Point of View in Fiction Texts

Learn More About Point Of View

Identifying a story’s point of view requires noticing whether it is written in the first, second, or third person. Most students capable of reading a fictional text should be able to identify the difference between each of these points of view.

The point of view of a fictional text is determined at the author’s discretion. However, it is uncommon for fiction authors to utilize the second person, or ‘you.’ Some exceptions are role playing books, and choose your own adventure books. Other types of media that use a second person perspective are song lyrics, guide books, blog posts, and self-help books.

The most common perspectives in works of fiction are first and third person. In the first person, the author uses ‘I’ or ‘We,’ and acknowledges their existence and participation in the story arc. In third person narratives, characters are only described using pronouns ‘he,’ ‘she,’ ‘they,’ etc.

First person stories are more intimate, but are often incomplete versions of a story. Because the point of view is one person’s only, events take place that the reader cannot see. By contrast, authors of third person stories can choose to limit the audience’s view of the story, or give them comprehensive access to the story’s arc.

Because students will be exposed to many different styles of writing, they must grow comfortable reading and interpreting different points of view. To get the most out of each story, readers must be able to dive into first person views, as well as keep track of multiple threads in stories with third person perspectives.