Fiction - Point of View

Terms Related to Fiction - Point of View and Irony

Point of view –

the perspective from which an author tells a story

Narrator –

the person through whose perspective, knowledge, and voice a story is told

Speaker –

the narrator of a poem

Persona –

the personality a narrator assumes; a mask used in Ancient Greek theater by the actors playing a particular role

First-person narrator (first-person point of view) – 

a story told from the viewpoint of the author of the story as a character in the story using the word "I" to tell the story; may be omniscient (all knowing) or limited (knows only information from that character’s perspective).

Second person narrator (second person point of view) –

a story told in second person (you); may be from the perspective of a character in the story who knows everything (omniscient narrator) or who has limited knowledge (limited narrator); not generally used in fiction.

Third person narrator (third person point of view) –

a story told in third person (he, she, it); may be from the perspective of a character in the story who knows everything (omniscient narrator) or who has limited knowledge (limited narrator).

Objective narrator (objective point of view) –

relates the story as a sequence of events without commenting or judging the characters, their action or situation.

Stream-of-consciousness –

a style of writing that writes how a person is thinking; written-down thoughts.

Unreliable narrators –

a narrator who is either not omniscient or is deliberately misleading the reader.