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20Beginning_Point of View

Point of view' is a term which describes the narrator and perspective. Examine the six sentences below and describe what quality differentiates each pair.

I recognized Bill at the party, wearing the same clothes.
I think Bill's taste in clothes is appalling.

You enter the bar and bartender asks, "What's your poison?"
You enter the bar. Your sweat leaves you cold, even in the heat.

She failed to convince the policeman of her honesty."
She sighed. Failure to convince the officer of her honesty was upsetting.

A point of view may be complex and implied rather than directly stated.

A faint wind blowing off the water ruffled under Fenella's hat, and she put up her hand to keep it on. It was dark on the
Old Warf, very dark; the wool sheds, the cattle trucks, the cranes standing up so high, the little squat railway engine, all
seemed carved out of solid darkness. Here and there on a rounded wood pile, that was like the stalk of a huge black
mushroom, there hung a lantern, but it seemed afraid to unfurl its timid, quivering light in all that blackness; it burned
softly, as if for itself. [KATHERINE MANSFIELD]

Here, the first point of view is by a narrator - telling the story of the young girl. In later sentences, terms subtly change to the young girl's point of view - as she might perceive them. Where does the shift begin? What words tell us a narrator is still at work?

Basic Point of View

Elements of Viewpoint

Person: 1st , 2nd, or 3rd Delivery: Spoken, Written, Thought
Subject: Others, Self Narrator: Known, Unknown, Participant
Dialogue: Vernacular, Veracity Distance: Subjective, Objective
Audience: Vague, Character, Self
Time/Tense: Present, Past, Retrospective, Future