Grade 7 · Story Craft: Point of View and Structure · Narration and Effect
Point of View and Narrator Reliability
Identify first, third limited and third omniscient narration, and judge how much to trust the narrator.
Learning objectives
- Name the point of view of a passage and justify it
- Explain what a narrator cannot know
- Judge narrator reliability using evidence
Common Core ELA alignment
RL.7.6
Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text. Grade 7 emphasis: analyse how choices in a text create effects, and handle two related texts independently.
RL.7.1
Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what a literary text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. Grade 7 emphasis: analyse how choices in a text create effects, and handle two related texts independently.
RL.7.3
Analyse how particular elements of a story or drama interact, including how characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution. Grade 7 emphasis: analyse how choices in a text create effects, and handle two related texts independently.
MYP criteria
- Criterion A — Analysing
- Criterion C — Producing text
ENGAGE
Whose eyes?
Two versions of one moment. A: I knew she was lying. B: He believed she was lying, though her hands were steady. Version B lets you doubt the character. Version A does not.
Think about it
- Which version gives you room to disagree with the character?
- How does the narrator change what you can know?
EXPLAIN
Three positions and one warning
| Point of view | Pronouns | Access to thoughts | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| First person | I, we | Only the narrator | Intimacy plus limited, possibly biased view |
| Third limited | he, she, they | One character | Closeness with some distance |
| Third omniscient | he, she, they | All characters | Wide understanding, less intimacy |
Reliability
- Look for facts in the text that contradict the narrator claims.
- Watch for strong emotion, self-interest or missing information.
- Young, drunk, frightened or dishonest narrators are often unreliable.
- Unreliable does not mean lying; it may mean limited.
Careful
Third person is not automatically objective. A third limited narrator can be as biased as the character whose head we sit in.
EXPLORE
Two passages
Passage 1: I had done nothing wrong. The teacher simply disliked me, as she had from the first day, and my missing homework was hardly the point.
Passage 2: Mara told herself she had done nothing wrong. Her folder lay unopened on the kitchen table where it had been since Friday.
Think about it
- Name the point of view of each passage.
- Which detail in passage 2 undercuts the character claim?
MYP_PRACTICE
Criterion C task
Take passage 1 and rewrite it in third limited so the reader can see what the narrator will not admit. Keep it under 80 words, then explain in two sentences what changed for the reader.
EXIT_TICKET
Check yourself
Think about it
- Give one signal that a narrator is unreliable.
- Which point of view do you prefer writing in, and why?
Interactive practice · rewrite
Shift the point of view
Rewrite the given paragraph in the requested point of view and note one thing the reader gains.
Source
I had done nothing wrong. The teacher simply disliked me.
Targets
Your answer
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Key vocabulary
- Point of view
- The position from which a story is told.
- Third limited
- Third-person narration that can enter only one character mind.
- Omniscient
- A narrator who knows the thoughts of every character.
- Unreliable narrator
- A narrator whose account the reader has reason to doubt.
Practice questions
0/2 correct
Level 1 · Criterion A
Passage 2 is written in which point of view?
Level 2 · Criterion A
Which detail suggests the narrator of passage 1 is unreliable?
MYP criterion tasks
Level 3 · Criterion C
Explain how changing passage 1 to third limited changes the reader trust.
Reflect & track
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