Types of Narrators
A first-person narrator uses the pronouns 'I' and 'we' and is usually a character in the story. A first-person narrator is able to interact with the other characters in the story, and readers observe those interactions from the narrator's perspective. For example, a story using first-person narration might say: ''I saw the birds all standing in the park before several dogs ran them off.''
A second-person narrator uses the pronoun 'you' to address the reader directly and is less common in literature. A good example of second-person narration is a recipe, which communicates instructions. It might say something like, ''First, you add the sugar and eggs and mix them together, and then you add the butter.''
A third-person narrator observes the story from the outside and uses the pronouns 'he', 'she', or 'they' to communicate the actions of the story. A third-person narrator is not a character in the story but is aware of the thoughts and feelings of characters in the story. A third-person narrator can be omniscient, having complete knowledge about all the characters in the story, or limited, knowing only about certain characters and events in a story. An example of a sentence spoken by a third-person narrator is: ''Joe and Jim both walked down the street until they reached the ice cream parlor.''
Lesson Summary
When an author writes a story, he or she creates a narrator, which is the person (or animal or object) who tells the story from a specific point of view. Narrators can tell the story from first-person, second-person, or third-person perspective.
A first-person narrator uses the pronoun 'I' to tell the story. A second-person narrator uses 'you' to speak directly to the reader and is not used very often in literature. A third-person narrator does not take part in the story and uses pronouns like 'he' or 'she'. A third-person narrator can also be omniscient (all-knowing) or limited (aware of only some parts of the story).
Learning Outcomes
When you are finished, you should be able to:
- Explain what a narrator is
- Describe the different types of narrators
