Mini-Lesson: Narrator

Reliability
Ethics and the Narrative
 Evaluating Narrator
Reliability
• A narrator, especially a first person perspective, may
change the events when telling the story because:

• The narrator has misinterpreted what was seen or

heard

• The narrator wants the reader’s empathy

• The narrator is untrustworthy

• The narrator is too immature to understand the events

as they are happening
The Reader and the Narrator
• The reader enters a contract with the narrator when
reading the story

• The narrator will tell me what I need to know.

• The reader will have a response to the narrator

• Can be positive or negative.

• The reader must decide if the narrator should be trusted

• Should everything by taken at face value?

 Questions to Ask
• How much does the narrator know?

• Do events take place now or in the past?

• Is the narrator a participant in, or a witness to, the

action?

• What is the motivation for telling the story?

• In a nutshell: Who are you and why are you telling me

this?
 The Reliable Narrator
• Can be trusted by the reader, although the reader may
not agree with the narrator

• Is honest even if the tellin gof the story is offensive or

unpleasant (unbiased or equally-weighted descriptions)

• Understands the plot

• Provides events that may actually happen for any

particular occurrence

• Usually 3rd person... rarely 1st person

 The Unreliable Narrator
• Cannot be trusted

• Misleads the readers

• Distorts the truth

• Makes the reader evaluate the story and read between the
lines

• Speaks or behaves in a manner which is not consistent

throughout the story

• Usually 1st person ... Rarely 3rd person

 Perspective vs. Truth/Reality

• Perspective- a particular attitude toward or way of

regarding something; a point of view

• What is the difference between perspective and truth?

• Can someone’s perspective also be true?

 Considerations

• How can one’s perspective distort the truth of

something? What are some situations where one’s
perspective can affect what’s true or real?

• Why is it important to be able to look at someone’s

truth or someone’s perspective, even if you don’t
agree with it?