Literary Terms:

Point-of-View!

Literary Terms Review

First lets review the literary terms we
have learned so far
Setting (consists of two things)
1) Time
2) Place

Literary Terms Review

Irony (3 types)
1) Situational: what happens is the opposite of
whats expected
Ex: A vegetarian works in a meat-packing plant.
2) Verbal: what is said is the opposite of what is
meant; sarcasm
Ex: Wow, youre so funny.
3) Dramatic: the audience knows something the
characters do not
Ex: Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet, horror movies
where we see the killer, a man we see is going to
slip on a banana peel, the Maury Show where
we know the man is not here for a makeover

Literary Terms Review

Plot (consists of four elements)
1) Rising Action: builds tension
2) Climax: turning point of the story
3) Falling Action: shows the effect of the
climax on the story
4) Denouement: resolution; loose ends
are tied up

Literary Terms Review

Theme! (definition)
The life lesson or main message of a text
5 rules when identifying theme:
1) Its not a single word
2) Avoid clichs
3) It is rarely directly stated
4) There can be more than one theme
5) Does not include character names or plot
points

Literary Terms Review

Foreshadowing
When the author provides clues about
what will happen in the story

Author
Reader, earnestly
following the clues
Clues!

Here little
reader. Follow
me, my
pretty! And
your little dog,
too!

And now introducing

Point-of-View: perspective
from which the story is told
(narrators voice)
4 Types:
1) First person
2) Second person
3) Third person limited
4) Third person omniscient

First Person Point-ofView

Story is told from one
characters perspective using
the I voice
Often used in narrative writing
(stories about peoples lives)
Associated pronouns: I, me, my,
we, our, us, ours, mine

First Person Point-of-View

Positives:
Can see inside the narrators head
More personal
More emotional
We can see what they are thinking and feeling.

Restrictions:

Vision is tainted by that person

Not always reliable
Not very objective (factual)
Cant go outside of their head and see others
perspectives
Avoid in formal writing (compositions)

Second Person Point-ofView

Not used very often because

it confuses the readers
Author is talking to the
reader
You voice
Associated Pronouns: you,
your, yours

Second Person Point-ofView

Positives:
Can speak directly to your reader
Can be effective in persuasion (editorials,
political pieces)

Negatives:
Can confuse reader if used
inappropriately
Avoid in formal writing (compositions)

Third Person Omniscient

Point-of-View
Person telling the story is outside of the
action looking in
As if standing outside of an ant farm watching
things unfold, but can also get in ants heads

Narrator is all-knowing and can tell the

thoughts and feelings of all of the characters
God-like
Applicable pronouns: he, she, it, they, them,
his, hers, its, theirs

Third Person Omniscient

Point-of-View
Positives:
Allows for objectivity
Trustworthy since no one is favored and story is
untainted by one persons version

Gets into the heads of all the characters

Should be used formal writing

Restrictions:
Loses the touch of the personal (textbookish)
More detached emotionally
Less mystery

Third Person Limited

Point-of-View
Person telling the story is outside of
the action looking in
Can see ONE persons thoughts and
feelings (limited to one character)
As if standing on one characters
shoulder
Applicable pronouns: he, she, it,
they, them, his, hers, its, theirs

Third Person Limited

Point-of-View
Positives:
More objective (factual)
Can see from one persons perspective
while still remaining outside of the story
More reliable

Restrictions:
May not be as objective
Is limited; we cant see the whole
picture

Practice Analyzing
Point-of-View!
Turn to pp. 24-25 of your
packets and lets analyze
how point-of-view can affect
our understanding of a text.
Authors choose it for a reason: So
why?