gregor dies, the narrator shifts into a third person omniscient point of view , almost as if Gregor's death has freed the narrator in a way not so dissimilar to how his death tragically relieves a burden on his family. 

Point of View in Tolstoy's  Anna Karenina

Leo Tolstoy's  Anna Karenina   is a great example of the omniscient third person point of view. In the novel, the narrator sees and knows all, and moves around between the lives of the different characters, dipping into their internal lives and thoughts, and commenting on the narrative as a whole. In Part 5, Chapter 6, the internal lives of two characters are commented on at once, in the moment of their marriage to one another:

Often and much as they had both heard about the belief that whoever is first to step on the rug will be the head in the family, neither Levin nor Kitty could recall it as they made those few steps. Nor did they hear the loud remarks and disputes that, in the observation of some, he had been the first, or, in the opinion of others, they had stepped on it together.

Point of View in Thoreau's  Walden

Henry David Thoreau's transcendental meditations on isolation were based on his actual lived experience. It makes sense, then, that  Walden  (his account of time spent alone in the woods) is written in the first person point of view :

When I wrote the following pages, or rather the bulk of them, I lived alone, in the woods, a mile away from any neighbor, in a house which I had built myself, on the shore of Walden Pond, in Concord, Massachusetts, and earned my living by the labor of my hands only. I lived there two years and two months. At present I am a sojourner in civilized life again.

What's the Function of Point of View in Literature?

Point of view is the means by which an author relays either one or a multiplicity of perspectives about the events of their story. It is the lens crafted by the writer that allows the reader to see a story or argument unfold. Depending on how much information the writer wants to give the reader, this lens will be constructed differently—or in other words, a different mode of point of view will be chosen:

  • If the writer wants the reader to have full access to a particular character's internal life, then they might choose either first person or a closely limited third person point of view.
  • If the writer wants the reader to know select bits and pieces about every character, they might choose an omniscient third person point of view.
  • If the writer wants the reader to know about the rich internal lives of multiple characters, they might choose an alternating first person point of view.
  • Lastly, if the writer wants the reader to feel like they themselves are in the center of the action, they might choose a second person point of view.

Other Helpful Point of View Resources

  • The Wikipedia Page on Point of View:  An overview of narration with a focus on literary point of view.
  • The Dictionary Definition of Point of View:   A very basic definition of the term point of view.
  • Examples of Second Person:  A page with some examples of writing in the less common second person point of view.

The printed PDF version of the LitCharts literary term guide on Point of View

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How To Write a Critical Perspective Essay

When you are faced with an essay title that incorporates the phrase “deliver a critical perspective on…”, the temptation can be to think that this means finds fault with a concept. However, in academic terms, taking a critical perspective means being able to demonstrate knowledge of different attitudes, interpretations, and viewpoints on the subject, and from this, being able to deliver a considered and informed opinion. In effect, a critical perspective essay requires to you to be able to show that there may be multiple ways to approach the main subject under discussion, but also to pick out, through analysis, which is the most viable perspective.

Sounds easy enough doesn’t it? If you follow our guide to producing the perfect critical perspective essay than yet it really is easy. An easy way to understand critical examination and thus arrive at a critical perspective is to remember that critical examination or evaluation picks out what is relevant or noteworthy to ensure understanding of how a thing (framework, hypothesis, phenomenon) works.

The aim of a persuasive essay is to convince your reader that your opinions and perspectives are correct. This can be done with a combination of emotive language and hard evidence to back up your viewpoint. You have to make the reader believe in the value of your opinion or standpoint, and sometimes to make the reader act. Fortunately, there are a number of techniques and approaches that can be used to ensure your persuasive essay presents a coherent, logical argument that cannot be denied by the reader.

In terms of structure, persuasive essays are relatively simple. Your arguments or opinions need to be clearly stated, reinforced, and backed with facts and evidence. Your summation, or conclusion should ensure that the reader is very clear about where you stand on the issue, so you need to be consistent throughout.

Planning your critical perspective essay

Stage one is identifying what it is you are being asked to critically evaluate and then take a perspective on. Typical essay titles include, “Discuss critical perspectives on the role censorship in modern music”, “Critically evaluate the main perspectives on the impact of social media on body image and state your own views on the subject”. In both cases, you are being asked to look at both sides of the argument and identify your own views.

Stage two requires identifying the key sources that will form the framework and rationale for your perspective. Whilst a critical perspective essay is essentially your own viewpoint, it is important to demonstrate how you have arrived at that view, based on research, evaluation of the evidence and an objective assessment of the facts.

Stage three draws up an outline of the arguments /points you wish to make in your essay and put them in a logical order. Chronologically works well but so does giving greater importance to key themes and then moving into sub-themes.

Writing your Critical Perspective Essay

Introduction.

Your introduction should be clear and unambiguous in stating the topic under question. Frequently a good essay will use either a clear statement (declarative) or a question which reflects the essay title. This tells the reader what you are discussing. The second part of the introduction should draw in your reader and motivate them to read more, as well as a clear statement of your own perspectives and how you intend to prove that they are correct (a thesis statement). Your introduction should conclude with a brief background to the topic and current views in the area. What this achieves is placing your work and perspective into a clear context for your reader.

The body text of your essay should have a focus of one paragraph per point / argument or topic so that the flow of information and argument is consistent. This is where an effective plan can help you clearly structure your essay. For each paragraph, you should introduce the main point/theme you are discussing before moving on to an explanation of your perspectives and why they are accurate in terms of the context of the work.

The explanation should then be followed by presentation of evidence that backs up your point of view. Here you can use quotes, statistics and other illustrative evidence but always ensure that your sources are credible and from trustworthy sources, as well as being correctly cited in the text and listed at the end of the work. An important element of every paragraph, and one most frequently missed by students is the linking of paragraphs, both to the opening statement and to the next point. Without linking the paragraphs an essay lacks cohesion and logical flow.

There are some key tips for critical perspective essay writing that help to reinforce the view you are trying to put across. These include repetition, which means making similar points in a range of ways, with different evidence. Repetition of points is not appropriate, but re-stating or reaffirming a perspective is crucial to ensuring that the reader comes to the same opinion as you.

A further valid approach is to indicate understanding of opposing perspectives. These should be stated, again with appropriate evidence from reliable sources. However, you should also add in reasons, backed by evidence as to why these perspectives are incorrect, which again reaffirms your own critical perspective.

The conclusion of your critical perspective essay should deliver a summation of all the points, bringing them together and reaffirming your original statement of opinion. A strong conclusion can ensure that your readers will be swayed by your arguments and thus take the same perspective on the issue that you have evidenced as being accurate.

Some Key phrases for a critical perspective essay

To ensure your essay is clearly persuasive, include some of the following words and phrases:

  • I am certain that…
  • It clearly follows that…
  • Regardless…
  • Although it may seem…
  • Considering…. this clearly indicates that …….
  • I believe that…
  • By the same token…
  • Furthermore…

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Point of View: What Is It? (With 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th POV Examples)

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Hannah Yang

point of view

One of the most powerful tools in a writer’s toolkit is point of view.

So, what is point of view in literature, and why is it important?

The short answer is that point of view, also called POV, refers to the angle from which a story is told. It includes the specific character who’s telling the story, as well as the way the author filters the story through that character to the reader.

This article will discuss the different points of view you can use in writing, including their strengths, weaknesses, and examples from literature.

What Is Point of View in Writing and Literature?

The importance of point of view, summary of the different points of view, first person point of view, second person point of view, third person point of view, fourth person point of view, what about alternating point of view, conclusion on point of view.

Point of view refers to the perspective through which a story is told.

To understand point of view, try this quick exercise. Imagine you’re telling a story about a well-traveled stranger who enters a small, rural town.

What are all the different perspectives you could tell this story from?

You might tell it from the perspective of the stranger who has never seen this town before and views all of its buildings and streets through fresh eyes.

You might tell it from the collective perspective of the townspeople, who are curious about who this stranger is and why he’s come to this part of the world.

You might even tell it from the perspective of an all-seeing entity, who can see into the minds of both the stranger and the townspeople, all at the same time.

Each of these options centers a different point of view—a different angle for the reader to approach the same story.

Point of view is one of the most important aspects of your story that you must decide before putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard). It can have an enormous impact on the tone, style, and even plot of the story.

Each point of view has its own strengths and limitations. In order to choose the right POV, you have to know what you want your story to accomplish.

For example, if you choose first person POV, you’ll be able to immerse the reader in a single character’s voice, humor, and worldview. On the other hand, you also have to show the world with that character’s biases and flawed observations.

The right POV can also completely change the way the story feels. POV is a matter of choice, but one that affects every part of your story or novel.

F. Scott Fitzgerald had to rewrite The Great Gatsby because he initially wrote it in Gatsby’s voice. He decided it would be much more powerful coming from Nick’s more naïve point of view. Imagine that masterpiece with a different point of view—it wouldn’t have the same objective, reliable feeling that it has now.

There are four main points of view that we’ll be discussing in this article: first person, second person, third person (with two subtypes: limited and omniscient), and fourth person.

  • First person (“ I pet the cat because I think it looks cute.”)
  • Second person (“ You pet the cat because you think it looks cute.”)
  • Third person limited (“ She pets the cat because she thinks it looks cute.”) and third person omniscient (“ She pets the cat because she thinks it looks cute. Little does she know, this cat is actually an alien in disguise.”)
  • Fourth person (“ We pet the cat because we think it looks cute.”)

The four point of views

Read on to learn the strengths and weaknesses of each of these points of view.

With first person point of view, everything is told intimately from the viewpoint of a character, usually your protagonist. The author uses the first person pronouns I and me to show readers what this character sees and thinks.

First person is the best way to show the story from one person’s point of view because you have an individual person telling you her story directly in her own words. It’s also the easiest way to tell a story that uses a distinct, quirky voice.

The limitations of first person point of view, however, restrict you to only describing what this character sees, thinks, and feels, and sometimes that narrator can be unreliable.

first person strengths and weaknesses

First Person POV Examples

One great example of first person POV is The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. The narrator is a flawed character, but we see the world entirely through her eyes, complete with her own faults and sorrows. Here’s a short excerpt:

“I began to think vodka was my drink at last. It didn’t taste like anything, but it went straight down into my stomach like a sword swallowers’ sword and made me feel powerful and godlike.”

Compare that with the intimacy you get when reading Scout’s view of things in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird . She speaks with a childlike innocence, giving the reader that same feeling, even if we understand the racism of her town better than she does herself.

“We lived on the main residential street in town—Atticus, Jem and I, plus Calpurnia our cook. Jem and I found our father satisfactory: he played with us, read to us, and treated us with courteous detachment.”

Second person point of view, which uses the pronoun you , is one of the least used POVs in literature because it places the reader in the hot seat and is hard to manage for a full-length novel. It’s used in experimental literature to try out new styles of writing.

In the wrong hands, it just feels gimmicky. But when done well, second person point of view can accomplish a range of wonderful effects.

Second Person POV Examples

“Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang is a fantastic example of second person POV. It takes the form of a story a mother tells her daughter to explain the circumstances of the daughter’s life. Because the mother is speaking directly to the daughter, the story is imbued with an extra sense of intimacy.

“Right now your dad and I have been married for about two years, living on Ellis Avenue; when we move out you’ll still be too young to remember the house, but we’ll show you pictures of it, tell you stories about it.”

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin is a Hugo-winning fantasy novel that uses many different POVs, including second person. The second person point of view serves to provide a feeling of disorientation, like the protagonist needs to talk to herself to remind herself what’s going on. Here’s a short excerpt from the very beginning of the story:

“You are she. She is you. You are Essun. Remember? The woman whose son is dead.”

Third person point of view uses pronouns like he , she , and it . This POV allows the reader to follow a character, or multiple characters, from a more distanced perspective than first or second person.

Third Person Limited vs Third Person Omniscient

There are two subtypes of third person point of view: limited and omniscient.

In third person limited, the story follows only one character’s viewpoint throughout the entire piece. This means your reader sees only what the third person narrator sees and learns things at the same time the third person narrator does.

You can show what your main character thinks, feels, and sees, which helps close the emotional distance between your reader and the main character.

This is an excellent POV to use when your story focuses on a single character. In many ways, third person limited is quite similar to first person, even though it involves different pronouns.

The drawback with third person limited POV is that you can only follow one character. Showing other characters’ thoughts and feelings is a no-no.

The other type of third person POV is third person omniscient. In this POV, the story is told from the perspective of an omniscient narrator, who can see inside the heads of all the characters in the story.

This is a great POV to use when you have multiple characters, each with their own plot line to follow, and you want your reader to see everything as it unfolds. It’s also useful for imparting universal messages and philosophies, since the narrator can draw conclusions that no character would be able to on its own.

The downside to third person omniscient is that it can be emotionally distant from the story. Because you’re constantly jumping around to different characters and their story arcs, it’s harder for your reader to get as emotionally involved with your characters.

3rd person omniscient vs limited

Third Person POV Examples

Examples of the third person limited POV are the Harry Potter novels. The reader sees everything that’s going on, but is limited to Harry’s point of view. We’re surprised when Harry is surprised, and we find out the resolution at the ending when Harry does. Here’s a short excerpt from the seventh book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:

“Harry sat up and examined the jagged piece on which he had cut himself, seeing nothing but his own bright green eye reflected back at him.”

An excellent example of third person omniscient POV is Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables . The reader sees everything that is happening in the story and gets a vivid lesson in politics and society in France’s history.

“He was cunning, rapacious, indolent and shrewd, and by no means indifferent to maidservants, which was why his wife no longer kept any.”

Fourth person is a newer POV that only recently started to be recognized as a distinct POV. It involves a collective perspective, using the plural pronouns we and us .

This POV allows you to tell a story from the perspective of a group, rather than an individual. Since there’s no singular narrative, this option is great for critiquing larger institutions and social norms. Fourth person is even rarer than second person, but when it’s done well, it can be very powerful.

Fourth Person POV Examples

“A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner is told from the perspective of an entire town.

“We did not say she was crazy then. We believed she had to do that. We remembered all the young men her father had driven away, and we knew that with nothing left, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her, as people will.”

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides is told from the perspective of a group of teenage boys.

“They were short, round-buttocked in denim, with roundish cheeks that recalled that same dorsal softness. Whenever we got a glimpse, their faces looked indecently revealed, as though we were used to seeing women in veils.”

You might choose to write a novel or story with multiple different points of view.

Some books have two main characters and switch back and forth between their perspectives—this is very common in the romance genre, for instance. Others rotate between three or more characters.

how to alternate point of views

Alternating POV is a great option if your story features multiple main characters, all of whom play an equally important role in the story. The biggest drawback is that you risk confusing your reader when you switch back and forth.

Make sure your reader knows when you’re switching POVs. One common solution is to include a chapter break each time the perspective changes. Some books change the font for each POV, or even the color of the typeface.

It’s also important to make sure each character has a distinct voice. For example, maybe one character writes with short, brusque sentences, while another writes with long, flowery sentences. Keeping the different POVs distinct is crucial for success.

There you have it—a complete guide to point of view and how to choose the right POV for your story.

Before you start experimenting with point of view, get comfortable with the basics first. Read works by authors who use these different POVs with great success to understand how each POV changes the narrative arc of the story.

Happy writing!

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Hannah Yang is a speculative fiction writer who writes about all things strange and surreal. Her work has appeared in Analog Science Fiction, Apex Magazine, The Dark, and elsewhere, and two of her stories have been finalists for the Locus Award. Her favorite hobbies include watercolor painting, playing guitar, and rock climbing. You can follow her work on hannahyang.com, or subscribe to her newsletter for publication updates.

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Point of View

Definition of point of view.

Point of view is utilized as a literary device to indicate the angle or perspective from which a story is told. Essentially, point of view refers to the “eyes” of the narrative voice that determine the position or angle of vision from which the story is being relayed. Point of view is one of the most crucial choices made by fiction writers since it governs the reader’s access to the story and determines how much the reader is able to know at any given moment with regard to what is taking place in the narrative.

For example, Gregory Maguire is well-known for his novels that re-tell famous stories using a different point of view. In his work  Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister , the story of Cinderella is told by one of the “ugly stepsisters” herself, rather than a removed fairy tale narrator .

In the lives of children, pumpkins turn into coaches, mice and rats turn into men. When we grow up, we realize it is far more common for men to turn into rats.

By shifting the viewpoint of the narrative voice, the reader is given an entirely different perspective and version of the famous story. This not only makes for an engaging and innovative experience for the reader, but the change in point of view also changes the story itself by presenting otherwise “unseen” information and opinions.

Examples of Commonly Used Points of View

As a literary device, point of view is generally expressed through the use of pronouns. Each has its advantages and limitations. First and third person points of view are far more common than second person point of view in literature. First person narrative allows the writer to establish intimacy with the reader by allowing access to the narrator’s inner thoughts. Third person narrative is flexible in that the writer can focus on more than one character ’s actions and thoughts.

Here are some examples of commonly used points of view:

First Person

In first person point of view, one of the story’s characters is narrating the literary work. This viewpoint is indicated by the use of first person pronouns, including “I,” and the reader assumes that the character is close to the story’s action. First person narrative voice provides the reader an intimate and close look into a character’s thoughts, but the perspective of the story is limited by what the character is able to see and know.

Here are some well-known examples of literary works with first person point of view:

  • The Great Gatsby
  • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
  • The Yellow Wallpaper

Third Person

With third person point of view, there is a narrative presence telling the story and referring to the characters in the third person, as “he” or “she.” Third person point of view can be omniscient , meaning the narrator can see and know everything within the story, or limited, meaning the narrator is restricted in what they see and know of the story.

Here are some well-known examples of literary works with third person point of view:

  • Lord of the Flies
  • Little Women
  • Fahrenheit 451
  • The Lowland

Second Person

Second person point of view utilizes the pronoun “you” to address the reader and bring them into the action of the story. However, second person point of view is problematic in a couple of ways. First, it is a stylistic choice that is uncommon, especially in novel -length works. In addition, second person point of view can overwhelm the writer and confuse and/or alienate the reader. Most writers avoid constructing a narrative voice through second person point of view.

Difference Between Omniscient and Third Person Limited Point of View

Third person point of view is flexible as a literary device in that a writer can choose between omniscient or limited perspectives for the narrator. An omniscient narrator is aware of and knows everything about the story and its characters. There are no limitations for this narrator in terms of expressing any character’s thoughts, and this includes their own opinions and observations. An omniscient point of view features a narrator who knows more than the characters of a story.

A third person limited narrator utilizes third person storytelling, but is closely “assigned” to one character. Therefore, this limited narrator shares access with the reader to a character’s thoughts, feelings, experiences, etc., but is limited in doing so with other characters in the story. Writers choose third person limited point of view to create a deeper bond between a specific character and the reader.

Writing with Point of View

Writers decide who tells a story and the intended audience for it. When determining point of view as a literary device, the story can be told from the viewpoint of a character who is part of the story or from a narrative perspective that “sees” and knows the characters but is not one of them. It’s important for writers to consider benefits and limitations when deciding point of view, as it is essential for character development and the relationship between the narrative voice and the reader.

In addition, it’s important for writers to establish point of view as soon as possible for the reader so they are aware of whose perspective they are following. Though some writers choose to change point of view, done most often within a novel, the narrative voice should be consistent throughout a particular scene. Otherwise, disrupting the narrative perspective in the middle of a story’s action can be confusing and jarring for the reader. Changing the point of view for a subplot , alternate section, or different chapter of a literary work can be valuable; however, there should be continuity of narrative throughout the course of a story’s scene in consideration of the reader.

Alternating Point of View

Alternating point of view is a complex type of observation or narration. While narrating, he/she can change their position from the first person to the third person or even second person. It depends on the setting , situation, and voice of the characters and their different perspectives. This technique was used very successfully by Kurt Vonnegut or Italo Calvino in their novels with authorial assertion and intervention, such as Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. Also, the alternating point of view is used for long narration or a chapter-wise, to develop characters and story. It is not used for one sentence or a paragraph.

First Person Point of View as a Protagonist and Common Character

The first person point of view uses first-person pronouns. I, me, mine, etc. The first-person point of view is mostly used in fiction, autobiographies , or semi-autobiographies. The person speaking becomes the center point of the narrative, thus becoming a protagonist of the story most of the time. However, sometimes this person is also a typical narrator when it comes to the big events or significant happenings in history. Such a first-person narrator takes part only as a commoner but describes all the major events and characters through him/her. Usually, they paint the picture of a person, presenting him/her as a protagonist and himself as an ordinary character. Fiction usually adapts this form of narration when they use great heroes from history as protagonists.

Use of Point of View in Sentences

  • He loves to people from the window of his castle. But, such is his life; he is not allowed to step outside. (Third-person point of view)
  • I heard a shrill cry followed by speeding footsteps. I wondered if someone was in trouble. Sadly when I reached the alley, there was no one. (First-person point of view)
  • This is how you prepare a tasty lemonade. You juice the lemons, and you can get more juice by rolling the lemons on the counter using force. (Second-person point of view)
  • Although Jay viewed the group with suspicion when he decided to meet them and said, “I do not suspect you in any way, but we still need to talk.” (Third-person objective point of view)
  • As the children settled into their rooms, Lisa hoped they would sleep peacefully without fear. She silently wished them goodnight before closing the door.”

Examples of Point of View in Literature

Example 1:  invisible man  (ralph ellison).

I was never more hated than when I tried to be honest. Or when, even as just now I’ve tried to articulate exactly what I felt to be the truth. No one was satisfied.

In Ellison’s novel, the protagonist tells his own story from a first-person point of view. This passage reflects both the power of this narrative perspective and its limitations. By telling his own story, the protagonist is able to have a close connection with the reader and directly express his true thoughts, feelings, and ideas. However, due to this restricted form of narration, the reader must rely solely on the viewpoint of the protagonist. This puts a level of responsibility on the reader to determine whether the protagonist is reliable in his narration and to fill in any gaps in the story that are ambiguous or unaddressed in a full manner by the narrator.

Example 2:  The Story of an Hour (Kate Chopin)

She said it over and over under her breath: “free, free, free!” The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body.

Chopin’s short story is told through a third-person limited point of view. The narrative perspective is that of Louise Mallard, the protagonist of the story, though she does not relay the narrative herself in the first person. Instead, the narrator relays to the reader Louise’s actions, thoughts, and feelings as she learns of her husband’s supposed death. This is a clever literary choice due to the fact that Louise spends much of her time in the story in a room alone , away from the other characters.

Chopin establishes a relationship between the third-person narrator and the reader in terms of access to Louise’s mind. This is reflected in the passage as the narrator conveys to the reader that Louise feels “free” at the news of her husband’s death. This “freedom” is something that Louise would not have expressed to any character in the story, yet the narrative perspective allows the reader to know and understand her thoughts.

Example 3:  The Death of Ivan Ilych  (Leo Tolstoy)

In reality it was just what is usually seen in the houses of people of moderate means who want to appear rich, and therefore succeed only in resembling others like themselves: there are damasks, dark wood, plants, rugs, and dull and polished bronzes — all the things people of a certain class have in order to resemble other people of that class. His house was so like the others that it would never have been noticed, but to him it all seemed to be quite exceptional.

Tolstoy’s well-known story of Ivan Ilych is told through an omniscient point of view. This passage reflects that the omniscient narrator governs the telling of the story through the information that is presented to the reader and the manner in which that information is relayed. For example, the omniscient narrator describes for the reader the setting of the character’s home by describing the objects inside. This creates an image that allows the reader to picture the scene.

However, the omniscient narrator is also characterizing the setting of the home by inserting opinions about it with phrases such as “who want to appear rich.” This is important because the omniscient narrator’s description and the inserted characterization influences both the reader’s literal image of the scene and their perception of its meaning in terms of an emotional response. As a result, the omniscient narrator holds the power to influence all aspects of a story for a reader–not just the way things look or what events take place, but how the reader should feel about it, Therefore, in response to an omniscient narrator, the reader should be aware of this effect so as to approach this point of view with critical thinking.

Synonyms of Point of View

Some of the words close to the point of view in meanings are opinion, view, attitude , feeling, sentiment, thoughts, ideas, position, perspective, viewpoint, standpoint, outlook, stand, stance, side, or position.

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Point of View: The Ultimate Guide

Answer all your questions about how to write in first, second, and third person point of view. Every point of view is covered including how to use tense.

essay about perspective point of view

I’ve been staring at my screen for ten minutes trying to come up with a hook that somehow, someway will lead off an article about literary point of view. I’ve come to a definite conclusion: you can’t. To do so would subvert the laws of man, physics and God. It’s impossible. I defy you to try it.

Anyway, let’s talk about POV.  

If you’re a beginning writer you might not think much about point of view. But, you should.

All writers should spend significant time considering what POV they’ll use for a story, and why. POV is as important to a story as is your plot , characters , setting , etc.

What is point of view in writing?

what is point of view in writing?

Point of view tells your reader who is important in your story. It affects the relationship your reader builds with your characters. And, if done poorly, the point of view can ruin an otherwise perfect story.

You’d like to avoid that, wouldn’t you? Of course! So, for your consideration, I bring to you the ultimate guide to point of view.

(Is it really the ultimate guide to POV? Probably not, but it makes for a good title, right?)

In this article I will explain every type of POV you could possibly use in your writing, and when to use each one. I’ll also answer all your burning questions about POV. You know the ones you’ve always wondered about but didn’t want to ask.

More importantly, I’ll cover some of the common POV mistakes and how to avoid them.

But first, let’s start with the basics-

Point of view is the term used to describe who the author chooses to tell their story. But really, and more importantly, it’s who your reader is engaging with.

When we talk about point of view we’re talking about the narrator. An author might have the main character or a secondary character speak directly to the reader as if you are reading that character’s journal.

Or, the narrator might not be in the story at all, but a voice above the fray who can describe the action of a story.

The narrator may also know certain characters’ thoughts and feelings about the events unfolding. While some POVs will insert the reader directly into the action of the story.

The point is, point of view is an important consideration for any story, and mistakes in POV can ruin a story. So, it’s important to choose your POV carefully and avoid the common pitfalls.

With that said, let’s discuss the different types of POV, why they are used, and the common POV mistakes that you need to avoid.

What are the different types of point of view?

Point of view can be divided into three categories- first person, second person, and third person. Third person point of view can be broken down further into limited, omniscient, and objective.

All POVs can be written either in the past or present tense.

Let’s take a look at each of these individually.

First Person Point of View

What is first person point of view?

What is First Person Point of View?

You’re the reader and the character is telling you the story. You and the character are like old friends; they’re very open with you about their thoughts and feelings. It’s as if you’re reading their journal. Usually, the perspective character is the main character of the story, but not always.

Take, for instance, The Great Gatsby which is written in the first person, but the perspective character is Nick Caraway. Nick takes part in the events of the story and relays them to the reader, but he is not the main character.

However, this is an exception, not the rule. Your point of view character should be the protagonist unless you have a good reason for them not to be.

You’ll know your reading a story in the first person when you see pronouns like I, me, or my. The character is the narrator, so they will be speaking directly to the reader.  

How to write First Person Point of View

Writing from a first person point of view is a solid choice if your beginning writer. It’s a straightforward perspective that isn’t too difficult to work with. Choose a character, like your protagonist, and write the story as if they are retelling the events to the reader.

If you choose the first person perspective you’ll need to know your character intimately. You want their personality to remain consistent throughout the narrative. That is unless they’re a dynamic character . Even then, changes in the character will need to have a cause that develops from your plot.

Interview your point of view character. Know their background, what their fears are, and what motivates them. The challenge of the first-person perspective is keeping your character’s voice, actions, and reactions consistent and believable.  

In other words, don’t change your character’s personality for the needs of the plot. What does that mean? If your character has been even-keeled and calm throughout the story don’t force them to blow up in anger because you need to inject some tension into a scene.

Know your perspective character, and don’t deviate from the personality that you’ve established, unless that change is earned through the narrative. Your reader will notice otherwise.  

When to use First Person Point of View

There are times when using the first person perspective is axiomatic like when writing a memoir or a personal essay. The first person POV is a good choice for writers who are just starting out. The limited nature of first person will help beginning writers avoid some common POV mistakes such as head-hopping. But, more on that later.

Because of its natural limits, the first person is a good choice if there are details of the plot that you want to hide from the reader. Take the example of an unreliable narrator who is lying about the events of the story. Discovering new information a narrator has kept hidden can be an exciting revelation for your reader.

Or, because your writing from the perspective of one character, the reader can discover story details as your character does. This works to great effect in the genres of mystery, horror, and romance. These genres require the character, and reader to work through the details of an event slowly to discover startling truths.

Lastly, the first person POV is a good choice if you’re writing a small, character-driven plot with a limited cast. However, it’s not the best choice for your epic, world-building fantasy.

Example of First Person Point of View

“I couldn’t forgive him or like him, but I saw that what he had done was, to him, entirely justified. It was all very careless and confused. They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”

― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Learn about first-person point of view here!

What is second person point of view?

What is Second Person Point of View?

You, the reader, are now in the story. You are the protagonist. You’re taking part in the action. Not literally, obviously. Not yet anyway. Until some advances in VR second person will remain figurative.

The writer uses pronouns like you and your. In fiction, this is not a very common practice. But, you will find the second person POV a lot in non-fiction works. Instructional texts like cookbooks are written in second-person. Think, “You’ll need to preheat your oven to 450 degrees. ”

Why isn’t Second Person Point of View popular?

The limitation of the second person perspective is that you’re asking your readers to put themselves directly into the story. This takes considerable suspension of disbelief on their part. And, it may put your reader off as they’re not used to reading this kind of narrative.

The second person point of view tells your reader that they are someone they’re not. That the events of the story are happening to them, the reader. It’s a funky style, let’s be honest. Reserved, mostly, for those “choose your adventure” books we read as children.

However, when executed well, this funkiness is the secret strength of the second-person perspective. What better way to encourage your reader to empathize with a character and experience a new perspective.

While not traditional, a story written in the second-person perspective could be a great way to set your work apart from the pack. But, only if you put in the effort to make it work. Know that an editor will ask the question- “Why did you choose second person POV?” If you don’t have an obvious answer, revealed in the text, this may be a weakness.

When it comes to digital storytelling though, second person POV could be the dominant perspective. Maybe we should start practicing…  

Example of Second Person Point of View

“Things happen, people change,’ is what Amanda said. For her that covered it. You wanted an explanation, and ending that would assign blame and dish up justice. You considered violence and you considered reconciliation. But what you are left with is a premonition of the way your life will fade behind you, like a book you have read too quickly, leaving a dwindling trail of images and emotions, until all you can remember is a name.”

― Jay McInerney, Bright Lights, Big City

Third Person Limited Point of View

What is third person limited point of view?

What is Third Person Limited Point of View?

Take one step above the story. The narrator is no longer in the fray and action. They are on the outside looking in, commenting on the action. The narrator tells the reader what is happening, and what the perspective character is thinking and feeling.

A third person limited perspective means that we are limited (get it?) to a single character at a time. So, it’s like the first person perspective, but rather than a character speaking directly to us, the narrator is telling us what the character is doing, thinking and feeling.

How to write Third Person Limited Point of View

The first thing you want to do is choose a character to limit yourself to. More than likely, this will be your protagonist. You may also switch to another perspective character in your story.

However, don’t switch character perspectives within the confines of a single scene, or even a chapter. In truth, you may want to keep your perspective limited to the same character throughout the narrative.

There are examples of rotating perspective when using third person limited. Authors who do this will change the perspective characters from one character to the next. For clarity, chapters are usually named after the point of view character in that chapter.

How to describe characters in Third Person Limited Point of View

This is a question that comes up when writing from a limited point of view. Character descriptions can be tricky because overtly describing a non-POV character’s emotions would count as a slip in POV. You don’t want that.

Rely on the old adage- show, don’t tell. If a non-POV character is upset then have them slam a door, throw a punch, or break a window. Demonstrate emotion through action, not through adverbs.  

Remember that your narration is limited physically, as well. Your narration can’t describe anything the point of view character isn’t able to see, touch, taste, hear or smell directly. The character’s eyes are your window into the world of the story. Keep this in mind when describing the different aspects of your story.

When to use Third Person Limited Point of View

Much like first person point of view, the third person is used when you want to limit the reader’s perspective. Use this POV when you want your readers to spend time with, and become very familiar with a character or cast of characters. When you want your reader to become attached to your protagonist(s). Third person POV is perfect for your character-driven story arcs.

Choose third person POV over first person when your story has several character arcs to explore. An example would be the Harry Potter series. Sure, Harry is important, but we care about Hermione and Ron too.  

Also, the third person limited POV works well in mysteries, horrors, and crime stories. This is because you can easily hide information from your reader like you can with first person POV.

Because of its versatility, third person limited is the most popular POV in modern fiction. Readers and editors are used to reading in third person limited POV. In most cases, third person limited POV will be a good choice for your story. .  

Example of Third Person Limited Point of View

“For the first time, he heard something that he knew to be music. He heard people singing. Behind him, across vast distances of space and time, from the place he had left, he thought he heard music too. But perhaps, it was only an echo.”

― Lois Lowry, The Giver

Third Person Omniscient Point of View

What is third person omniscient point of view?

What is Third Person Omniscient Point of View?

You’re the reader, and the narrator is God. They can give you access to every character’s thoughts and feelings, at the same time. Third person omniscient is like third person limited in that the narrator is separate from the story.

However, the narrator is not limited to one character’s viewpoint when describing the story. The narrator has full knowledge of all the characters and has no preference for any single character. Common pronouns used with third person omniscient are “he,” and “she.”

How to write in Third Person Omniscient Point of View

Third person omniscient can be challenging as you have a lot of characters to keep up with. Each major character will need the same attention from the narrator. It can also be difficult to keep your narrative focused with the POV spread out like this.

Use this perspective to insert your own authorial voice into the narrative. As the narrator, you can comment on the action of the story, or the characters. But, beware that this is not a style of writing that is currently in vogue.

The third person omniscient POV does provide a lot of creative freedom, though. Because of the “God-like” presence of the narrator, you’re not hemmed in by a lot of rules. The author can describe anything that a character is thinking, wearing, doing, seeing, etc.

When to use Third Person Omniscient Point of View

Never. Just kidding, but keep this in mind:

The third person omniscient perspective, while once omnipresent, is not very popular anymore. It’s a good choice if you have a plethora of characters in your story. This is because this perspective gives you the ability to inhabit any character in the story. However, realize this will make developing any single character difficult.

Choose the third person omniscient POV when you have a very strong voice, and you want the narrative commentary to take the center stage of your story.

Example of Third Person Omniscient Point of View  

“A man’s at odds to know his mind cause his mind is aught he has to know it with. He can know his heart, but he don’t want to. Rightly so. Best not to look in there. It ain’t the heart of a creature that is bound in the way that God has set for it. You can find meanness in the least of creatures, but when God made man the devil was at his elbow. A creature that can do anything. Make a machine. And a machine to make the machine. And evil that can run itself a thousand years, no need to tend it.”

― Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West

Third Person Objective Point of View

What is third person objective point of view?

What is Third Person Objective Point of View?

In the third person objective POV, the reader does not have access to any character’s thoughts or feelings. The narrator is completely objective.

How and when to use Third Person Objective POV

Again, show don’t tell.  

With third person objective, a writer will have to convey all the characters’ emotions through action alone. If you’re a beginning writer try and write at least one story in the third person objective POV. It’s good for practice.

In order to master this POV, a writer must be a keen observer of people in the real world. How do people show their emotions- on their face, in their body language, with words?

How does someone demonstrate they’re angry with their boss? A real person wouldn’t act out dramatically. They wouldn’t flip a table or punch a hole in the drywall (hopefully). Because acting like that would get them fired, probably arrested. They may, instead, make a snide remark, purse their lips, or cross their arms.

The point is, people can be very subtle in how they display their inward feelings. Many people do their best to mask emotions. Others act out for attention. As a writer, you should be able to identify these subtle tells and insert them into your story. Especially if you plan on using the third person objective.

Third person objective POV is also useful in non-fiction. A biographer can’t always comment on the thoughts of feelings of their subject. Especially if the subject has been dead for hundreds of years. In that case, they can only convey a sense of emotion through their subject’s words or actions.

Example of Third Person Objective POV

“When a friend of Abigail and John Adams was killed at Bunker Hill, Abigail’s response was to write a letter to her husband and include these words, “My bursting heart must find vent at my pen.”

― David McCullough, John Adams

Present Tense versus Past Tense in Writing

Using past tense vs. present tense in fiction writing

Most authors choose the past tense when writing fiction. However, some writers choose present tense for their stories. Why?  Immediacy is one reason. Like with second person POV, the use of the present tense can pull a reader into a story in a way that feels intimate. They are experiencing the story along with the narrator in real time.

The downside of writing in the present tense is that you’ll be working against the grain. Most stories are told in the past tense, so unless you have a good narrative purpose for using the present tense you should probably avoid it. Without a clear purpose, using the present tense will come off as gimmicky.

But, I’m no expert on this subject and you can find a very informative post on writing in the past tense here .

Example of Present Tense POV

“I can feel Peeta press his forehead into my temple and he asks, ‘So now that you’ve got me, what are you going to do with me?’ I turn into him. ‘Put you somewhere you can’t get hurt.”

― Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games

Common Point of View mistakes

Head-hopping.

head-hopping and point of view

What is head hopping in writing?

Head-hopping is when a writer suddenly changes the viewpoint character without purpose. A story will be narrated from one character’s point of view then that point of view shifts to another character mid-paragraph, or worst mid-sentence.

Head-hopping will leave readers feeling confused and frustrated. It’s a mistake that signals your in the hands of a careless writer. As such, head-hopping should be avoided at all costs.

How to avoid head hopping.

The obvious way to avoid this is to stay in one character’s point of view throughout a story.

If you need to shift perspective wait until a logical point like a scene or chapter break. Think of your character’s viewpoint as a camera lens. The action is being recorded by that single lens. You cannot describe anything that isn’t within the view of that single lens.

When shifting perspective, be sure to establish the change by mentioning the character’s name and something about the setting in your narration. Do this immediately to establish the shift in your reader’s mind.

Here’s an example of how to open a scene that has shifted perspective to a new character:

“Paul glanced at his watch and realized he’d been waiting in the coffee shop for over an hour.”

Who’s the POV character? Paul. Where is he? A coffee shop. What is he doing? Waiting.

Only shift the POV if it serves your narrative. And, establish any shift in POV at the opening of the scene or chapter.

Inconsistent POV

What is an inconsistent point of view?

What is an Inconsistent Point of View?

An inconsistent point of view means that the writer is switching point of view throughout the narrative. One scene may be told in the first person and the next scene’s narration switches to the third person omniscient. Like head-hopping, this will confuse your reader.

How to fix Inconsistent Point of View

Choose a point of view and stick to it. If your a first-time writer then the first person is the way to go. The first person point of view limits your opportunities to make mistakes like head-hopping.

Third person limited is the most widely used perspective and one that the modern reader is very comfortable with. Again, like the first person, you’re limited to a single character, and this will ensure a consistent POV.

Familiarize yourself with the rules of each of these POVs. Be mindful of what POV you’ve chosen. If your writing in the third person limited POV, don’t describe something that your POV character couldn’t possibly know.

These mistakes will probably occur in your early drafts and that’s okay. But, planning and outlining is key. As well as purposely choosing your POV. And, most importantly, find good editors! Preferably, fiction writers who are more experienced than you.

Also, don’t shift your point of view unless you have a very good narrative purpose behind the shift. I really can’t say that enough.

Choosing the wrong POV for your story

Choosing the wrong point of view for your story

Choosing the right point of view is vital in effective storytelling. Each POV has its pros and cons. Do you want to tell a story that is an intimate character study? Use the first person. Don’t use the third person omniscient. But, if your book is an epic fantasy that spans multiple worlds or realms, then the third person is the way to go.

POV is also how you tell your reader who is important. If a writer is narrating from a single character’s point of view then the reader will assume that character is important. Using the POV of a character who is not essential to the plot will confuse your reader.

The point is, spend a lot of time thinking about what point of view you’ll use and how it will affect your reader’s experience. This should be part of your pre-writing. POV is not a decision to be taken lightly.

Too many POVs

essay about perspective point of view

Using more than one POV character can help give your reader a broad view of your story. It can also be used as a way of slowly revealing important plot points.

I once read a story where the author effectively used POV shifts to explain the same event four times. Each time the new character would have a different perspective on the event, like a game of telephone. It was a clever use of shifting POV.

However, if you’re shifting the POV every chapter or scene for no apparent reason than your reader will get annoyed. POV should indicate an important character. And, shifts in POV should have a narrative purpose behind them.

Choose POV characters for a reason. The reader will feel loyal to a POV character, intuitively. The POV character should have something at stake in the story, or a goal. They should be someone like, oh I don’t know, a protagonist! Or, someone equally important. Who could that be? Hmmm. Maybe, an antagonist ! Don’t give the POV to any old, schlub, though.  

Bottom line- don’t waste time using the POV of a character who isn’t important to your narrative. And, make sure that any shifts in POV are done for a specific narrative purpose. An example would be retelling an event of the story from a new perspective that adds new information the reader didn’t already know.

So, that’s everything I can think of when it comes to POV. Still, have questions? Drop them in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer them. Or check out some of these other great resources on POV!

All About Point of View: Which One Should You Choose?

How to Choose Your Novel’s Point of View

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Published by John

View all posts by John

6 comments on “Point of View: The Ultimate Guide”

Excellent post!

Thanks, KM!

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Table of Contents

Collaboration, information literacy, writing process, point of view.

Supreme Court nominee Judge Jackson shares her point of view

What Is Point of View?

In writing, point of view refers to whether the writing takes on a singular or plural perspective in either 1st person, 2nd person, or 3rd person.

  • First person is the perspective of the writer; 1st person uses words like “I,” “my,” “me,” or “we.”
  • 2nd-person is the perspective of the reader being directly addressed by the writer; 2nd person uses words like “you,” “your,” or “us.” ; and
  • 3rd-person is the perspective of a different party who is neither writer nor reader. 3rd person uses words like “she,” “his,” or “they.”

Point of view can typically be identified by which pronouns are used. See the chart below for a quick summary.

Related concepts: Pronouns , Perspective , First-Person Point of View , Second-Person Point of View , Third-Person Point of View

Why Does Point of View Matter?

Point of view can impact how a reader experiences a piece of writing in a wide range of ways. A writer’s choice of point of view can impact the level of formality of a piece of writing, and it can also impact how a reader feels about both the writer and the topic. Choosing to use the first person pronouns “we” and “us,” for instance, might make a reader feel in league with the writer, but in another rhetorical situation it can make readers see the writer as unserious or subjective. In fiction, a writer’s choice of point of view means deciding through whose eyes readers see a story, which in turn impacts just about every other choice a writer will make, from which information readers will get, to how they will perceive other characters and events.

How Do You Choose a Particular Point of View?

Point of view is

  • a stylistic choice–i.e., choice based on the rhetor’s desired Rhetorical Stance.
  • Genres tend to have very specific guidelines for point of view.
  • In academic writing, e.g., writers are generally expected to use 3rd-person most of the time, with the occasional exception for 1st person if it is necessary. Using 2nd person is discouraged.

Different points of view can be applied to different writing purposes. There are far too many reasons to choose a point of view to list them all here. This list provides three common uses for the various points of view:

Common uses of 1st person

  • Memoirs. Memoirs are all about someone’s personal experiences, so memoir authors use I frequently to describe what has happened to them and how they felt about it.
  • Certain academic disciplines . Some academic disciplines, like women’s studies and rhetoric and composition, value the inclusion of personal experience as research material, so scholars will use I and we in their work.

Common uses of 2nd person

  • Directions and Self-help books. Self-help books aim to improve their readers in some way, so the authors use you to speak directly to those readers and prompt them to reflect on themselves or take action.
  • Advertisements. Advertisements target specific audiences in order to make sales, and the use of you (e.g. “Do you need cash fast?”) can prompt a viewer to identify with the ad’s target audience.

Common uses of 3rd person

  • Quotes. When relaying quotations from other speakers or writers, authors will identify the source of the quotation in 3rd person, as in “He wrote that…”
  • News stories. Journalism generally strives to impart objective information. By using only 3rd person, journalism avoids the overly personal tone of I and you.

Here are the common ways third person is used in an academic paper:

essay about perspective point of view

Note: While the above pronouns represent the third person, instead of using it , that , these , those or this , specific words or phrases will better help readers follow the writer’s logic.

How To Edit for Point of View

To identify ineffective uses of point of view, 1) identify the various points of view in your writing; and 2) decide if the points of view achieve their purpose and will not inadvertently alienate the reader.

1. Identify the various points of view in a piece of writing.

Ex: The American public is underinformed about important news from other countries. When you only watch local cable news or get your news from American websites, you miss out on reading about events like the Arab Spring and the tsunami in Japan.

In this example, the first sentence has a subject in 3rd-person point of view, the American public. The second sentence’s use of you gives it a 2nd-person point of view.

2. Decide if the points of view achieve their purpose and will not inadvertently alienate the reader.

In the first sentence, 3rd-person point of view achieves the purpose of identifying who the writer thinks is underinformed: the American public. In the second sentence, though, it is unclear what purpose the 2nd-person you is intended to achieve. Why is the writer speaking directly to me, the reader? Moreover, the writer risks alienating me by seeming to assume that I am definitely uninformed. How (potentially) offensive!

How can you correct an unnecessary shift in point of view?

  • In a passage where an unnecessary shift has been noted, go through and highlight each of the point of view words.
  • Change the point of view of the inconsistent pronouns to align them with the primary point of view that has already been established.
  • Reread the passage aloud and listen for consistency in point of view.

Let’s look at an example:

  • Even though he believed weight loss was possible, you do not know how hard it can be until you try to lose a few pounds.
  • Even though he believed weight loss was possible, he did not know how hard it would be until he tried to lose a few pounds.

How do you change first or second person to third person?

Here is a table that shows several common instances of first or second person in essays and some examples of how to revise to the third person.

essay about perspective point of view

Look at the following lines and determine how you might revise them so that they remove the pronoun “you” or define the pronoun “we”:

  • You can understand what it’s like to have a stack of papers to grade and only two days to do it.
  • We now know that cigarettes can cause various types of cancer.
  • I would like you to understand that not all students are lazy.
  • We believe that gay marriage is not immoral or harmful to the American family; as such, we argue that it should be legalized.
  • Doughnuts are really harmful to our health, so we should stop ingesting them.
  • If you would only give reading a try, you might actually enjoy it.
  • Subliminal messages enter our psyches on a daily basis.
  • As a feminist, I believe that women should receive pay that is equal to that of their male coworkers.

Recommended Readings

First person.

  • The First Person
  • Using First Person in an Academic Essay: When Is It Okay?

Second Person

  •   Understanding Second Person Point-of-View: Wizard Activity

Related Articles:

First-person point of view, second-person point of view, third-person point of view, suggested edits.

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Point of view in writing

A Writer’s Guide to Point of View

Budding writers often ask me:

“How do I master Point of View?”

The inability to grasp this concept is the most common problem I see in aspiring novelists.

Veteran editor Dave Lambert says, “No decision you make will impact the shape and texture of your story more than your choice of Point of View.”

So let’s straighten it out, shall we?

After you read this post, you’ll know the crucial POV rules and techniques professional writers use (and publishers look for)—and how to apply them to your story .

  • What is Point of View?

Things to understand about Point of View before we break it down:

1. Point of View is really two things:

A. The Voice with which you tell your story.

Not to be confused with the tone or sound of your writing (think of that Voice as your writing attitude), this is your choice to tell it in First Person (I), Second Person (you), or Third Person (he, she, or it).

B. Your Perspective Character.

Basically, that answers “Whose story is this?”

2. The cardinal rule of Point of View:

Limit yourself to one Perspective Character per scene, preferably per chapter, ideally per book .

That means no switching POV characters within the same scene, let alone within the same paragraph or sentence.

(Yes, that’s a common amateur mistake, and it results in head-hopping—a giant Point of View no-no I cover in more detail below.)

Point of View is worth stressing over, it’s that important .

Even pros have to remind themselves to avoid sliding into an Omniscient viewpoint.

I avoid that by imagining my Point of View or Perspective Character as my camera—I’m limited to writing only what my character “camera” sees, hears, and knows.

In essence, I’m limited to his or her perspective.

  • Breaking Down the Point of View Voices

Point of view voices

While POV is limited to one perspective character at a time, each of the three primary voices may be written in the present or past tense.

First Person Point of View

In this POV, the perspective character tells the story.

First Person is the second most common voice in fiction, but I recommend it for many beginning novelists, because it forces you to limit your viewpoint to one Perspective Character—which you should do with all POVs except Omniscient.

My first 13 novels (The Margo Mysteries) were written in first-person past tense.

First Person Examples

The most common use of first-person is past tense.

Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick begins in present tense but immediately switches to past:

Call me Ishmael. Some years ago, never mind how long precisely, having little or no money in my purse and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world.

While I recommend first-person, I think you’d find present tense awkward and difficult to sustain.

On the other hand, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is rendered that way and has become one of the most successful novel series ever.

If you have colossal writing talent and an idea as cosmic as hers, feel free to ignore my counsel and go for it. Here’s how hers begins:

When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim’s warmth but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress. She must have had bad dreams and climbed in with our mother. Of course, she did. This is the day of reaping.

Second Person Point of View

This point of view uses “you, your” construction, and the narrator makes  “you,” the reader, become the protagonist.

Though rare in fiction and far more popular in nonfiction, it’s been said that because it plunges the reader into the action of the story, second person can bring a sense of immediacy to a novel.

I wouldn’t dare attempt it and don’t recommend it.

Second Person Examples

Jay McInerney used second-person present tense in Bright Lights, Big City this way:

You are not the kind of guy who would be at a place like this at this time of the morning. But here you are, and you cannot say that the terrain is entirely unfamiliar, although the details are fuzzy. You are at a nightclub talking to a girl with a shaved head.

You can see how this method forces the reader, in essence, to become a character and how difficult that might be for the writer to sustain for 300 or 400 pages.

Third Person Point of View

Finally, we’ve come to the most commonly used point of view in storytelling — third-person.

Third Person Limited

When written in third-person limited, the story is about he or she/him or her , or the character is mentioned by name.

As with all other POVs besides Omniscient, the writer is limited to one perspective character—your camera.

Everything you write must be seen through that camera: your perspective character’s eyes, ears, and mind.

Third Person Omniscient

Here the story is still about he or she , but the narrator writes from the all-knowing, all-seeing perspective and is not even limited by time.

Because so many of us were raised on the classics with their Omniscient author/narrator, it seems ingrained in us to want to know and tell all about every character onstage and off.

We even want to tell unseen things and things yet unseen. Such miraculous foretellings were often worded like: “Little did our hero know that 20 miles away, what would happen to him the next day was already being planned.”

Writing from that perspective might sound like an advantage, but fiction from an Omniscient viewpoint rarely succeeds in the traditional or indie markets today.

In nonfiction, the Omniscient narrator is common and makes sense, because you’re an expert trying to teach or persuade, and so you adopt a posture of knowing everything and telling everything.

Third Person Examples

Because many readers find third-person present tense weird, you won’t find it in many novels.

It would sound something like this:

Fritz skips out to the garage, fishing in his pocket for his keys. He slips behind the wheel and starts the car.

You can imagine how distracting that would be to the reader if maintained throughout.

By far, the most common choice for modern fiction is third-person past tense.

My perspective character at the start of Left Behind is an airline pilot.

I write it in third-person limited, past tense:

Rayford Steele’s mind was on a woman he had never touched. With his fully loaded 747 on autopilot above the Atlantic en route to a 6 a.m. landing at Heathrow, Rayford had pushed from his mind thoughts of his family.

As I mentioned above, the cardinal rule of POV is to limit yourself to one perspective character per scene, preferably per chapter, ideally per book.

If you’re J.K. Rowling, however, whose bestselling Harry Potter series gloriously breaks this rule, you have my wholehearted permission to ignore this advice.

Head-hopping is the problem .

Here’s an example of what it would have looked like, had I forgotten to limit myself to a single camera (Rayford) as the Perspective Character in Left Behind :

Rayford Steele’s mind was on a woman he had never touched. Meanwhile, his co-pilot was wondering what Rayford was thinking as he gazed out the cockpit window.

See how I slipped out of Rayford’s perspective and into the copilot’s from one sentence to the next?

That’s head hopping—hopping in and out of various characters’ heads.

That takes me from Third Person Limited to Omniscient. And Omniscient narrators are decades out of fashion.

  • The Secret to Using Multiple Points of View in the Same Story

Multiple main characters in a story

In the Left Behind novel series (Tyndale House Publishers), I alternated between as many as five perspective characters per book , but never within the same scene. And I made it crystal clear every time I switched.

I would add an extra space between paragraphs, insert what’s called a typographical dingbat—like this: ###—and fully introduce the new POV character:

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Buck Williams sat hunched over his laptop…

In my novel The Valley of the Dry Bones (Worthy Publishing), I employ a single Perspective Character for the entire book.

  • Employing The Most Popular Point of View

If you’re a beginning writer , you might assume you must write in the first person, your Perspective Character referring to himself or herself as I .

But third-person limited is the most common choice for contemporary fiction.

Following is an example of how to effectively employ that voice.

A writer asked how he could better describe his character to portray her legalism and self-righteousness.

You can see how this would be easy if written in first person from her standpoint.

But how do we do it in third person limited?

His original:

Mother Clotilde sat at an ornate desk absentmindedly fingering a string of beads encircling her waist as she leafed through a thick leather-bound Bible. She looked like something unearthed at a dig.

Did you catch the POV violation?

Mother Clotilde is the perspective character, but because she’s alone, we can’t really say she “looked like something unearthed at a dig.”

Another character could say that or think that, if we were in that character’s POV. Needless to say, Mother Clotilde would not describe herself that way.

  • Which POV Will You Choose?

Choose wisely, because the decision could make the difference between your manuscript landing a contract or being rejected.

Our job as novelists is to pull our readers so deeply into our story that they even forget they’re turning the pages.

Your Point of View choices can make that happen.

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Writing Perspectives (Point of View)

  • Post author By Peter Lyle DeHaan
  • Post date June 24, 2022

point of view 1

Many beginning writers wonder about point of view in writing and which should they use. Though there are many books written on this subject, here’s a brief overview.

Note that most people use perspective and point of view interchangeably—that’s what I learned in High School English—but others make a distinction between them, claiming that point of view is the correct term for this discussion.

Here is a brief, basic overview of perspectives/points of view.

First Person Point of View

First-person perspective uses I , as in I said… or I went…

For example, I went to the bookstore to buy the latest book by my favorite author.

Second Person Point of View

Second person perspective uses you , as You said… or You went…

For example, you go to the store to buy a journal and pen.

Second person is hard to write (and to read), so most authors avoid it. As an exercise, I wrote a piece of flash fiction in the second person, present tense. It was tedious.

Third Person Point of View

The third-person perspective uses he , she , and they , as in He said… or They went…

For example. They went to a book signing to see the famous author.

Two Types of Third-Person Points of View

There are two flavors of third-person: Limited (only what the point of view character can observe or think) and Omniscient (where the narrator knows what everyone thinks).

Third-person omniscient is out of favor and seldom recommended any more—though many of the classics, including much of the Bible, is third-person omniscient .

Writing Tense

For each of these four options there are two choices: present tense (what is happening now) and past tense (what has already happened). This results in eight possible combinations to consider, but eliminating the second person and third-person omniscient, cuts our considerations down to four.

Past tense is easier to use, and the first person is more natural for most writers. After all, when we tell stories about ourselves to our friends, we use the first person, past tense.

Beginning writers should start with first person perspective, past tense, as in “I wondered which point of view I should use.” Then try third person, past tense, if you wish.

Learn more about writing and publishing in Peter’s book: Successful Author FAQs : Discover the Art of Writing, the Business of Publishing, and the Joy of Wielding Words. Get your copy today.

Peter Lyle DeHaan is an author, blogger, and publisher with over 30 years of writing and publishing experience. Check out his book Successful Author FAQs for insider tips and insights.

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By Peter Lyle DeHaan

Author Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD, publishes books about business, customer service, the call center industry, and business and writing.

Writers.com

You might not notice it, but most published writing contains a narrative point of view. This includes every book, poem, email, instruction manual, even some street signs and cereal boxes.

For us writers, defining the point of view of a story or poem is essential: it’s an important part of making our writing “believable.” Like a camera lens to a photograph, narrative point of view makes the story possible.

So, what is point of view in literature? This is a surprisingly simple concept with surprisingly complex applications, so let’s take a thorough look at some point of view examples, followed by how writers can experiment with point of view in literature. We will also examine point of view in poetry versus prose. But first, what is point of view?

What is Point of View in Literature?

The 3 types of point of view in writing, why does narrative point of view matter, point of view in poetry, point of view in poetry & prose: venn diagram, experimenting with point of view in writing.

  • Choosing and Managing Point of View (from Instructor Jack Smith)

Narrative point of view (POV) defines who is communicating to the reader . Every written text comes from a certain person’s viewpoint. When we understand who’s speaking to us, we can better understand the story that’s being told.

Narrative point of view defines who is communicating to the reader.

Sometimes, the point of view of a story is given immediately. Herman Melville’s first-person novel Moby Dick begins “Call me Ishmael.” The story then goes on to tell us why Ishmael’s point of view matters —in other words, what makes the story compelling .

However, most stories rarely introduce their protagonists so readily, and it’s much more likely that the narrative point of view will develop alongside the story.

For example, the identity of the narrator in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is never revealed. The television series names her June, based on their interpretation of the story’s opening chapter, but the original novel never reveals her real name. She is simply Offred, or “of Fred”—Fred being the commander she is property of. Despite this, the reader comes to know about the narrator’s past life, current dilemma, and enduring trauma as a handmaid in fictional Gilead.

The Handmaid’s Tale is a cautionary dystopia, and by leaving the narrator anonymous, Atwood suggests that the narrative point of view could be all women’s experiences, not just the narrator’s. This is where understanding what is point of view helps us understand the text, relating it to the novel’s themes and ideas.

Some narrators are entirely absent from the narrative. In other words, no single person is named as the storyteller: they are an unnamed, maybe unbiased viewer, relaying the story from the third person point of view.

Classic novels told by a distant narrator include Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke, For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

You’ll notice that the above point of view examples are in “first person” or “third person.” What is point of view’s “person?”

“Person,” better described as the story’s frame of reference, identifies who the narrator is in relation to the text. Are they a part of the story, or somewhere outside of it? The point of view of a story is directly impacted by who tells it, so defining the narrator is a crucial component of any story or poem.

The story’s “person” identifies who the narrator is in relation to the text.

This brings us to the 3 types of point of view: 1st person, 2nd person, and 3rd person.

First person uses the “I” pronoun, and it occurs when the narrator is a part of the story. You’ll see first person used most frequently in poetry and autobiographical work, but many novels also choose to write from the vantage of a fictional character. Example: I walked the dog.

Second person uses the “you” pronoun, and it’s rarely used in long passages of prose . Second person is used when the reader is the subject of the story. Although this requires a certain suspension of disbelief , second person storytelling can help make the reader feel more intimate with the story’s plot , as it casts the reader as the protagonist. Example: You walked the dog.

Third person uses impersonal pronouns—he, she, they, it, etc. The majority of fiction is told in the third person, as is non-autobiographical work and some poetry. Example: She walked the dog.

There are divisions within each respective point of view, which we’ve summarized in the chart below. These point of view examples have different uses in storytelling, and when chosen properly, the narrative point of view can amplify certain meanings and ideas.

It’s important to consider the point of view of a story. Doing so will help make certain texts easier to understand—and, potentially, easier to write.

Think of the narrator as the cameraman of the story. We see what the camera sees; our view of the story is determined by where the camera points, and what the camera omits.

The narrator is the cameraman of the story

In other words, narrative point of view defines how the story is told . The author may choose a narrator that’s unbiased and objective, but this is only possible with a third person omniscient narrator.

Other than the third person omniscient, narrative viewpoints cannot be truly objective. First and second person narratives are inevitably biased, as we are perceiving the story through a single point of reference. The same is true for the third person limited, where the narrator tells us about solely the protagonist’s thoughts, feelings, desires, and interpretations. Even if that narrator is not central to the story, they also have a personality, and they also have blindspots and biases.

As a result, narrative point of view goes hand-in-hand with character development . No matter what point of view the author chooses, the story’s style and ideas will be affected by the protagonist’s personality. The most authentic stories lean into the protagonist’s style, making them seem like living, breathing characters.

So far, we’ve mostly discussed the point of view of a story, including how storytellers can (and should!) write from the protagonist’s limited perspective. Does the same apply to poetry?

In short, yes: a poem contains a point of view, and this helps define the poem’s tone , message, and identity. However, the role of point of view in poetry differs from that of fiction. Here are a few key differences:

1. Point of View in Poetry: Narrator vs. Speaker

In prose, the person telling the story is called the narrator, and the narrator is usually well defined. We usually know their name if the story is in first person; if it’s in third person, we know who the story’s frame of reference is, and can discern whether the narrator is biased or not.

In poetry, the person writing to us is called the speaker .

Now, the speaker is less defined in poetry than the narrator is in prose. It’s easy to assume that the poet is the speaker, and in many cases, the speaker writes directly from the poet’s heart.

However, when it comes to poetry analysis, it’s important to distinguish the speaker from the poet. A poem operates best when its meaning is universally applicable, rather than attached to one specific person.

For example, the poet Sylvia Plath is well known for her confessional poetry, and it’s hard to disconnect her poems from her own lived experiences. Plath struggled greatly with death and mental illness, which become recurring themes in much of her poetry.

Although Plath was certainly writing about her own experiences, poems are multifaceted and convey different truths to different people. By decontextualizing the author from the poem, the poem can be interpreted as a standalone unit. For more on this, you may be interested in Roland Barthe’s critical essay The Death of the Author.

Lastly, some poems have explicitly defined speakers where the poet and the speaker are different. These poems, known collectively as persona poetry , allow the poet to write from the experiences of other people, organisms, or objects. An example of persona poetry is the spoken word poem “Skinhead” by Patricia Smith , as well as Louise Glück’s poetry collection Wild Iris , which was written from the point of view of flowers.

2. Point of View in Poetry: Crystalized vs. Fluid Pronouns

In prose, the time and place of the story are usually well defined. We know when and where the story takes place and from whose point of view we’re experiencing the story.

Because of this, the pronouns in prose will be consistent, or crystalized . A story that begins in the third person will remain in the third person, unless there is a clear shift in the story’s time and format.

For example, the novel In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez is told from four different perspectives, and each perspective has a different frame of reference. One character’s story is told using first person point of view diary entries; another character is written strictly in the third person limited. Although the pronouns change, they change per chapter , not just randomly. The novel makes clear who is narrating and when the event they are narrating occurred.

There are, of course, notable exceptions to this rule. William Faulkner, for one, was famous for experimenting with narratology.

For example, Faulkner’s novel The Sound and the Fury is told from four different perspectives. Quentin’s story, the second part of the novel, jumps between different points of view, due to its stream of conscious narrative. The present is told in the first person, but some of Quentin’s thoughts are in the second or third person point of view, depending on whom he’s thinking towards.

Thus, in some parts of The Sound and the Fury, Faulkner uses fluid pronouns—a narrative tactic much more common in poetry.

Poems can switch between first, second, and third person pronouns much more fluidly, though of course these pronoun shifts must be meaningful. Poets from the Modernist Era were especially likely to experiment with narratology, such as T. S. Eliot and his poem “ The Waste Land .”

“The Waste Land” can be described as a Modernist lament of the death of culture and society. Whether Eliot was right is still a topic of intense debate, but to accomplish this lament, the poem frequently jumps between different perspectives and pronouns. Take this excerpt from the poem’s second section:

And other withered stumps of time Were told upon the walls; staring forms Leaned out, leaning, hushing the room enclosed. Footsteps shuffled on the stair. Under the firelight, under the brush, her hair Spread out in fiery points Clawed into words, then would be savagely still.

“My nerves are bad to-night. Yes, bad. Stay with me. “Speak to me. Why do you never speak. Speak. “What are you thinking of? What thinking? What? “I never know what you are thinking. Think.”

I think we are in rats’ alley Where the dead men lost their bones.

The perspective shifts from third to first person here, transitioning from the woman in her lavish room to her husband’s inner monologue. Transitions like these help the poet juxtapose different narratives, and altogether, this style of interweaving narratives happens much more frequently in poetry than in prose.

3. Point of View in Poetry: Objective vs. Imaginative Storytelling

Finally, prose and poetry have different styles of storytelling. The goal of prose is to tell a story as truthfully as possible, explaining a set order of events through strictly set viewpoints. Prose, in general, should be clear and concise , conveying information through as few words as possible.

Poetry, by contrast, can take a much more imaginative focus. We’ve already seen how the point of view can change in poetry; because of this, a poem’s setting and mood can also change much more fluidly.

Here are some examples of imaginative storytelling :

  • Writing from unique points of view. Wild Iris by Louise Glück is a collection of poems told from the perspective of flowers.
  • Using metaphor as plot. Take the poem Entanglement by Carmen Giménez Smith : obviously, the speaker does not have a tiny telephone physically inside of her, but this metaphor sets up the poem’s message about love and growing together.
  • Writing towards a global “us.” Prose functions best when it focuses on a few key individuals, but poetry can address everyone without a clear setting. Example: A Litany for Survival by Audre Lorde ..
  • Interweaving disparate voices, often without signifying a change in speaker. This tactic is used frequently in “The Waste Land.”

Let’s return to “The Waste Land” as an example. Many elements of storytelling change frequently throughout the poem, including its setting, characters, and tone. Take this excerpt from the poem’s second and third section, where we suddenly transition from the rituals of posh London society to the dismal bank of the Thames:

[End of II. A Game of Chess]

And they asked me in to dinner, to get the beauty of it hot— HURRY UP PLEASE IT’S TIME HURRY UP PLEASE IT’S TIME Goodnight Bill. Goodnight Lou. Goodnight May. Goodnight. Ta ta. Goodnight. Goodnight. Good night, ladies, good night, sweet ladies, good night, good night.

III. The Fire Sermon The river’s tent is broken: the last fingers of leaf Clutch and sink into the wet bank. The wind Crosses the brown land, unheard. The nymphs are departed. Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song. The river bears no empty bottles, sandwich papers, Silk handkerchiefs, cardboard boxes, cigarette ends Or other testimony of summer nights. The nymphs are departed.

Of course, longer works of prose can also include a wide array of characters, settings, and tones. The difference is, prose explores those elements in depth, whereas the poem hardly offers “backstory” for the characters or an extended description of the settings.

Rather, these storytelling elements are used symbolically , intertwining with the poem to develop its many complex themes.

Throughout the poem, we hear many different voices interwoven: that of the speaker, a countess named Marie, the spouse of a shell-shocked WW1 veteran, the voices of women undone by men, etc. No singular line of the poem tells us what the poem is “about,” but as we visit the many souls in England whose lives were forever changed by The Great War, a tapestry of decline emerges. We don’t need the poem to tell us that society is in jeopardy: we can see it with our own two eyes.

Note: “The Waste Land” is an exceedingly complex poem. Literary critics and historians still debate the poem’s many different meanings, and the poem itself is best read alongside T. S. Eliot’s marginalia. This analysis does not offer a full understanding of the poem, but if you’re interested, this summary of the poem from critic Dr. Oliver Tearle might elucidate.

There are a few key differences between the point of view of a story and the point of view in poetry. These differences are summarized below.

point of view in poetry venn diagram

How do writers experiment with point of view, and what can they achieve with it? In the same way that a film director can play with cinematic style and the camera’s filmography, writers can play with point of view in writing.

In creative writing, rules are made to be broken. We’ve described the narrator as the faithful , objective cameraperson of the story, who keeps the storytelling tidy by using the same pronouns , and situating those pronouns in clearly defined settings and plots .

Yet, we’ve already offered several examples of prose writers who broke those rules—namely William Faulkner, who spearheaded much of the 20th century’s experimentations in prose.

Here are some ways that prose writers can experiment with narrative point of view. These strategies also apply to poetry, but since point of view is less-strictly defined in poetry, many of these rules either don’t apply or are easy to experiment with.

  • The Unreliable Narrator: narrators can deceive, though this deception should be relevant to the story itself. This tactic is often used in mystery and suspense novels, as the narrator often lacks all the necessary information— or the narrator is the antagonist . A contemporary example is the novel Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.
  • Pronouns as Scene Changes: to create a truly immersive world, the narrator might jump freely in and out of a character’s stream of consciousness. Rather than telling the reader “these are the character’s spontaneous thoughts,” the narration can jump inside characters’ heads through the use of pronouns changes, as well as other shifts in style. A classic example is the novel The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner.
  • Multiple Narrators: when the story’s plot is complex and multifaceted, the writer might tell the story from multiple vantage points. Different chapters will be told from different viewpoints, and those viewpoints are (usually) well defined. A recent example is the novel Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, or  Sirens & Muses by Antonia Angress. 
  • Omniscient Flashbacks: you might want the reader to know more than the protagonist does. Why? Because authors are evil and love to make their protagonists suffer. That, and because this information will be revealed to the protagonist later, so it helps make the story more compelling and suspenseful. As a result, some stories might interrupt the main narrative to offer a third person omnipotent flashback. A recent example is the novel The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles by Haruki Murakami.
  • Story Within a Story: the story might utilize a first person narrator who is not relevant to the story—in other words, a first person peripheral narrator. This narrator might tell the bulk of the story in a different point of view, as they are often telling stories that happened before the narrator’s present day. A classic example of this is Wuthering Heights by Charlotte Bronte.

Choosing and Managing Point of View

Here are instructor Jack Smith’s thoughts on finding the right cameraman for your story.

Jack Smith

Whatever your character is like, one thing to consider—early on, if possible—is whether or not this character will, in fact, be the character with the most interesting or compelling vantage point, or perspective, on the story’s action, the one you’ll give the most time to.

For instance, let’s say your story is about a bank heist. Let’s say you have a protagonist in mind, the one who will be your point of view character: the bank robber who has planned the heist. Should you stick with that character, or would a different POV character work better? Who might this be? One of the bank robbers? Which one? A hard-nosed killer who’ll stop at nothing? A novice who’s nervous? A robber with a dashboard filled with robberies he’s committed, one who is going to make this his last heist? How about the driver of the getaway car?

Each of these characters will play a different part in the robbery, and have a different experience. Which is likely to make the most interesting story? Which will have the most impact?

Let’s say it’s a bystander outside of the bank, who witnesses the robbery from across the street. Will that make a good story? Let’s say that you yourself witnessed a bank heist, or perhaps a robbery of a convenience store, or liquor store, and you want to tell that story. But will you have enough conflict ? Perhaps if you heard guns going off, saw a person killed about to enter, or exit, the bank (or store)… maybe then. If your witness brings enough to this story, maybe a past of witnessing different acts of violence, they might make a good protagonist, or POV character. As I’ve described it, your witness is an observer only. But perhaps this character could become a participant, not in the robbery, but in some other way.

Let’s say you’re really invested in this story. You have to tell it because it happened to you.

Be careful not to be bound by what happened, but instead let your imagination run free. Here’s a link on writing autobiographical fiction you might be interested in:

https://www.writermag.com/improve-your-writing/fiction/filtering-fact-through-fiction/

Another point of view example:

Let’s say your novel is going to be about a strained relationship between two family members. You’ve chosen to focus on the difficult relationship between a teenage daughter and her mother. Would it be better to tell it from the daughter’s point of view or the mother’s? If you’re writing autobiographical fiction, and you’re coming from the daughter’s perspective, you might try telling your story from the mother’s point of view. This would keep you from getting too personally invested in one point of view over the other. Could the mother’s POV work? Let’s say that the mother tends to be a bit myopic? That could come across in the kinds of things she notices and says. You could have a case of unconscious irony , and, to the extent to which the mother seems unaware of her own biases, etc., perhaps (if you use first person point of view) an unreliable narrator—at least at times. Just keep in mind that choosing your protagonist is a matter of choosing a perspective, a vantage point, on one’s self and others. Other POV characters are possible, of course, but they would be secondary.

This takes us to multiple points of view. In the case of the bank heist, you could tell the story from several POV’s: the guy who plans the heist, one of the robbers, and the driver of the getaway car. You’d have to decide if their points of view are of equal weight, or if one is more important than the other two. In the case of the strained relationship between the teenage daughter and mother, you could alternate points of view from chapter to chapter.

Ask yourself what stakes your protagonist has in this story. How invested are they? This question pertains to motivation. If you’re a plotter, you can decide on this early on; if you’re a pantser, get a good feel for this protagonist—what are his or her stakes? What motivates them to do what they do, to care about the outcome, to get involved in the fray?

Before you get too far into your story, think of the best perspective(s) from which to tell your tale. The earlier you make a choice, the less work you’ll have doing revision later on.

Explore Narrative Point of View at Writers.com

What else can writers do with narrative point of view? It’s up to you to find out! Writers are constantly experimenting with different ways to tell their stories, and while point of view is not the only way to experiment, it is an essential component of any story you write. So follow the rules, break them, or create entirely new ones—the blank page is yours to command.

When you’re looking to workshop your writing, check out our upcoming course schedule . Our instructors are ready to help fine tune your story’s point of view.

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What is Point of View Definition and Examples in Literature and Film - StudioBinder

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What is Point of View? Definition and Examples in Lit and Film

am, you are, she is, they will be — these are all things we say on a near-daily basis, and they’re all examples of different points of view. But what is point of view within storytelling and how can writers use it strategically? We’re going to explain everything you need to know about point of view in literature, with cinema and video game examples as well. But first let’s review the basics.

Point of View Definition Literature

First, let’s review ‘point of view’.

You’ve probably heard the saying, “according to so-and-so’s point of view” before. A point of view, in simplest terms, is how somebody sees a situation. Usually the “point of view” is inferred by the audience, but sometimes, a character comes right out and says it — like it does with our favorite anti-hero , Anakin Skywalker, in the clip below. The line in question lands around the 1:07 mark.

What is Point of View to Anakin?

It’s generally not a good idea to say “from my point of view” in a story. Audiences tend to feel talked down to when information is relayed in such a hamfisted way. Perhaps that’s one reason why the Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith screenplay faced criticism upon release. Ultimately, the feeling of betrayal is well communicated in the film, but it’s still rooted in a poor foundation.

Now that we’ve covered how point of view can be used to articulate a feeling, let’s jump into a point of view definition!

POINT OF VIEW DEFINITION

What is point of view.

Point of view is the perspective from which a story is told. There are three major points of view that are used in writing: first person, second person, and third person. Each perspective is used to achieve a different creative end: first-person keeps the story intimate and personal; second person creates a dialogue between the words of the writer and the thoughts of the reader; third person presents the story “as is” and gives a feeling of distance.

Types of Point of View:

  • First Person Point of View (I)
  • Second Person Point of View (You)
  • Third Person Point of View (He, She, They)

Define Point of View in a Story

The first person point of view.

The first person POV is all about the letter I — I like, I think, I feel, etc, etc. In the first person POV, you might write something like, “let me tell you a story,” in which the emphasis is given to me rather than you . The first person point of view is told from a personal perspective, and commonly used in narrative essays, short stories, and novels.

Here’s how writers use the 1st person point of view in literature:

  • “My family have been prominent, well-to-do people in this middle-western city for three generations.” (The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
  • “Gloria Hilton and her fifth husband didn't live in New Hampshire very long. But they lived there long enough for me to sell them a bathtub enclosure.” (Go Back to Your Precious Wife and Son, by Kurt Vonnegut)
  • “The day of my father’s funeral had also been my nineteenth birthday. As we drove him to the graveyard, the spoils of injustice, anarchy, discontent, and hatred were all around us.” (Notes of a Native Son, by James Baldwin)

You may have heard “first person” in reference to movies and video games as well. This interpretation of the term suggests that the camera acts as a conduit for a character’s POV. We’ve seen as POV shots in various films, like Sam Mendes’ Road to Perdition , the surrealist film Being John Malkovich , and the sci-fi genre classic The Terminator .

Making of Hardcore Henry

By framing the entire film in the first person POV, Ilya Naishuller was able to create a visceral, frenetically paced film unlike any other. Just remember, the use of the first person POV in film is nauseating to some, and gimmicky to others.

2nd Person POV

The second person point of view.

If the first person POV is all about I , then the second person is all about you . Although second person is rarely used in writing, and near impossible to convey in other mediums, it’s still a useful perspective for writers to consider.

Here’s an example of POV in the second person: “You must be the change you wish to see in the world” — Mahatma Gandhi. In this quote, the emphasis is placed on you . This turns the prose into an activator for the reader by forcing them to become a participant in the story.

Here are some other 2nd person point of view examples in literature:

  • “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 really are, and you wonder if it is possible to change in this life. Being with a philosopher makes you think.” (Bright Lights, Big City, by Jay McInerney)
  • “You're the sort of person who, on principle, no longer expects anything of anything.” (If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler, by Italo Calvino)
  • “You prefer not to see the gears of the clock, as to better tell time.” (The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern)

The second person POV isn’t easy to communicate in visual mediums, but this next video explores how a video game played with perspective to a point where it was possible:

Describe Point of View in the Second Person

The main weakness of the second person POV is that it’s hard to sustain over a long period of time. It certainly works in spurts, but because it’s so restrictive, it starts to feel redundant after a while.

3rd Person POV

The third person point of view.

Of all the perspectives available to writers, the third person POV is perhaps the most common. Instead of placing the emphasis on I or you , the third person POV places emphasis on a person’s name or third person pronoun.

Here are a couple of third person point of view examples:

  • “ Chris went to the store today.”
  • “ She is a great runner.”
  • “ They are about to win”
  • “ It has a good chance of breaking even.”

And here’s an example of the 3rd person limited POV in literature:

  • “Harry had taken one step toward it when a slithering sound made him freeze where he stood. A bush on the edge of the clearing quivered . . . Then, out of the shadows, a hooded figure came crawling across the ground like some stalking beast.” (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, by J.K. Rowling)

The purpose of the third person POV is to create distance between the reader and writer. Nearly every piece of professional news is written in third person, as are academic articles, biographies, and some novels.

This next video takes a look at everything you need to know about writing in third person, including third person omniscient POV vs. third person limited.

What is Point of View in the Third Person?

Here’s an example of the third person omniscient point of view:

  • “The American and the girl with him sat at a table in the shade, outside the building. It was very hot and the express from Barcelona would come in forty minutes. It stopped at this junction for two minutes and went on to Madrid.” (Hills Like White Elephants, by Ernest Hemingway)

I’d say that the third person POV is the most natural storytelling perspective for a written narrative. It allows you to construct a world from a distance, and tell a story in which you’re more of a neutral party.

What Does Point of View Mean for Writers?

Point of view meaning and purpose.

First Person vs. Second Person vs. Third Person

It’s worth experimenting with different points of view, even just as an exercise. By understanding how different POVs are used, we’re better prepared to write the strongest story possible.

What you need to know about plot

No matter what POV you use, it will have an enormous impact on the plot of your story. The plot, in simplest terms, is the sequence of events that make up a story. If your story is told from the first person point of view, the plot will follow what your narrator sees. But things can change considerably when you use the second and third person points of view. In this next article, we break down everything you need to know about plot, so that you’ll be one step closer to making your story a reality!

Up Next: Everything to Know About Plot →

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, what is point of view first, second, and third person.

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General Education

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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.

body-womans-eyes

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.

body-number-four-post-it-note

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.

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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 pronoun s, 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, l ike 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:

I all alone beweep my outcast state, And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries, And look upon myself and curse my fate, Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, Featured like him, like him with friends possessed, Desiring this man’s art and that man’s scope, With what I most enjoy contented least; Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising, Haply I think on thee, and then my state, (Like to the lark at break of day arising From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven’s gate;      For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings     That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

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.

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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

body-hand-number-two

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:

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.

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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

body-person-light-omniscient

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:

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.

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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?

body-woman-back-of-head-view

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

The last point of view an author can use is the third person limited point of view. Just like the omniscient perspective we talked about earlier, texts written in a third person limited point of view use third person pronouns to discuss characters outside of dialogue. The difference between the two is in how much information the narrator shares with the reader.  With a third person limited perspective, the narrator is limited to giving you the perspective of a single character. The narrator can peek inside the character’s head to share their thoughts, feelings, and experiences, similar to a first person point of view. Unlike first person, however, a narrator using a third person limited point of view can also zoom out to give readers a better understanding of how the character they’re following fits into the text’s plot, setting, or situation! Here’s an easy way of understanding the difference between a first person, third person omniscient, and a third person limited point of view. Think of the narrator as a person holding a camera. You, as the reader, get to see everything the camera sees. With first person point of view, it’s like the character has had the camera implanted in their brain. You can see whatever the character looks at and nothing more. With a third person limited point of view, on the other hand, it’s like the narrator is standing behind one character and filming over his shoulde r. Not only can you get a sense of what the character is seeing, the narrator can also step back a little bit to show readers what’s going on around the character...as long as the character stays in the frame.

Third person omniscient is the most comprehensive view. It’s as if the narrator is filming from the rafters of the building. They can zoom out to show everyone for a global perspective, or they can zoom in on different events to give you a better idea of what’s happening in specific situations. So why would a writer use a third person limited point of view? Well, it’s great for situations where knowing every single detail of a story would spoil the plot. Mystery novels, for instance, often use third person limited point of view. It allows the narrator to give you the detective’s thoughts and feelings while not spoiling the whodunit! It also allows the writer to focus on developing a single character while giving readers a better view of what’s going on around that character.

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 :

It’s clear that this passage is written in third person: the narrator uses pronouns like “he,” “she,” and “them,” instead of first person pronouns like “I” or second person pronouns like “you.” But how do we know it’s third person limited? Well, we get Harry’s thoughts and feelings—like his curiosity about Nicholas Flamel—but no one else’s. We don’t know what Hermione and Ron are reading, or if they’re excited, nervous, or scared. Rowling wrote all seven Harry Potter books using a third person limited point of view that made Harry the focal point. The narrator can tell us what Harry’s thinking, feeling, and seeing—as well as zoom out to tell us more about the precarious situations he finds himself in. But because the narrator is tied to Harry, they can’t give us a glimpse into other characters’ minds, nor can it show readers what’s happening in other parts of Hogwarts (where Harry isn’t) . That helps readers get to know Harry, even as it helps Rowling maintain the mystery around the sorcerer’s stone (or the chamber of secrets, or the half-blood prince, etc.).

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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!

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Ashley Sufflé Robinson has a Ph.D. in 19th Century English Literature. As a content writer for PrepScholar, Ashley is passionate about giving college-bound students the in-depth information they need to get into the school of their dreams.

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Perspective vs Point of View

How to use perspective to improve your writing.

What is perspective in literature? What is point of view ? What is the difference between perspective and point of view? Teaching perspective and point of view can prove to be quite challenging. Storyboarding can help!

Many students are confused by the difference between the terms point of view and perspective and their meanings. This is because the literary perspective definition and point of view definition will often be used synonymously, even though they can actually be quite different. Point of view in literature is the format of narration, more commonly known as first person point of view or third person point of view. It is the technical choice that the author makes in order to tell the story.

When considering perspective in writing, it's essential to ask, which statement is true about the narrators' different perspectives? Is it the intimate detailing of personal experiences or the broader, more objective overview of events? In truth, both are valid and demonstrate how perspective can be used to deepen the reader's engagement and understanding of the story. By manipulating perspective, writers can control the depth and breadth of the narrative, offering a richer and more nuanced experience.

Point of View Definition

Point of view is the vantage point from which a story is told. It is the stance from which the action and events of the story unfold.

Perspective Definition

Perspective is a narrator’s attitudes or beliefs about an event, person, or place based on their own personal experiences.

POV vs. perspective in literature is tricky. Perspective in writing refers to the angle or approach adopted by the narrator or characters within a story. This concept is central to understanding, what does perspective mean in reading? It involves more than just the narrative viewpoint; it encompasses the attitudes, biases, and emotional responses of those narrating or experiencing the events in the story. This addition of personal lenses adds layers of depth and complexity to the narrative, making it more engaging and nuanced for the reader. It is the subtle yet crucial difference that sets apart POV vs perspective—while point of view dictates who tells the story, perspective colors how they tell it and influences the reader's interpretation and connection to the narrative.

The definition of narrative perspective is often simply the vantage point from which the story is told to the audience. Therefore it is synonymous with point of view. Most novels are written in either the first person POV or the third person. However, the difference between pov and perspective is that the narrator's perspective in a story can also refer to their worldview . Therefore, perspective definition in literature is the character's perspective which is shaped by their culture, heritage, physical traits, and personal experiences .

Readers can understand more about the story when they ask themselves, "what is the narrator's perspective?". Sometimes a reader shares the same perspective as the narrator. But, often, different perspective examples in literature are found. These can express and illuminate a different approach to a well-known event or issue, and provide an invaluable opportunity for readers to see things in a new way. Perspective and point of view are related and intertwined. POV and perspective are both important for students to grasp to gain a deeper understanding of any text. Perspective can be strengthened by the authorial choices for the narrator’s point of view, but the two are separate literary concepts. While point of view focuses on the who of a story, perspective focuses on the how . It is important for students to understand the difference between point of view and perspective.

The Role of Perspective in Storytelling: Point of View vs. Perspective

Perspective literature plays a crucial role in shaping a story's narrative. The question often arises, what is the difference between point of view and perspective? While point of view determines who is telling the story, perspective deals with how this story is told. This distinction is vital in storytelling, as it affects how readers perceive and interpret the narrative, shaping their emotional and intellectual responses.

In literature, point of view vs perspective is a fundamental distinction. The point of view refers to the narrative voice through which the story is told. It dictates what shapes someone's point of view in a story, influencing how the reader perceives the unfolding events. The choice of point of view, whether first, second, or third person, has a profound impact on the storytelling process and reader experience. The meaning of point of view can be confusing for students. An easy definition is that it is the narrator of the story. Who is telling the story and to whom? There are 4 different types of POV:

Point of View Definition

  • 1st person POV : In first person point of view, the narrator uses the pronouns “I” and “we.” A classic example of a first person narrative is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee . This story focuses on Scout's, the main character's point of view. Viewpoint vs perspective is particularly evident in the first-person point of view, where the character's viewpoint (what they see and experience) is intrinsically linked with their perspective (how they interpret these experiences).
  • 2nd person POV : In second person point of view, the narrator uses the pronoun “you.” The second person narrative is rare but can occur. In the second person POV the reader is a character. Some may remember this employed in the "Choose Your Own Adventure" books.
  • 3rd person POV : In third person point of view, the narrator uses the pronouns “she,” “he,” “they,” and “it.” There are two types of 3rd person POV: 3rd person limited is when the narrator only knows the thoughts of one person. An example of 3rd person limited POV is A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle .
  • 3rd person omniscient is when the narrator knows more than the thoughts of multiple characters. In this case, the narrator is privy to the thoughts of the main character as well as the secondary characters. An example of the third person omniscient POV in literature is the classic Lord of the Flies by William Golding . Another interesting example of POV is in The Book Thief by Markus Zusak which is narrated by Death. This narrator is omniscient and knows all of the characters' thoughts and feelings. However, the author switches the narrator between first person, speaking as death about himself and his thoughts, and as a third person point of view, describing all the characters' thoughts and emotions.

Point of View Example: Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Shiloh Point of View

More about Point of View (POV)

Point of view, or the kind of narration, deals with who is telling the story: first person (I, me, my) or third person (he, she, they). First person narrators have many advantages, including credibility and intimacy. A first person narrator is often more believable because the reader gets access to their thoughts and beliefs. However, there are disadvantages, too. The narrator’s characterizations of events, people, and places will be colored by their attitudes, prejudices, limitations, and shortcomings. In many ways, it makes them unreliable because their observations may not always fully adhere to the truth. It is also difficult for a narrator to directly characterize themself personally. Instead, the reader must form an opinion based on how other characters react to the narrator, and by the narrator’s actions, thoughts, and dialogue.

Third person narration can be split into two categories: omniscient and limited point of view. An omniscient narrator is someone who can access the thoughts and beliefs of many characters without limitations, and can explain past, present, and future events to the reader. This gives an enormous amount of freedom to the narrator. It is advantageous because an omniscient narrator can often interpret the motivations of characters or the importance of events directly to the reader. It also has a disadvantage in its loss of intimacy with the reader.

A limited third person narrator is restricted to one particular character’s experiences and thoughts. It again allows a sense of intimacy and credibility with the reader, but the author is still able to pepper in details that the character may not otherwise know or realize. There is still room for the author to interpret some things for the reader, and to characterize the narrator in more detail.

A note about second person narration

Many students often wonder what second person narration is. The best way to explain this is to have them look at the directions on a quiz or test, or pull out a cookbook, an instruction manual, or anything else that directly instructs the reader. The major pronoun in second person narration is you , with the you being the reader. It is not often used in fiction, other than the choose-your-own-adventure books where the author instructs the reader to make a certain choice and turn to a particular page. (R.L. Stine wrote many of these types of books in the mid-90s with his Give Yourself Goosebumps special edition series. Edward Packard originally created the concept in 1976.)

Point of View Activity

Point of View Example

A great way to get students thinking about the nuances of a narrator’s point of view is to have them create or re-create a story using a different narration format. Have students create a narrative of an event with the three different points of view: first person, third person omniscient, and third person limited. They can also re-tell a story from their reading from another point of view, and see how it changes. Have students present their storyboards, and assess the way that writing their narratives opened up or limited their ability to tell the story.

Point of View Activity Template

Perspective

perspective definition in literature

Point of view and perspective are different. Perspective is a narrator’s interpretation of events, people, and places based on their own personal experiences and background. The character's perspective is expressed in the narrator’s dialogue with the reader and it reflects these aspects, and may present opinions or different ideas than other characters in the story. The character's perspective affects the way the story is told and the information that the reader receives. The narrator can be considered reliable or an unreliable narrator . In this case, the reader is only privy to the narrator's perspective and it may not be entirely the whole truth of the matter. A classic example of an unreliable narrator is in Edgar Allen Poe's ”The Tell-Tale Heart” . In this example the story perspective focuses on the narrator's version of events. However, in the process of explaining his story, the narrator clearly incriminates himself!

Siu Wai Anderson's moving novel, “ Autumn Gardening ” uses perspective to express a different viewpoint of a well-known event: the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. The American perspective of this event is typically concerned with the tactical implications of the bombing: it prevented the loss of more American (and Japanese) lives; it finally brought World War II to an end; it showcased the military strength of America as a warning to other countries.

However, Mariko’s perspective on the same event is quite different. A person's culture, background and experiences greatly influence their perspective. She is left with physical scars from the glass that worked its way into the skin on her face. She has severe asthma that she suspects was also caused by the bombing. She recalls the suffering of the people who were injured, and the tortuous choices she had to make between helping some and leaving others to die.

In addition, she has some elements of PTSD, such as nervously looking up whenever a plane flies overhead, and she is plagued by nightmares which has made her feel as if she must keep her distance from others. While the narrative doesn’t explicitly call into question the moral decision to drop the atomic bombs, it does ask the reader to consider the amount of suffering caused by the decision. It adds a human element to a far-away event, and it creates a sense of empathy and understanding for the reader.

Influences on Perspective

  • Personal Experiences
  • Cultural Heritage
  • Sexual Orientation

Perspective in Literature: Characteristics of Narrator Perspective

Often an author’s choice of point of view for their narrator will help enhance the narrator’s perspective . For instance, Scout’s first person narration of the events that led to Jem’s arm being broken in To Kill A Mockingbird allows the reader to follow the story from the perspective of a child’s innocence. Older readers may pick up on the fact that the daily visits to Mrs. Dubose to read to her, coupled with the lengthening of the timer each day and her physical state, might indicate that she is going through withdrawals. However, Scout, as a young 7-year-old child, does not realize this because she doesn’t understand opioid addiction. Luckily, Atticus steps in to explain it to Scout and Jem – and any other confused readers.

Perspective in a Story Activity

Understanding perspective is crucial for students to be able to analyze and think about the world around them. Perspective is more than just looking at a story from a different angle; it’s realizing that there are multiple angles to every story, especially in everyday life. If they’ve ever heard the old adage, “There’s two sides to every story”, this is a great example of what perspective is all about. In literature in particular, there is a great opportunity to examine two sides to a story by looking at the protagonist versus the antagonist. According to John Rogers, author of several Canadian-based comic book series, “You don’t really understand an antagonist until you understand why he’s a protagonist in his own version of the world.”

A great way to get students thinking about perspective is to ask them to retell a popular story from the antagonist’s point of view. Have students create a plot diagram for a story they are reading or have read in the past, but have them do it from the perspective of the antagonist. Ask students to consider the experiences and physical traits of the antagonist that might have helped them develop a unique perspective.

Antagonist Comparison Great Expectations Perspective Example

Examples of Point of View and Perspective Activities

Students' understanding of perspective in reading has a direct effect on their understanding about perspective in their own writing. Using storyboarding activities to delve deeper into perspective and point of view can help students in both their analytical skills while reading as well as later on in their writing. Check out these point of view and perspective activities from our guides on The Book Thief , Return to Sender , and The Canterbury Tales .

Point of View in The Book Thief

Other Ideas for Understanding Perspective

Have students write about an event or person from the perspective of three different characters in a story, or create their own!

Advanced Students: Have students read the original manuscript of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird , recently published in July 2015 as Go Set a Watchman. Ask students to detail in a storyboard the differences in perspective from Scout’s narration as a grown woman, versus her narration as a child.

How To Use Point Of View And Perspective To Teach Critical Thinking And Analysis

Introduce the concept of point of view and perspective.

Begin by defining these terms and discussing how they can shape the way we interpret and understand stories. Use examples from literature, film, or other media to illustrate how different points of view and perspectives can influence the narrative.

Select Texts Or Media That Offer Diverse Perspectives

Choose texts or media that offer a variety of perspectives on a given topic or theme. These could include texts that feature multiple narrators, texts written from different cultural or social perspectives, or texts that challenge students' assumptions and biases.

Analyze The Text Or Media From Multiple Perspectives

Have students read or watch the text or media and identify the different points of view and perspectives that are represented. Encourage students to think critically about how each perspective shapes their understanding of the story or topic.

Identify Biases And Assumptions

Have students reflect on their own biases and assumptions and consider how these might influence their interpretation of the text or media. Encourage students to question their own assumptions and consider alternative perspectives.

Use Evidence From The Text Or Media To Support Interpretations

Teach students how to use evidence from the text or media to support their interpretations and evaluations of different perspectives. Encourage students to cite specific examples from the text or media to support their arguments.

Foster Discussion And Debate

Provide opportunities for students to discuss and debate different perspectives on the text or media. Encourage students to listen to and consider alternative perspectives, and challenge each other's assumptions and arguments.

Reflect On The Learning Experience

Have students reflect on their learning experience and consider how their understanding of point of view and perspective has evolved. Encourage students to reflect on how they can use these critical thinking skills in their own lives and to make informed decisions based on multiple perspectives. By following these steps, teachers can use point of view and perspective to teach critical thinking and analysis, helping students to develop a deeper understanding of the world around them and to become more engaged and informed citizens.

Frequently Asked Questions about Perspective vs. Point of View (POV) in Literature

What is perspective.

Perspective in general means a particular way of looking at things that is dependent upon one's own experiences, culture and personality.

What is perspective in literature?

The definition of a character's perspective or the narrator's perspective in literature refers to how the characters in a story perceive what is happening within the story: the events, people and places. Their perspective is informed and influenced by their own background and experiences such as their family, culture and the society that they grew up in.

What are the 4 types of Point of View (POV)?

  • 1st person : The narrator in the first person uses the pronouns “I” and “we.”
  • 2nd person : The narrator in the second person uses the pronoun “you.”
  • 3rd person limited : The narrator in the third person limited uses the pronouns “she,” “he,” “they,” and “it.” There are two types of 3rd person POV: 3rd person limited is when the narrator only knows the thoughts of one person.
  • 3rd person omniscient : The narrator in the third person omniscient also uses the pronouns "she", "he", "they", and "it". However, this narrator knows more than one of the characters' thoughts and feelings.

What is the difference between Perspective and Point of View?

The difference between point of view and perspective is easy to identify if you ask yourself some questions. Point of view is how the author has chosen the story to be told. Who is speaking? This will tell you the point of view (POV) whether it is 1st, 2nd or 3rd person. To discover the perspective, you have to delve into the worldview of the character. How has the character's experiences and background shaped how they view the world? This shapes their perspective. POV vs. Perspective can be tricky for students to understand at first but as they apply these new definitions to their reading consistently they will be able to identify them in no time!

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The Write Practice

Types of Point of View: The Ultimate Guide to First Person and Third Person POV

by Joe Bunting | 72 comments

In my experience as an editor, point of view problems are among the top mistakes I see new writers make, and they instantly erode credibility and reader trust. Point of view isn't easy though, since there are so many to choose from: first person point of view, third person limited, third person omniscient, and second person.

What do those even mean? And how do you choose the right one for your story?

Point of View in Writing

All stories are written from a point of view. However, when point of view goes wrong—and believe me, it goes wrong often—you threaten whatever trust you have with your reader. You also fracture their suspension of disbelief.

However, point of view is simple to master if you use common sense.

This post will define point of view, go over each of the major POVs, explain a few of the POV rules, and then point out the major pitfalls writers make when dealing with that point of view.

essay about perspective point of view

Table of Contents

Point of View Definition The 4 Types of Point of View The #1 POV Mistake First Person Point of View Second Person Point of View Third Person Limited Point of View Third Person Omniscient Point of View FAQ: Can you change POV in a Series? Practice Exercise

Point of View Definition

The point of view, or POV, in a story is the narrator's position in the description of events, and comes from the Latin word, punctum visus , which literally means point sight. The point of view is where a writer points the sight of the reader.

Note that point of view also has a second definition.

In a discussion, an argument, or nonfiction writing, a point of view is an opinion about a subject. This is not the type of point of view we're going to focus on in this article (although it is helpful for nonfiction writers, and for more information, I recommend checking out Wikipedia's neutral point of view policy ).

I especially like the German word for POV, which is Gesichtspunkt , translated “face point,” or where your face is pointed. Isn't that a good visual for what's involved in point of view? It's the limited perspective of what you show your reader.

Note too that point of view is sometimes called narrative mode or narrative perspective.

Why Point of View Is So Important

Why does point of view matter so much?

For a fiction writer, point of view filters everything in your story. Everything in your story must come from a point of view.

Which means if you get it wrong, your entire story is damaged.

For example, I've personally read and judged thousands of stories for literary contests, and I've found point of view mistakes in about twenty percent of them. Many of these stories would have placed much higher if only the writers hadn't made the mistakes we're going to talk about soon.

The worst part is these mistakes are easily avoidable if you're aware of them. But before we get into the common point of view mistakes, let's go over each of the four types of narrative perspective.

The Four Types of Point of View

Here are the four primary types of narration in fiction:

  • First person point of view.  First person perspective is when “I” am telling the story. The character is in  the story, relating his or her experiences directly.
  • Second person point of view. The story is told to “you.” This POV is not common in fiction, but it's still good to know (it is  common in nonfiction).
  • Third person point of view, limited. The story is about “he” or “she.” This is the most common point of view in commercial fiction. The narrator is outside of the story and relating the experiences of a character.
  • Third person point of view, omniscient. The story is still about “he” or “she,” but the narrator has full access to the thoughts and experiences of all  characters in the story. This is a much broader perspective.

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I know you've seen and probably even used most of these point of views.

While these are the only types of POV, there are additional narrative techniques you can use to tell an interesting story. To learn how to use devices like epistolary and framing stories, check out our full narrative devices guide here .

Let's discuss each of the four types, using examples to see how they affect your story. We'll also go over the rules for each type, but first let me explain the big mistake you don't want to make with point of view.

The #1 POV Mistake

Do not begin your story with a first person narrator and then switch to a third person narrator. Do not start with third person limited and then abruptly give your narrator full omniscience. This is the most common type of error I see writers make with POV.

The guideline I learned in my first creative writing class in college is a good one:

Establish the point of view within the first two paragraphs of your story.

And above all, don't change your point of view . If you do, it creates a jarring experience for the reader and you'll threaten your reader's trust. You could even fracture the architecture of your story.

That being said, as long as you're consistent, you can sometimes get away with using multiple POV types. This isn't easy and isn't recommended, but for example, one of my favorite stories, a 7,000 page web serial called Worm ,  uses two point of views—first person with interludes of third-person limited—very effectively. (By the way, if you're looking for a novel to read over the next two to six months, I highly recommend it—here's the link to read for free online .) The first time the author switched point of views, he nearly lost my trust. However, he kept this dual-POV consistent over 7,000 pages and made it work.

Whatever point of view choices you make, be consistent. Your readers will thank you!

Now, let's go into detail on each of the four narrative perspective types, their best practices, and mistakes to avoid.

First Person Point of View

In first person point of view, the narrator is in the story and telling the events he or she is personally experiencing.

The simplest way to understand first person is that the narrative will use first-person pronouns like I, me, and my.

Here's a first person point of view example from Herman Melville's  Moby Dick :

Call me Ishmael. Some years ago—never mind how long precisely—having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world

First person narrative perspective is one of the most common POVs in fiction. If you haven't read a book in first person point of view, you haven't been reading.

What makes this point of view interesting, and challenging, is that all of the events in the story are filtered through the narrator and explained in his or her own unique narrative voice.

This means first person narrative is both biased and incomplete, but it can also deliver a level of intimacy other POVs can't.

Other first person point of view examples can be found in these popular novels :

  • The Sun Also Rises  by Ernest Hemingway
  • Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
  • Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
  • The Hunger Games  by Suzanne Collins
  • The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  • Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brönte

First Person Narrative is Unique to Writing

There's no such thing as first person in film or theater—although voiceovers and mockumentary interviews like the ones in The Office and Modern Family provide a level of first person narrative in third person perspective film and television.

In fact, the very first novels were written in first person, modeled after popular journals and autobiographies which were first-person stories of nonfiction..

First Person Point of View is Limited

First person narrators are narrated from a single character's perspective at a time. They cannot be everywhere at once and thus cannot get all sides of the story.

They are telling their  story, not necessarily the  story.

First Person Point of View is Biased

In first person novels, the reader almost always sympathizes with a first person narrator, even if the narrator is an anti-hero with major flaws.

Of course, this is why we love first person narrative, because it's imbued with the character's personality, their unique perspective on the world.

The most extreme use of this bias is called an unreliable narrator. Unreliable narration is a technique used by novelists to surprise the reader by capitalize on the limitations of first person narration to make the narrator's version of events extremely prejudicial to their side and/or highly separated from reality.

You'll notice this form of narration being used when you, as the reader or audience, discover that you can't trust the narrator.

For example, Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl  pits two unreliable narrators against one another. Each relates their conflicting version of events, one through typical narration and the other through journal entries. Another example is  Fight  Club , in which *SPOILER* the narrator has a split personality and imagines another character who drives the plot.

Other Interesting Uses of First Person Narrative:

  • The classic novel Heart of Darkness is actually a first person narrative within a first person narrative. The narrator recounts verbatim the story Charles Marlow tells about his trip up the Congo river while they sit at port in England.
  • William Faulkner's Absalom,  Absalom  is told from the first person point of view of Quentin Compson; however, most of the story is a third person account of Thomas Sutpen, his grandfather, as told to Quentin by Rosa Coldfield. Yes, it's just as complicated as it sounds!
  • Salman Rushdie's award-winning  Midnight's Children  is told in first person, but spends most of the first several hundred pages giving a precise third person account of the narrator's ancestors. It's still first person, just a first person narrator telling a story about someone else.

Two Big Mistakes Writers Make with First Person Point of View

When writing in first person, there are two major mistakes writers make :

1. The narrator isn't  likable. Your protagonist doesn't have to be a cliché hero. She doesn't even need to be good. However, she must  be interesting .

The audience will not stick around for 300 pages  listening to a character they don't enjoy. This is one reason why anti-heroes make great first person narrators.

They may not be morally perfect, but they're almost always interesting. (Remember Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye ?)

2. The narrator tells but doesn't show. The danger with first person is that you could spend too much time in your character's head, explaining what he's thinking and how he feels about the situation.

You're allowed to mention the character's mood, but don't forget that your reader's trust and attention relies on what your character does , not what he thinks about doing.

Second Person Point of View

While not used often in fiction—it is used regularly in nonfiction, song lyrics, and even video games—second person POV is still helpful to understand.

In this point of view, the narrator relates the experiences using second person pronouns like you and your. Thus, you  become the protagonist, you  carry the plot, and your  fate determines the story.

We've written elsewhere about why you should try writing in second person , but in short we like second person because it:

  • Pulls the reader into the action of the story
  • Makes the story   personal
  • Surprises the reader
  • Stretches your skills as a writer

Here's an example from the breakout bestseller  Bright Lights, Big City by Jay Mclnerney (probably the most popular example that uses second person point of view):

You have friends who actually care about you and speak the language of the inner self. You have avoided them of late. Your soul is as disheveled as your apartment, and until you can clean it up a little you don't want to invite anyone inside.

Second person narration isn't used frequently, however there are some notable examples of it.

Some other novels that use second person point of view are:

  • Remember the Choose Your Own Adventure series? If you've ever read one of these novels where you get to decide the fate of the character (I always killed my character, unfortunately), you've read second person narrative.
  • The Fifth Season  by N.K. Jemison
  • The opening of The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

There are also many experimental novels and short stories that use second person, and writers such as William Faulkner, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Albert Camus played with the style.

Breaking the fourth wall:

In the plays of William Shakespeare, a character will sometimes turn toward the audience and speak directly to them. In  A Midsummer Night's Dream , Puck says:

If we shadows have offended, think but this, and all is mended, that you have but slumbered here while these visions did appear.

This narrative device of speaking directly to the audience or the reader is called breaking the fourth wall (the other three walls being the setting of the story).

To think of it another way, it's a way the writer can briefly use second person in a first or third person narrative.

It's a lot of fun! You should try it.

Third Person Point of View

In third person narration, the narrator is outside of the story and relating the experiences of a character.

The central character is not the narrator. In fact, the narrator is not present in the story at all.

The simplest way to understand third person narration is that it uses third-person pronouns, like he/she, his/hers, they/theirs.

There are two types of this point of view:

Third Person Omniscient

The all-knowing narrator has full access to all  the thoughts and experiences of all  the characters in the story.

Examples of Third Person Omniscient:

While much less common today, third person omniscient narration was once the predominant type, used by most classic authors. Here are some of the novels using omniscient perspective today.

  • War and Peace  by Leo Tolstoy
  • Middlemarch  by George Eliot
  • Where the Crawdad's Sing by Delia Owens
  • The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
  • Still Life by Louise Penny (and all the Inspector Gamache series, which is amazing, by the way)
  • Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar
  • Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
  • Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
  • Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan (one of my favorites!)
  • A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin
  • Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
  • More third person omniscient examples can be found here

Third Person Limited

The narrator has only some, if any, access to the thoughts and experiences of the characters in the story, often just to one  character .

Examples of Third Person Limited

Here's an example of a third person limited narrator from  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone  by J.K. Rowling:

A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous…. He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: “To Harry Potter—the boy who lived!”

Some other examples of third person limited narration include:

  • Game of Thrones s eries by George R.R. Martin (this has an ensemble cast, but Martin stays in one character's point of view at a time, making it a clear example of limited POV with multiple viewpoint characters, which we'll talk about in just a moment)
  • For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
  • ​The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
  • The Da Vinci Code  by Dan Brown
  • The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
  • Ulysses by James Joyce
  • Love in the Time of Cholera  by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  • 1984  by   George Orwell
  • Orphan Train by   Christina Baker Kline
  • Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff

Should You Use Multiple Viewpoint Characters vs. a Single Perspective?

One feature of third person limited and first person narrative is that you have the option of having multiple viewpoint characters.

A viewpoint character is simply the character whose thoughts the reader has access to. This character become the focus of the perspective during the section of story or the story as a whole.

While it increases the difficulty, you can have multiple viewpoint characters for each narrative. For example,  Game of Thrones  has more than a dozen viewpoint characters throughout the series.  Fifth Season has three viewpoint characters. Most romance novels have at least two viewpoint characters.

The rule is to only focus on one viewpoint character at a time (or else it changes to third person omniscient).

Usually authors with multiple viewpoint characters will change viewpoints every chapter. Some will change after section breaks. However, make sure there is  some  kind of break before changing so as to prepare the reader for the shift.

Should You Use Third Person Omniscient or Third Person Limited

The distinction between third persons limited and omniscient is messy and somewhat artificial.

Full omniscience in novels is rare—it's almost always limited in some way—if only because the human mind isn't comfortable handling all the thoughts and emotions of multiple people at once.

The most important consideration in third person point of view is this:

How omniscient are you going to be? How deep are you going to go into your character's mind? Will you read their thoughts frequently and deeply at any chance? Or will you rarely, if ever, delve into their emotions?

To see this question in action, imagine a couple having an argument.

Tina wants Fred to go to the store to pickup the cilantro she forgot she needed for the meal she's cooking. Fred is frustrated that she didn't ask him to pick up the cilantro on the way home from the office, before he had changed into his “homey” clothes (AKA boxer shorts).

If the narrator is fully omniscient, do you parse both Fred and Tina's emotions during each back and forth?

“Do you want to eat ? If you do, then you need to get cilantro instead of acting like a lazy pig,” Tina said, thinking, I can't believe I married this jerk. At least back then he had a six pack, not this hairy potbelly . “Figure it out, Tina. I'm sick of rushing to the store every time you forget something,” said Fred. He felt the anger pulsing through his large belly.

Going back and forth between multiple characters' emotions like this can give a reader whiplash, especially if this pattern continued over several pages and with more than two characters. This is an example of an omniscient narrator who perhaps is a little too comfortable explaining the characters' inner workings.

“ Show, don't tell ,” we're told. Sharing all  the emotions of all  your characters can become distraction. It can even destroy any tension you've built.

Drama requires mystery. If the reader knows each character's emotions all the time, there will be no space for drama.

How do You Handle Third Person Omniscient Well?

The way many editors and many famous authors handle this is to show the thoughts and emotions of only one character per scene (or per chapter).

George R.R. Martin, for example, uses “ point of view characters ,” characters whom he always has full access to understanding. He will write a full chapter from their perspective before switching to the next point of view character.

For the rest of the cast, he stays out of their heads.

This is an effective guideline, if not a strict rule, and it's one I would suggest to any first-time author experimenting with third person narrative. Overall, though, the principle to show, don't tell should be your guide.

The Biggest Third Person Omniscient Point of View Mistake

The biggest mistake I see writers make constantly in third person is  head hopping .

When you switch point of view characters too quickly, or dive into the heads of too many characters at once, you could be in danger of what editors call “head hopping.”

When the narrator switches from one character’s thoughts to another’s  too quickly, it can jar the reader and break the intimacy with the scene’s main character.

We've written about how you can get away with head hopping elsewhere , but it's a good idea to try to avoid going into more than one character's thoughts per scene or per chapter.

Can You Change POV Between Books In a Series?

What if you're writing a novel series? Can you change point of view or even POV characters between books?

The answer is yes, you can, but whether you should or not is the big question.

In general, it's best to keep your POV consistent within the same series. However, there are many examples of series that have altered perspectives or POV characters between series, either because the character in the previous books has died, for other plot reasons, or simply because of author choice.

For more on this, watch this coaching video where we get into how and why to change POV characters between books in a series:

How to Choose the RIGHT POV Character

Which Point of View Will You Use?

Here's a helpful point of view infographic to help you decide which POV to use in your writing:

Distance in Point of View

Note that these distances should be thought of as ranges, not precise calculations. A third person narrator could conceivably draw closer to the reader than a first person narrator.

Most importantly, there is no best point of view. All of these points of view are effective in various types of stories.

If you're just getting started, I would encourage you to use either first person or third person limited point of view because they're easy to understand.

However, that shouldn't stop you from experimenting. After all, you'll only get comfortable with other points of view by trying them!

Whatever you choose, be consistent. Avoid the mistakes I mentioned under each point of view.

And above all, have fun!

How about you? Which of the four points of view have you used in your writing? Why did you use it, and what did you like about it? Share in the comments .

Using a point of view you've never used before, write a brief story about a teenager who has just discovered he or she has superpowers.

Make sure to avoid the POV mistakes listed in the article above.

Write for fifteen minutes . When your time is up, post your practice in the Pro Practice Workshop (if you’re not a member yet, you can join here ). And if you post, please be sure to give feedback to your fellow writers.

We can gain just as much value giving feedback as we can writing our own books!

Happy writing!

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Joe Bunting

Joe Bunting is an author and the leader of The Write Practice community. He is also the author of the new book Crowdsourcing Paris , a real life adventure story set in France. It was a #1 New Release on Amazon. Follow him on Instagram (@jhbunting).

Want best-seller coaching? Book Joe here.

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Point of View in Academic Writing

Point of view is the perspective from which an essay is written. The following chart lists both the personal pronouns and their possessive forms used with these points of view:

When choosing appropriate point of view for academic or formal writing, consider the type and purpose of the assignment.

First Person

First-person point of view is used to write stories/narratives or examples about personal experiences from your own life. Note the following paragraph:

Several people have made a lasting impression on me . I remember one person in particular who was significant to me . Dr. Smith, my high school English teacher, helped my family and me through a difficult time during my junior year. We appreciated her care, kindness, and financial help after the loss of our home in a devastating fire.

Note : Academic writing often requires us to avoid first-person point of view in favor of third-person point of view, which can be more objective and convincing. Often, students will say, “ I think the author is very convincing.” Taking out I makes a stronger statement or claim: “The author is very convincing.”

Second Person

Second-person point of view, which directly addresses the reader, works well for giving advice or explaining how to do something. A process analysis paper would be a good choice for using the second-person point of view, as shown in this paragraph:

In order to prepare microwave popcorn, you will need a microwave and a box of microwave popcorn which you’ve purchased at a grocery store. First of all, you need to remove the popcorn package from the box and take off the plastic wrap. Next, open your microwave and place the package in the center with the proper side up. Then set your microwave for the suggested number of minutes as stated on the box. Finally, when the popcorn is popped, you’re ready for a great treat.

Note : Academic writing generally avoids second-person point of view in favor of third-person point of view. Second person can be too casual for formal writing, and it can also alienate the reader if the reader does not identify with the idea.

Replacing You

In academic writing, sometimes "you" needs to be replaced with nouns or proper nouns to create more formality or to clarify the idea. Here are some examples:

Third Person

Third-person point of view identifies people by proper noun (a given name such as Shema Ahemed) or noun (such as teachers, students, players, or doctors ) and uses the pronouns they, she, and he . Third person also includes the use of one, everyone, and anyone. Most formal, academic writing uses the third person. Note the use of various third-person nouns and pronouns in the following:

The bosses at the company have decided that employees need a day of in-house training. Times have been scheduled for everyone . Several senior employees will be required to make five-minute presentations. One is not eager to speak in front of others since he’s very shy. Another one , however, is anxious to relate their expertise. The variation in routine should provide an interesting day for all people concerned.

Third Person Pronouns: Gender-Fair Use of Language and Singular “They”

In the past, if you wanted to refer to one unnamed person, you used the masculine pronoun: If a person is strong, he will stand up for himself . Today, you should avoid the automatic use of the masculine pronoun because it is considered sexist language.

Also avoid perpetuating gender stereotypes by assigning a particular gendered pronoun: A doctor should listen to his patients. A nurse should listen to her patients . These examples make assumptions that doctors are men and nurses are women, which is a sexist stereotype.

Instead, use the pronouns they or them to refer to a person whose gender is undisclosed or irrelevant to the context of the usage: If a person is strong, they will stand up for themselves when they believe in something.

Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’: Point of View Essay

Introduction.

Charlotte Perkins is a famous writer, journalist, and feminist. The Yellow Wallpaper is one of her short stories containing a feminist attitude characteristic of all her works.

In her numerous works, she consistently discusses the hierarchical status of women in society regarding patriarchy. The central theme in The Yellow Wallpaper is a restriction and subordination of women in domestic spheres. That is a consequence of male dominance in marriages. The first person’s point of view effectively illustrates this theme. Symbolism also emphasizes the subjugation of women in the story. This essay focuses on how the point of view in The Yellow Wallpaper helps to develop the theme.

The Yellow Wallpaper: Narration

Gilman points out the conventional setup of the nineteenth-century middle-class assumptions and attitudes towards marriages that prevent women from exercising their wishes and desires.

The theme of the short story is real because it is driven by the unfortunate events which occurred in Gilman’s life (Delashmit and Long 32).

Loss of identity for women among American households was a common scenario in American society in the nineteenth century. Women who wished to stabilize and express themselves did not get a listening ear.

The male-dominated society considered all female ideas invalid. Gilman’s story focuses on male dominance. She brings out her atrocious tale to explain what women face and how their husbands subject them to dictatorship.

Gilman tells her story using first-person narration. Through the means of it, the readers empathize with the Narrator as they follow the progression of the story. First-person narration helps one get a deeper comprehension of the storyline and language.

There is an epistolary style in the story because the Narrator gives the sequence of events as diary entries. The continual use of the pronoun ‘I’ makes the reader relate to the Narrator’s point of view. According to Hochman (89), first-person narration in The Yellow Wallpaper makes this story incredibly different. It distinguishes this story from other creative stories of that time.

Moreover, it is an immensely challenging task for Gilman to bring out the story from her point of view, disregarding possible negative critiques from literary critics and the masses. Gilman forms an insider’s perspective to this story, thus giving an autobiographical nature to the text. Hochman further explains that such achievements were significant in America during the 1890s (89).

The Narrator’s point of view connects with the central theme of the story. The story has a feminist approach that explores feminism and challenges male dominance in society that roots in most households. Men feel that they have every right to exercise authority over women. For example, Gilman’s husband does not accept any explanation from her and always imposes his will over her.

The Narrator’s point of view gives the reader a mental picture of the setting for the story. Gilman’s description of the rental mansion shows the beauty of the place. She uses words such as “there is a delicious garden” and “the most beautiful place” to emphasize this beauty.

However, she also contradicts her point of view by describing the mansion as “a colonial mansion, a hereditary estate.” These phrases indicate that Gilman believes that men have colonized the mansion since time immemorial. It also shows that men dominate a place meant for equal sharing by both genders.

Thrailkill (525) interprets that the luxuriousness of the mansion is heritable (goes by from one generation to the next). The Narrator depicts the relationship between her husband and her from the first-person narration. She admits that John laughs at her, a statement that indicates that she is a casualty of low self-esteem and exasperation. She is also the object of ridicule to her husband.

The Narrator’s perspective becomes more explicit when she strongly points out that she is aware of her “nervous condition,” meaning that she is also conscious as a writer to raise this issue from a feminist’s point of view. The Narrator’s point of view brings out sarcasm and irony as styles in the story. The Narrator says that she is glad that her case is not severe when her husband is away at the hospital for long periods.

This shows how ironic it is that Gilman’s husband is busy solving serious cases outside, while his wife is suffering from nervous depression. It is also ironic that her husband’s attempts to cure her leave her in a worse mental state even after following distinctive directions.

The yellow wallpaper in Gilman’s room metaphorically supports her idea of the effects of male dominance on women’s lives. Similarly, her life has turned out unpleasant and unattractive, like an “unclean yellow” (Quawas 35).

Symbolism is an imperative style in the story. Symbolism clarifies the underlying purpose behind the writing of the story. Symbolism also adds to the perspective that the story builds in the reader and the Narrator’s minds.

The yellow wallpaper in the story is symbolic of the suppressed emotions of the protagonist. The wallpaper is “ripped,” “soiled,” “unclean yellow,” “revolting,” and “formless sort of figures.” These descriptions of the wallpaper are symbolic of the shapeless and suffocating life that the Narrator leads.

It symbolizes a filled with life with harsh memories. “Soiled” symbolizes the burial act, thus representing the death of her ideal life. “Ghostly sub-pattern” is symbolic of the haunted life she leads guided by ghosts of the dead. It shows her desires relating to her fascination with writing and creativity. She wants to fly away from the cage of patriarchy.

The Narrator’s character undergoes self-realization, developing through the mindset of the reader. The use of the first-person narration in The Yellow Wallpaper shapes the strength of the main character.

The course of action that the Narrator anticipates taking concerning her subdued life develops her character in the course of the story (Subotsky 22).

The deeper she interprets the emotional patterns on the yellow wallpaper, the farther she moves from her own life. Her character develops when she realizes the pain suffered by her fellow women.

Works Cited

Delashmit, M. & Long, C. “Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper.’” The Explicator 50.1(1991):32. Print.

Hochman, B. “The Reading Habit and ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’.” American Literature 74.1 (2002): 89-110. Print.

Quawas, R. “A New Woman’s Journey into Insanity: Descent and Return in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper.’” AUMLA: Journal of the Australasian Universities Modern Language Association 105 (2006):35. Print.

Subotsky, F. “The Yellow Wallpaper (1892), Charlotte Perkins Gilman – Psychiatrists in 19th-century fiction.” The British Journal of Psychiatry 195.1:22. Print.

Thrailkill, J. “Doctoring ‘The yellow wallpaper.’” ELH 69.2 (2002): 525. Print.

  • Summary & Analysis
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  • Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Biography
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IvyPanda. (2023, November 2). Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’: Point of View. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-yellow-wallpaper-by-charlotte-perkins-gilman-2/

"Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’: Point of View." IvyPanda , 2 Nov. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/the-yellow-wallpaper-by-charlotte-perkins-gilman-2/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’: Point of View'. 2 November.

IvyPanda . 2023. "Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’: Point of View." November 2, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-yellow-wallpaper-by-charlotte-perkins-gilman-2/.

1. IvyPanda . "Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’: Point of View." November 2, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-yellow-wallpaper-by-charlotte-perkins-gilman-2/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’: Point of View." November 2, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-yellow-wallpaper-by-charlotte-perkins-gilman-2/.

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  • Symbols in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by C. P. Gilman
  • Symbolism in "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
  • Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” Story Analysis
  • “The Yellow Wallpaper” a Story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
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Point of View: It's Personal

What to Know The point of view of a story determines who is telling it and the narrator's relationship to the characters in the story. In first person point of view the narrator is a character in the story telling it from their perspective. In third person point of view the narrator is not part of the story and the characters never acknowledge the narrator's presence. Less common than first and third is second person point of view. In second person point of view the reader is part of the story. The narrator describes the reader's actions, thoughts, and background using "you."

public-binoculars

It's all about how you look at it.

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.

First Person Point of View

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

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The Grim Reality of Banning TikTok

T he U.S. government, once again, wants to ban TikTok. The app has become an incontrovertible force on American phones since it launched in 2016, defining the sounds and sights of pandemic-era culture. TikTok’s burst on the scene also represented a first for American consumers, and officials—a popular social media app that wasn’t started on Silicon Valley soil, but in China.

On March 13, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to force TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell TikTok or else the app will be banned on American phones. The government will fine the two major mobile app stores and any cloud hosting companies to ensure that Americans cannot access the app.

While fashioned as a forced divestiture on national security grounds, let’s be real: This is a ban. The intent has always been to ban TikTok, to punish it and its users without solving any of the underlying data privacy issues lawmakers claim to care about. Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw said it outright : “No one is trying to disguise anything… We want to ban TikTok.”

But, as such, a ban of TikTok would eliminate an important place for Americans to speak and be heard. It would be a travesty for the free speech rights of hundreds of millions of Americans who depend on the app to communicate, express themselves, and even make a living. And perhaps more importantly, it would further balkanize the global internet and disconnect us from the world.

Read more: What to Know About the Bill That Could Get TikTok Banned in the U.S.

This isn’t the first time the government has tried to ban TikTok: In 2021, former President Donald Trump issued an executive order that was halted in federal court when a Trump-appointed judge found it was “arbitrary and capricious” because it failed to consider other means of dealing with the problem. Another judge found that the national security threat posted by TikTok was “phrased in the hypothetical.” When the state of Montana tried to ban the app in 2023, a federal judge found it “oversteps state power and infringes on the constitutional rights of users,” with a “pervasive undertone of anti-Chinese sentiment.”

Trump also opened a national security review with the power to force a divestment, something Biden has continued to this day with no resolution; and last year, lawmakers looked poised to pass a bill banning TikTok, but lost steam after a high-profile grilling of its top executive. (Trump has done an about-face on the issue and recently warned that banning TikTok will only help its U.S. rivals like Meta.)

TikTok stands accused of being a conduit for the Chinese Communist Party, guzzling up sensitive user data and sending it to China. There’s not much evidence to suggest that’s true, except that their parent company ByteDance is a Chinese company, and China’s government has its so-called private sector in a chokehold. In order to stay compliant, you have to play nice.

In all of this, it’s important to remember that America is not China. America doesn't have a Great Firewall with our very own internet free from outside influences. America allows all sorts of websites that the government likes, dislikes, and fears onto our computers. So there’s an irony in allowing Chinese internet giants onto America’s internet when, of course, American companies like Google and Meta’s services aren’t allowed on Chinese computers.

And because of America’s robust speech protections under the First Amendment, the U.S. finds itself playing a different ballgame than the Chinese government in this moment. These rights protect Americans against the U.S. government, not from corporations like TikTok, Meta, YouTube, or Twitter, despite the fact that they do have outsized influence over modern communication. No, the First Amendment says that the government cannot stop you from speaking without a damned good reason. In other words, you’re protected against Congress—not TikTok.

The clearest problem with a TikTok ban is it would immediately wipe out a platform where 170 million Americans broadcast their views and receive information—sometimes about political happenings. In an era of mass polarization, shutting off the app would mean shutting down the ways in which millions of people—even those with unpopular views—speak out on issues they care about. The other problem is that Americans have the constitutional right to access all sorts of information—even if it’s deemed to be foreign propaganda. There’s been little evidence to suggest that ByteDance is influencing the flow of content at the behest of the Chinese government, though there’s some reports that are indeed worrying, including reports that TikTok censored videos related to the Tiananmen Square massacre, Tibetan independence, and the banned group Falun Gong.

Still, the Supreme Court ruled in 1964 that Americans have the right to receive what the government deems to be foreign propaganda. In Lamont v. Postmaster General , for instance, the Court ruled that the government couldn’t halt the flow of Soviet propaganda through the mail. The Court essentially said that the act of the government stepping in and banning propaganda would be akin to censorship, and the American people need to be free to evaluate these transgressive ideas for themselves.

Further, the government has repeatedly failed to pass any federal data privacy protections that would address the supposed underlying problem of TikTok gobbling up troves of U.S. user data and handing it to a Chinese parent company. Biden only made moves in February 2024 to prevent data brokers from selling U.S. user data to foreign adversaries like China, arguably a problem much bigger than one app. But the reality is that the government has long been more interested in banning a media company than dealing with a real public policy issue.

There is legitimate concern in Washington and elsewhere that it’s not the government that controls so much of America’s speech, but private companies like those bred in Silicon Valley. But the disappearance of TikTok would further empower media monopolists like Google and Meta, who already control about half of all U.S. digital ad dollars, and give them a tighter choke hold over our communication. There’s already a paucity of platforms where people speak; removing TikTok would eliminate one of the most important alternatives we have.

Since it launched in 2016, TikTok has been the most influential social media app in the world, not because it affects public policy or necessarily creates monoculture—neither are particularly true, in fact—but because it has given people a totally different way to spend time online. In doing so, it disrupted the monopolies of American tech companies like Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, and forced every rival to in some way mimic its signature style. There’s Facebook and Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, Snapchat Spotlight, and every other app seems to be an infinitely-scrolling video these days.

Still, Americans choose to use TikTok and their conversations will not easily port over to another platform in the event of it being banned. Instead, cutting through the connective tissue of the app will sever important ways that Americans—especially young Americans—are speaking at a time when those conversations are as rich as ever.

The reality is that if Congress wanted to solve our data privacy problems, they would solve our data privacy problems. But instead, they want to ban TikTok, so they’ve found a way to try and do so. The bill will proceed to the Senate floor, then to the president’s desk, and then it will land in the U.S. court system. At that point, our First Amendment will once again be put to the test—a free speech case that’s very much not in the abstract, but one whose results will affect 170 million Americans who just want to use an app and have their voices be heard.

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  • International

March 23, 2024 Shooting at Moscow concert venue leaves over 130 dead

By Chris Lau, Andrew Raine , Catherine Nicholls, Issy Ronald, Lauren Said-Moorhouse and Tori B. Powell , CNN

Our live coverage of the Moscow concert venue shooting has moved here.

North Korea’s Kim Jong Un sends condolences to Russia’s Putin over deadly Moscow attack

From CNN’s Sophie Jeong and Manveena Suri

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has offered his condolences to Russian President Vladimir Putin following the deadly concert attack in Moscow, state media Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Sunday.

Kim “expressed deep condolences and sympathy” to Putin, the Russian people, the victims and their families on the news of heavy casualties caused by a “large-scale terrorist attack in (the) Moscow region,” KCNA reported.

North Korea opposes “all sorts of terrorism and nothing can justify the heinous terrorism threatening human life,” Kim said in the KCNA report. “Our people regard the misfortune and sorrow of the friendly Russian people as their own pain.”

ISIS releases graphic video they claim shows Russia concert hall attack

From CNN's Kareem El Damanhoury and Paul Murphy

ISIS-affiliated news agency Amaq released a graphic video on Saturday that purports to show Friday’s attack at a concert hall in suburban Moscow recorded by one of the attackers, suggesting the perpetrators had a direct link to ISIS in order to be able to send the video.

CNN has geolocated it to the concert hall and notes that its identifying metadata has been erased.

The video, which is about 90 seconds long, shows four attackers with their faces blurred and voices distorted in what appears to be the Crocus City Hall complex.

The video shows one attacker signaling to another gunman, who then walks past a door where people are hiding and opens fire on them.

Bodies and blood can be seen on the floor, with fire raging at a distance.

The video also shows one of the attackers slitting the throat of a man lying on his back.

The video ends with the four attackers walking away inside the building as smoke can be seen at a distance.

On Friday, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, according to a short statement published by Amaq.

On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested Ukraine was behind the attack, stating the perpetrators had “tried to hide and moved towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the border.”

Ukraine has vehemently denied any connection to Friday's attack.

Company that owns Crocus City Hall venue calls attack a "monstrous tragedy"

From CNN's Masha Angelova

A woman lights candles at a memorial near Crocus City Hall, on the western edge of Moscow, on Saturday.

The Russian company Crocus International, which owns Crocus City Hall, expressed its deep condolences in a statement Sunday to the victims of the terrorist attack at the concert hall in the Moscow region Friday, which left more than 130 people dead.

"Together with the whole of Russia, we mourn the dead and hope for a speedy recovery of those who’ve suffered in this monstrous tragedy," the company said. "In these difficult days, we are doing and will do everything possible to help the authorities and special services with their difficult work, and together with the whole country help victims of the terrorist attack."

The statement thanked concert-goers, partners and artists for their support and assistance.

"Special thanks to the concert hall team, who acted professionally, clearly, and heroically in a crisis situation, and thanks to this, managed to save most of the guests and employees who were in Crocus City Hall that evening," it continued.

White House says there was "no Ukrainian involvement whatsoever" in Moscow region onslaught

From CNN's Natasha Bertrand and Samantha Waldenberg

US Vice President Kamala Harris and the White House National Security Council said there is no evidence that Ukraine is behind the attack at a concert hall near Moscow.

“There is no, whatsoever, any evidence — and in fact, what we know to be the case is that ISIS-K is actually, by all accounts, responsible for what happened,” Harris said in an interview with ABC News. “What has happened is an act of terrorism and the number of people who've been killed is obviously a tragedy and we should all send our condolences to those families."

National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said:

"In early March, the US government shared information with Russia about a planned terrorist attack in Moscow. We also issued a public advisory to Americans in Russia on March 7. ISIS bears sole responsibility for this attack. There was no Ukrainian involvement whatsoever."

US had warned Russia ISIS was determined to attack | CNN

US had warned Russia ISIS was determined to attack | CNN

Here's what you should know about the moscow area concert venue shooting.

From CNN staff

A Friday night attack at Crocus City Hall, a popular concert venue complex near Moscow, left more than 130 people killed and even more wounded after assailants stormed the venue with guns and incendiary devices. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack, without providing evidence.

Four suspects involved in the attack were detained in the Bryansk region and taken to Moscow, where they are now in the custody of Russia's Investigative Committee, Russian state media TASS reported Saturday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said "miserable" Russian President Vladimir Putin waited   overnight before publicly addressing Russians, only to accuse   Ukraine of having a hand in the terror attack at a concert hall near Moscow.

Here are other headlines you should know:

  • More on the attack: According to the interior ministry, “all terrorists detained in the Bryansk region are foreign citizens ,” Russian state media reported. RIA Novosti published on Telegram the purported confession of one of the apprehended men. CNN cannot independently verify the RIA Novosti report or the statements made by the alleged attacker, which may have been made under duress.
  • Ukraine vehemently denies any connection: Defense Intelligence of Ukraine spokesperson Andrii Yusov firmly denied his country had anything to do with the terror attack. Earlier Saturday, Putin  told the Russian people  that the perpetrators had “tried to hide and moved towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the border." A handful of Russian officials have suggested  without evidence  that Ukraine may have been involved in the attack as well.
  • Global reactions: Leaders around the world — such as the French, Israeli and Turkish presidents — have expressed their condolences and condemnation of the onslaught. The United States “ strongly condemns ” the shooting, according to the White House and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also denounced the attack , stressing that ISIS is a significant global threat at a news conference Saturday.
  • Belarus claims it thwarted suspects: Belarusian special services helped Russia prevent the "terrorists" who allegedly carried out the deadly attack from escaping across the border Friday night, the country's ambassador in Moscow said.
  • Estimated damage total: The total estimated damage to the Moscow region's Crocus City Hall after Friday's terror attack is between 9.5-11.4 billion rubles, or approximately $103-124 million, according to a shopping union vice president, as reported by Russian state media RIA Novosti.

Zelensky accuses Putin of trying to blame concert hall attack on Ukraine

From CNN's Maria Kostenko

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at a press conference in Berlin on February 16.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said "miserable" Russian President Vladimir Putin waited overnight before publicly addressing Russians, only to accuse Ukraine of having a hand in the terror attack at a concert hall near Moscow.

On Saturday, Putin told the Russian people that the perpetrators of the Crocus City Hall attack had “tried to hide and moved towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the border.”

Zelensky and several Ukrainian officials have vehemently denied Ukraine has any kind of involvement in the attack.

In his nightly address, Zelensky also said that Russians "have come to Ukraine, burn our cities – and try to blame Ukraine."

Zelensky added that if the Russian people do "not ask any questions to their security and intelligence agencies, then Putin will try to turn such a situation to his personal advantage again."

More background: The terror group ISIS claimed responsibility for Russia's attack, according to a short statement published by ISIS-affiliated news agency Amaq on Telegram Friday. ISIS has not provided evidence to support the claim.

Earlier this week, Putin had dismissed warnings by the US embassy that there could be terrorist attacks on large groups, telling the Federal Security Service (FSB) that the embassy warnings were "provocative" and "outright blackmail."

White House "strongly condemns" Moscow region terror attack

From CNN’s Samantha Waldenberg

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre holds a briefing in Washington, DC, on March 22.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement Saturday that the United States “strongly condemns” the terrorist attack at a concert venue complex near Moscow that left at least 133 people dead.

She added that ISIS, which has claimed responsibility for the attack without providing evidence, is a “common terrorist enemy that must be defeated everywhere.”

“We extend our deepest condolences to those who lost loved ones and to those who were injured or affected by these unconscionable attacks against innocent civilians," Jean-Pierre said in a statement issued by the White House. "ISIS is a common terrorist enemy that must be defeated everywhere."

4 suspects in Friday's attack are being questioned by Russian investigators, state media reports

Four suspects in Friday's terrorist attack on Crocus City Hall were detained in the Bryansk region and taken to Moscow, where they are now in the custody of Russia's Investigative Committee, Russian state media TASS reported Saturday.

The suspects were brought in two prisoner transport vehicles, which are still in the courtyard of the committee, a TASS correspondent reported. This indicates that the suspects are being interrogated and the investigation is ongoing, according to TASS.

In the coming days, investigators are expected to file a court motion asking for imprisonment as the chosen preventative measure. All four suspects face life imprisonment, TASS reports.

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  1. How To Write A Point Of View Perspective Essay

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  2. Analyzing Point of View

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  3. Perspective Worksheet Point of View.pdf

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  4. Point of View & Perspective

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  5. Point of View Essay: The Easiest-Ever Guide and Free Sample

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  6. What is the Difference Between Point of View and Voice

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VIDEO

  1. One Point Perspective

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  3. TWO POINT PERSPECTIVE TUTORIAL

  4. Understanding Interior One Point Perspective Simple Explanation

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  6. A Different Perspective

COMMENTS

  1. Point of View: The Ultimate Guide to Writing Perspectives

    Point of view (POV) is the narrative perspective from which a story is told. It's the angle from which readers experience the plot, observe the characters' behavior, and learn about their world. In fiction, there are four types of point of view: first person, second person, third person limited, and third person omniscient.

  2. Point of View

    Point of view refers to the perspective that the narrator holds in relation to the events of the story. The three primary points of view are first person, in which the narrator tells a story from their own perspective ("I went to the store"); second person , in which the narrator tells a story about you, the reader or viewer ("You went to the ...

  3. How To Write a Critical Perspective Essay

    Whilst a critical perspective essay is essentially your own viewpoint, it is important to demonstrate how you have arrived at that view, based on research, evaluation of the evidence and an objective assessment of the facts. Stage three draws up an outline of the arguments /points you wish to make in your essay and put them in a logical order.

  4. How to Write a Perspective Essay? Example & Guide to Writing

    2. 10.15.2022. Personal experiences make for great essays. When you use a personal experience to fuel your creativity, the writing process becomes much simpler. A perspective essay is an example of these types of essays. You're drawing on yourself, so the need to research is less. It saves you a lot of time, which a writing service, like essay ...

  5. Point of View: What Is It? (With 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th POV Examples)

    Summary of the Different Points of View. There are four main points of view that we'll be discussing in this article: first person, second person, third person (with two subtypes: limited and omniscient), and fourth person. First person (" I pet the cat because I think it looks cute.")

  6. Point of View

    Definition of Point of View. Point of view is utilized as a literary device to indicate the angle or perspective from which a story is told. Essentially, point of view refers to the "eyes" of the narrative voice that determine the position or angle of vision from which the story is being relayed. Point of view is one of the most crucial choices made by fiction writers since it governs the ...

  7. Point of View: The Ultimate Guide

    The first person point of view limits your opportunities to make mistakes like head-hopping. Third person limited is the most widely used perspective and one that the modern reader is very comfortable with. Again, like the first person, you're limited to a single character, and this will ensure a consistent POV.

  8. Point of View

    In writing, point of view refers to whether the writing takes on a singular or plural perspective in either 1st person, 2nd person, or 3rd person. First person is the perspective of the writer; 1st person uses words like "I," "my," "me," or "we.". 2nd-person is the perspective of the reader being directly addressed by the writer ...

  9. Point of View in Writing: The Simple Guide for Authors

    1. Point of View is really two things: A. The Voice with which you tell your story. Not to be confused with the tone or sound of your writing (think of that Voice as your writing attitude), this is your choice to tell it in First Person (I), Second Person (you), or Third Person (he, she, or it). B.

  10. Analyzing Author's Purpose and Point of View

    Enhancing Interpretation: Understanding the author's point of view helps us understand what the text really means. We can see what arguments the author is making and think more deeply about the text. Encouraging Empathy and Perspective: By seeing things from the author's point of view, we can better understand people who are different from ...

  11. Writing Perspectives (Point of View)

    Beginning writers should start with first person perspective, past tense, as in "I wondered which point of view I should use.". Then try third person, past tense, if you wish. Learn more about writing and publishing in Peter's book: Successful Author FAQs: Discover the Art of Writing, the Business of Publishing, and the Joy of Wielding Words.

  12. Point of View: Definitions and Examples

    Examples of Point of View. Sandra Cisneros wrote a story called "Eleven.". The point of view is the perspective of 11-year-old Rachel. The story takes place at school during her birthday and is about her humiliation of receiving an old sweater. Throughout the story, she speaks in the first-person point of view, sharing her thoughts as ...

  13. What is Point of View in Literature?

    The point of view of a story is directly impacted by who tells it, so defining the narrator is a crucial component of any story or poem. The story's "person" identifies who the narrator is in relation to the text. This brings us to the 3 types of point of view: 1st person, 2nd person, and 3rd person.

  14. What is Point of View? Definition and Examples in Lit and Film

    Point of view is the perspective from which a story is told. There are three major points of view that are used in writing: first person, second person, and third person. Each perspective is used to achieve a different creative end: first-person keeps the story intimate and personal; second person creates a dialogue between the words of the ...

  15. What Is Point of View? First, Second, and Third Person

    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.

  16. Perspective vs Point of View

    1st person POV: In first person point of view, the narrator uses the pronouns "I" and "we."A classic example of a first person narrative is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.This story focuses on Scout's, the main character's point of view. Viewpoint vs perspective is particularly evident in the first-person point of view, where the character's viewpoint (what they see and experience ...

  17. First Person Point of View: Tips, Examples, and Benefits of This

    In writing, point of view refers to the perspective that writers use to tell a story. The first person point of view tells the story from the perspective of the author or narrator. Because of that, it uses first person pronouns like "I," "we," "my," "mine," "our," and "ours.". Second person point of view, on the other ...

  18. PDF Tutorial #12: Perspective Shifting

    instructor in the center. As you work through the tutorial, make sure to. see an instructional aide at the front desk in the. Writing Center or English 800 Center if you. have any questions or difficulties. Perspective Shifting. This tutorial will demonstrate strategies for. 1. choosing the correct perspective. 2. correcting perspective shifts.

  19. Types of Point of View: The Ultimate Guide to First Person and Third

    First person perspective is when "I" am telling the story. The character is in the story, relating his or her experiences directly. Second person point of view. The story is told to "you.". This POV is not common in fiction, but it's still good to know (it is common in nonfiction). Third person point of view, limited.

  20. Point of View in Academic Writing

    Point of view is the perspective from which an essay is written. The following chart lists both the personal pronouns and their possessive forms used with these points of view: Singular. Plural. First Person. I, me (my, mine) we, us (our, ours) Second Person. you (your, yours)

  21. Gilman's 'The Yellow Wallpaper': Point of View Essay

    Gilman forms an insider's perspective to this story, thus giving an autobiographical nature to the text. Hochman further explains that such achievements were significant in America during the 1890s (89). The Narrator's point of view connects with the central theme of the story.

  22. Point of View: First, Second and Third Person Explained

    First, second, and third person explained. The point of view of a story determines who is telling it and the narrator's relationship to the characters in the story. In first person point of view the narrator is a character in the story telling it from their perspective. In third person point of view the narrator is not part of the story and the ...

  23. The Grim Reality of Banning TikTok

    Nover is a freelance writer covering media and technology. He is a contributing writer at Slate and was previously a reporter at Quartz and Adweek The U.S. government, once again, wants to ban ...

  24. Perspective

    #170 Perspective. Perspective. Discussion of news topics with a point of view, including narratives by individuals regarding their own experiences.

  25. March 23, 2024 Shooting at Moscow concert venue leaves over 130 dead

    ISIS-affiliated news agency Amaq released a graphic video on Saturday that purports to show Friday's attack at a concert hall in suburban Moscow recorded by one of the attackers, suggesting the ...