Understanding a book's point of view is something that helps students better understand the story, and how the POV can differ from the narrator. Point of View (POV) refers to who is telling or narrating a story. A story can be told from the first person, second person, or third person point of view. First person is when “I” am telling the story. The character relates their experiences directly. Second person is when story is told to “you.” Third person limited is about “he”, “she", or "they". The narrator is outside of the story and relating the experiences of a character. Third person omniscient is when the narrator is “he”, "she", or "they", but the narrator has full access to the thoughts and experiences of all characters in the story.
After reading the book and discussing the point of view, students can create a storyboard that describes what type of narrator(s) the story has and the perspective(s) in the story. They should give evidence from the text to support their claims.
To scaffold or tailor this activity, teachers may choose to fill in text or illustrations and have students fill in the blanks. They may also have students define what each point of view is in addition to describing what it is. Be sure to update the student instructions as necessary!
(These instructions are completely customizable. After clicking "Copy Activity", update the instructions on the Edit Tab of the assignment.)
Due Date:
Objective: Create a storyboard analyzing the narrator's point of view in the story.
Student Instructions:
Begin the lesson by explaining the concept of different points of view present in a narrative. Teachers can first identify different types such as first person’s point of view, second person’s point of view, and third person’s point of view. Then explain each type with the help of a simple example. Teachers can also ask the students to give examples from books they have already read.
Once the students are familiar with these concepts and have had some practice to apply them in real life, ask them to select a story that has one of the POVs which had been discussed earlier. Guide the students to read and analyze the story and the POV. Explain to the students how they will be creating other POVs for this narrative.
Help the students brainstorm different ideas for their interpretation of the story and create different POVs accordingly. For instance, with the help of the information provided in the original story and adding their own elements of imagination, students can give a new face to the story by adapting it to the main character’s POV.
Talk about how the reader's experience is impacted by the point of view decision with the students. The Second person POV directly involves the reader, whereas third person POV offers a more comprehensive perspective of the narrative. The first person POV frequently establishes a more intimate relationship.
Encourage students to explore how the choice of viewpoint affects the narrative with peers after they have shared their various POV versions. Peer review can offer insightful comments as well as recommendations for enhancement. Students can also share their perspectives and talk about why they chose a specific POV.
First person (I, me), second person (you), and third person (he, she, they) are the three common types of POVs in literature. Third-person perspectives can be further divided into limited (knows the thoughts of only one character) and omniscient (knows the thoughts of all characters).
POV is directly related to a narrator's credibility or the degree to which the reader can believe their point of view. For instance, first-person narrators may not be trustworthy because of their own prejudices. Ask the students to identify factors that make the POV of a narrator more credible with the help of research.