Lesson 3.04 You Talking to Me?

First Person

First person point of view is told from the standpoint of a character in the story; this narrator participates in the action of the story. First person pronouns such as I, me, my, us, and we are used. Some first person narrators are reliable while others are unreliable. Readers see events from this character's perspective, so they know only what the narrator knows and feels.

If the narrator is describing real or actual experiences, then the writing is considered reliable; however, if he or she has some other motive, then the author may distort the truth to appeal to his or her own interests.

Do you remember the children's story about the three little pigs? Read this version: The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by A. Wolf and scripted by B. Scofinsky. How is this different from the version you may have heard as a child? How is it the same?

The Three Little Pigs The wolf wanted in the pigs' houses to hurt them. He blew the pigs' houses down on purpose. He was intentionally mean because he wanted to eat them. The pigs' houses were built of straw, twigs, and bricks.

Similarities There are three pig characters. There is one wolf character. The setting is in the woods. The characters built houses. A character tries to hurt another character.

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs The three pigs lived separately in their own houses. The houses were built out of cement, metal, barbed wire. Big Bad Wolf accidentally sneezed and blew their houses down. He wanted to bake a birthday cake for his grandma. He was framed.

In the retelling of The Three Little Pigs, the author changes the point of view of the story. That makes the story completely different because now the readers hear the wolf's side of the story. This is an example of a biased first person point of view.

 

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Third Person

Third person point of view uses third person pronouns such as he, she, him, her, it, them, or they.

There are three types of third person point of view.

1. Objective point of view tells what happens without stating more than can be inferred from the story's action and dialogue. The narrator doesn't provide any clues about what the characters think or feel; the narrator is a detached observer. Look at the example below.

Spring is the season where life is renewed, especially in high school where prom is a buzz in every student's ear. Marion and Cole went to the spring prom together; Marion asked Cole to go with her before anyone else had the chance to ask him. The two began dancing on the newly refurbished gymnasium floor, while other students quietly sat in rows of chairs lined up across one end of the gym. Boom! Rat-a-tat! Boom! Rat-a-tat! Noise of hip-hop and rap filled the gym, rocketing off the walls. The couple danced the night away, an ordinary space like thousands of high school gyms across the country; however, that night, the gym became extraordinary--a rocking, animated high school gym.

In this example, the narrator provides description but not feeling.

2. Omniscient point of view is told from the viewpoint of a narrator who is all-knowing. This narrator can describe the thoughts, actions, and feelings of everybody in the story. The outside narrator is not a participant in the story; however, he can tell you everything about all of the characters' thoughts and feelings. More information can be shared with readers since the narrator knows everything. Look at the example below.

Marion liked Cole since elementary school. Little did she know that he liked her, too. They both dreamed of going to this year's prom together, but they were waiting for the right chance to ask. One spring day, Marion found the nerve to ask, "Cole, will you go to the prom with me?" Cole was beyond words. He was so excited yet embarrassed that he wasn't the first one to ask. Cole smiled and said, "Absolutely!" Marion was thrilled!

The paragraph has an all-knowing point of view. You can see the thoughts and feelings of both Marion and Cole.

3. Limited third person point of view has a narrator outside the story looking into one particular character's thoughts, feelings, and actions. Third person pronouns He, she, him, her, they, them, it. are used. The character that is followed is generally the main character. Look at the example below.

Marion liked Cole since elementary school; however, she never had the courage to tell him. One spring day, Marion found the nerve to ask, "Cole, will you go to the prom with me?" Cole smiled and accepted her invitation. Marion was thrilled!

Do you see how the paragraph changed to just revealing Marion's thoughts and feelings, not Cole's?

 

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Dialogue

Dialogue is conversations between characters. Good dialogue makes a story more interesting and advances the action between characters. Dialogue gives the readers the feeling that they are listening to characters as they speak.

Good dialogue does the following:

• creates a great hook,

• develops characterization,

• condenses long passages of background information,

• shows instead of tells, and

• injects a bit of humor.

 

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The Purpose of Dialogue

Dialogue should move the story forward while bringing the characters to life. If it doesn't do either of these things, the dialogue should be cut altogether.

• When using dialogue, make sure you use quotation marks. Quotation marks will make it clear that the words are being spoken by the character in your story. Look at the sentence below to see how the quotation marks help identify the conversation.

"Hey, Jason! I can't believe you got the job!"

"I know! How cool is that?"

• Make sure to identify the character who is doing the talking, or your readers will become confused. Look at the example below.

Ava looked at her classmate with a cold, mean stare and snapped, "I can't believe you are so rude!"

• Begin a new paragraph whenever the speaker changes in a section of dialogue. This will make the dialogue easier to follow and will make your story grammatically correct.

Look at the example below. Notice how beginning a new paragraph helps the reader follow the dialogue as if he or she were standing right in the middle of the action.

Ava said A dialogue tag. , "I want my pencil back right now. You didn't ask me if you could borrow it."

"I found it on the floor," explained John as he broke it in two pieces. "Finders keepers!"

Ava looked at her classmate with a cold, mean stare and snapped, "I can't believe you are so rude!"

"Believe it!" John replied with her broken pencil in his left hand.

"Euuugh! You make me so mad!" Ava growled through her teeth. "I can promise you that you will buy me two new pencils for that one you broke."

"Humph! Prove it wasn't an accident," John snarled back.

"Oh, Mrs. Butler," Ava called to her teacher.

Notice that the dialogue is in paragraph form so the reader won't get confused as to whom is speaking. A dialogue tag identifies the speaker.

Also, writers create dialogue to add detail to a scene. Dialogue is meant to

• reveal characters' relationships to one another,

• move the story forward, and

• increase tension.

 

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