Point of View means that the story is
told through the eyes and mouth of a certain person; the story can change
considerably, depending on who is telling it.
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First person narrator:
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Story is told from the inside; narrator is a
participant in the action
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Narrator is often the protagonist or minor
character; we see only what he/she sees, in the way that he/she sees it.
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Advantage: first person narrator has
immediacy and a sense of life.
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Disadvantage: the author may be
frustrated in that he/she can only include things that the narrator would
be expected to know; also, we are locked within the mind of the narrator.
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Third person narrator:
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usually a nameless
narrator who can be identified with the author.
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omniscient
narrator: godlike narrator; he/she can enter character's minds and
know everything that is going on, past, present, and future.
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Advantage: very natural technique; author is, after all,
omniscient regarding his work.
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Disadvantage: unlifelike; narrator
knows and tells all; is truly a convention of literature
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Viewpoint character: third person
narration that is limited to the point of view of one character in the
novel; may be a protagonist or a minor character.
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Objective viewpoint: limited
narrative, like a drama; narrator can only describe words and actions that
can be seen objectively and cannot get into character's thoughts
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Combination of narrative techniques is possible in a novel.
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Tense of narration is important; action narrated in the present can be
more dramatic than past tense narration.
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