Narrative Viewpoints

Hi,

I would like to share my view on the different types of narrative viewpoints and each of their purposes.

The first-person point of view uses a narrator to recount the story to the readers, hence containing the word "I". It is used mainly to provide a subjective view of the events that happened, allowing the readers to pick out important characteristics of the narrator as well by looking at some of the narrator's thoughts and feelings. For example, the first-person point of view can bring out the narrator's state of mind very well as compared to the third-person point of view. Furthermore, this point of view is usually used to make the readers feel close to the narrator and know him/her better. This is done by sharing some of the thoughts and feelings of the narrator. Finally, it is mainly used when the author wants to focus on the characters or themes of the story.

In contrast, the third-person point of view uses a narrator who is not mentioned at all in the story. The narrator can follow one character around or can be omniscient. This helps the readers to identify the main character of the story and see how he resolves the conflict he is facing. The third-person point of view can also be used if the author wants his readers to feel close to all the characters in the story. This narrative viewpoint is very useful, as it allows the readers to know every characters' feelings and thoughts, so enabling them to understand each and every single one of them. Finally, the third-person point of view is used when the author emphasises more on the plot and setting of the story, as the narrator is objective and can hence describe the setting more and can develop the story fully too.

In conclusion, I think that choosing an appropriate narrative viewpoint for a story is very important, as it can affect the way our story turns out to be. By analysing the gist of our story and the aspects that we want to emphasise on, we will be able to use the best narrative viewpoint.

Loo Nathanael