Narrative perspective
Any story is told through a narrative perspective. The author of a story chooses a narrative perspective to produce a certain effect.
What is narrative perspective?
We can differentiate between three commonly used types of narrative perspective which are different in how much the narrator knows and how they are involved in the story:
| narrative perspective | definition |
|---|---|
| first person | The narrator uses first person pronouns (I, my, me, we, us, our). The narrator is a character in the story. |
| third person limited | The narrator is not a character in the story and talks about the characters in the third person. The perspective of the narrator is limited. |
| third person omniscient | The narrator is not a character in the story and talks about the characters in the third person. The narrator is all knowing. |
Effects of narrative perspective
When you analyse the narrative perspective, you should also ask the question, what effect the perspective has and what relation the reader has to the narrator. The following questions may help you:
-
Is the narrator reliable?
-
How limited is the narrator’s kowledge?
-
How does the narrator present the (world of the) narrative?
-
How does the reader feel about the narrator?
Collocations and phrases
-
the story is narrated in the first / third person
-
adopt a first-person / third-person perspective
-
narrated from the protagonist’s point of view
-
subjective perspective
-
external narration
-
allow insights into the character’s feelings and perceptions
-
engage in introspection and self-reflection
-
through XXX’s eyes
-
unreliable narrator
-
engage the reader
-
provide an innocent / intimate / critical / … lense, through which
Sources
What is narrative voice? - Characterisation and narrative voice - AQA - GCSE English Language Revision - AQA. (n.d.). BBC Bitesize. Retrieved 10 May 2023, from https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/ztdmtyc/revision/4