AUTHOR'S CRAFT
MULTIPLE POINTS OF VIEW AND IRONY
Every story is told from a point of view. An author decides who will narrate the story and the
information that narrator is able to communicate. Here are two types of point of view.
First-person point of view: The narrator la a character in the story and speaks in
the first person (using the pronouns I, me, and my). This character can only reveal
what he or she knows or what he or she wants to reveal.
Third-person point of view: The narrator is not a character in the story. This
narrator is a voice outside the action of the story and speaks in the third person
(using the pronouns he, she, they, and so on).
A narrator telling a story from the first-person point of view may not know all the events.or
important information in a story. This situation can lead to dramatic irony, which happens
when the reader knows more about the narrator's situation than the narrator does.
Example: Lulu, Sammi's kitten, has found a new spot for her afternoon nap: snuggled under a
blanket on the floor of a closet in a spare bedroom. Sammi comes home from school and
doesn't see Lulu. She looks around the house but can't find Lulu anywhere. Sammi wonders
whether the kitten may have snuck outside and starts to panic. She goes outside and frantically
searches the yard.
Point of view is different from perspective. While point of view refers to the type of narration
used in the story, perspective refers to a character's or narrator's attitude about a situation
, a
person, or some other subject.
A. DIRECTIONS: Answer the following questions.
1. Which point of view-first person or third person-allows a reader to know the thoughts
and feelings of many characters-in a story?
oint of