STUDY GUIDE FOR
Character
Narrator
Omniscient
Point of view
Perplexing
First-person point of view
Third-person point of view
Third-person subjective point of view
Third-person all knowing point of view
Third-person objective point of view
Remember – switching
from one point of view
to another in the middle
of a story can be very
confusing for the reader.
Point of view – the position (character or narrator) from which the story is told. This changes depending
on who is telling the story.
First-person point of view – The story is told by one of the characters in the story. The character uses
the words “I” or “we.”
Third-person point of view – The story is being told by someone outside the story.
Third-person all knowing – An outside narrator that knows everything tells the story.
Third-person subjective – The outside narrator is telling you the story from one specific character’s
perspective. The narrator is limited to what that specific character sees, knows, thinks, and feels. The
storyteller uses the words “he” or “she.”
Third-person objective – The outside narrator can only describe what is seen or heard. The narrator
does not know what any of the characters are thinking or feeling. It would be like what a video camera
would record – just the facts.
Select a few examples from various sources that use the different points of view. Read each one to the
students and then have them write down which point of view they think the author used.
Make a set of cards with one point of view listed per card. Duplicate three or four sets of these cards
depending on your class size. Divide the class into small teams and then have each team pick a card out
of the basket. Each team will then have to write a paragraph using the point of view listed on the card.