Character Development

Lesson 1: Point of View

Practice: Reading Passages and Identifying Point of View

YOUR TURN

Exercise 1

Now, read the following passages and determine whether each is first-person, third-person, or omniscient point-of-view.

1. I knew something was wrong before I even went into the house. My uncle's truck was parked in the driveway. He never left work this early. The front door was already open. My mother was in the kitchen, sitting at the table with my uncle. Neither of them looked up. Neither of them spoke. ________________________

2. Carolyn looked across the room at Mike. He was so handsome, so perfect. She wished she had the courage to approach him. But someone like him would never be interested in someone like her. ________________________

3. "I don't know what you expect from me?" Eileen shrieked at her mother. Her mother was always getting on her case over nothing. "You don't know what I expect?" her mother yelled back. How could Eileen stand there looking so misunderstood. She knew it was wrong to leave her younger brother and sister home alone. But she had done it anyway. ________________________

For more examples of the various points of view, I would recommend the following books:

First person, single point-of-view:

Levitin, Sonia. Yesterday's Child. Aladdin Paperbacks:NY, NY. 1997

First person, multiple point-of-view:

Tamar, Erika. Fair Game. Harcourt: NY,NY. 1993.

Third-person:

Orlando, Linda. Guesthouse. Awe-Struck.net: 2000.

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