Ruan 1

Ethan Ruan

Mrs. Jones 

10th Honors World Literature and Composition

23 March 2020

Point of View
1. Written in first person by John Updike, A&P describes the character’s thoughts and
feelings with pronouns like “I” and “my”. The first person allows readers to understand
and perceive the narrator’s emotions better. In addition, the first person helps engage
readers and make the readers understand the setting more clearly. The narrator is “in the
third check-out slot, with my back to the door,”(Updike). The reader can visualize the
setting and the passage better when first person is used. However, the tone is limited
because only one opinion is expressed, the narrators. Therefore, the first-person point of
view hinders the different perspectives which changes the tone.

2. Jane Austen wrote Emma in third person to fully explain and characterize Miss Bates,
both directly and indirectly. By using third person, readers found Miss Bates as a “happy
woman, and a woman whom no one named without good-will,”(Austen). The reader can
fully understand what type of character Miss Bates is. Although, the passage does not
include stream of consciousness, the passage is still third person limited, which means
only one character’s thoughts and ideas are expressed. Therefore, the third person point
of view limits the reader’s tone because the reader only experiences one of the character’s
point of view.

3. How to Talk to a Hunter, by Pam Houston reads as a second person point of view. The
second person allows readers to be engaged and feel as if the questions are directly being
asked to the reader. When the reader is asked, “if you’ve ever shot anything,” (Houston)
the reader feels engaged and can think about the response so in the future the readers are
prepared. The second person engages readers, so they experience the feeling of being
these types of questions.

4. Written in second person, Stanza Four narrates the soldiers’ experiences during a gas
attack. In the stanza “you” was used in many occasions to address the audience. By using
“you could too,” (Owen) the reader feels engaged and therefore affects the tone. The
reader feels as if they are participating with the characters rather than just reading about
them. However, since the stanza is written in second person the scope on the story and
the lack of point of views hinder the tone as well.
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6. Lottery, written in third person limited with no stream of consciousness, talks about a
certain event taking place “in this village, where there were only about three hundred
people,” (Jackson). Because of the types of articles and nouns the author uses; it can be
implied that the narrator does not reside in the village. The narrator does not view the
different characters’ emotions or thoughts, so the knowledge and information on the
characters are very limited. In addition, this story is not in a stream of consciousness
because the narrator does not closely examine the thoughts of any character, causing
readers to only understand the broad details of the story instead of the real experience of
the lottery.

7. Daniel Keys writes Flowers for Algernon in first person. By writing in first person, the
reader not only receives the information, but also obtains the information through the
narrators own head and eyes. The reader experiences the actions of the narrator like the
narrator taking “a test today. I think I faled it,” as well as experiencing the emotions of
the narrator firsthand. If [Flowers for Algernon] narrated in third person, the main
character’s emotions may not be clearly projected for the reader. However, since the
reader can only experience one character’s point of view the interpretation can be
hindered, thus limiting the readers’ tone.

8.
9. Written in first person, the narrator tells The Sound and the Fury in the main character’s
perspective. By using “I was. I am not,” (Faulkner). and many other first person
pronouns, the narrator is in the story and explains the events. The personal insight the
narrator provides a more detailed experience for the reader, which helps the reader enjoy
and more clearly understand the story.
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