Narrator and Voice

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Narrator and Voice
Feature Menu
The Narrator Omniscient Point of
View First-Person Point of View Third-Person-Limit
ed Point of View Tone Voice Practice
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The Narrator
When you read a story, the narratorthe person
telling the storycontrols everything you know
about the characters and events.
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The Narrator
A writers choice of a narrator determines the
point of view of the storythe vantage point from
which the story is told.
The three main points of view are

• omniscient

• first person

• third person limited

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Omniscient Point of View
When the omniscient point of view is used, the
narrator

• is not a character in the story

• knows all

• can tell us everything about every character

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Omniscient Point of View
How can youtell this is an omniscient narrator?
Quick Check
One day a young woman looked out her apartment
window and saw a man playing a saxophone. Cool,
she thought as she swayed to his tune. A big
brown dog joined the man and howled along with
the music. Then a man in pajamas yelled from
another window, complaining that the noise woke
him up and he was going to call the police. This
man, who worked the night shift and had to sleep
all day, liked cats better than dogs anyway. The
young saxophonist left.
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Omniscient Point of View
How can youtell this is an omniscient narrator?
Quick Check
One day a young woman looked out her apartment
window and saw a man playing a saxophone. Cool,
she thought as she swayed to his tune. A big
brown dog joined the man and howled along with
the music. Then a man in pajamas yelled from
another window, complaining that the noise woke
him up and he was going to call the police. This
man, who worked the night shift and had to sleep
all day, liked cats better than dogs anyway. The
young saxophonist left.
The narrator isnt a character in the story. The
narrator knows what multiple characters are
doing, thinking, and feeling.
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First-Person Point of View
A first-person narrator

• is a character in the story

• uses first-person pronouns such as I and me

• tells us only what he or she thinks and
  experiences

A first-person narrator is sometimes called a
persona.
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First-Person Point of View
Always question whether a first-person narrator
is credible, or can be trusted.
An unreliable narrator is biased and does not (or
cannot) tell the truth.
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First-Person Point of View
How can youtell this is a first-person narrator?
Quick Check
Oh, man! Just as I was finally dozing off, he
starts playing that stupid saxophone. Ive
already been fired from one job because I fell
asleep on the night shift. Now its going to
happen again. I dont know which sounds worse,
that tone-deaf saxophonist or that yowling dog.
Im going to call the police.
Do you think this narrators opinion of the music
is reliable? Why or why not?
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First-Person Point of View
How can youtell this is a first-person narrator?
Quick Check
Oh, man! Just as I was finally dozing off, he
starts playing that stupid saxophone. Ive
already been fired from one job because I fell
asleep on the night shift. Now its going to
happen again. I dont know which sounds worse,
that tone-deaf saxophonist or that yowling dog.
Im going to call the police.
He uses the pronoun I and tells only his own
thoughts and feelings.
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First-Person Point of View
Do you think this narrators opinion of the music
is reliable? Why or why not?
Quick Check
Oh, man! Just as I was finally dozing off, he
starts playing that stupid saxophone. Ive
already been fired from one job because I fell
asleep on the night shift. Now its going to
happen again. I dont know which sounds worse,
that tone-deaf saxophonist or that yowling dog.
Im going to call the police.
No. Hes probably too concerned about getting
sleep to enjoy music.
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Third-Person-Limited Point of View
When the third-person-limited point of view is
used, the narrator

• gives one characters thoughts and reactions

• uses third-person pronouns (he, she, they)

• tells little about other characters

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Third-Person-Limited Point of View
How can you tell this is a third-person-limited
narrator?
Quick Check
He found a good spot in front of Park View
Apartments and started playing soulfully on his
sax. He wanted an audience and needed money.
After one song, he spotted a cute girl at a
window, applauding madly. A dog howled with the
music, but the sax player let him stay, hoping
the dog might attract some donations. Then he
heard a man yelling about calling the
policeclearly not a music lover.
What is this narrators reaction to the dog? to
the yelling man?
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Third-Person-Limited Point of View
How can you tell this is a third-person-limited
narrator?
Quick Check
He found a good spot in front of Park View
Apartments and started playing soulfully on his
sax. He wanted an audience and needed money.
After one song, he spotted a cute girl at a
window, applauding madly. A dog howled with the
music, but the sax player let him stay, hoping
the dog might attract some donations. Then he
heard a man yelling about calling the
policeclearly not a music lover.
The story is told from the sax players vantage
point using the pronoun he. We dont know what
other characters are thinking.
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Third-Person-Limited Point of View
What is this narrators reaction to the dog? to
the yelling man?
Quick Check
He found a good spot in front of Park View
Apartments and started playing soulfully on his
sax. He wanted an audience and needed money.
After one song, he spotted a cute girl at a
window, applauding madly. A dog howled with the
music, but the sax player let him stay, hoping
the dog might attract some donations. Then he
heard a man yelling about calling the
policeclearly not a music lover.
He thinks the dog can help him. He thinks the man
hates music.
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Tone
Tone is the attitude a speaker or writer takes
toward a subject, character, or audience. A
storys tone can be
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Voice
Voice is the writers distinctive use of language
and his or her overall style.

• The writers tone and choice of words (diction)
  help create the voice.

In fiction, narrators can also be said to have a
voice.

• A narrators voice can affect our view of
  characters and events.

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Voice
Notice how a distinctive voice can influence our
views of certain characters.

• What impression do you get of the saxophone
  player? Which words contribute to this effect?

Oh, man! Just as I was finally dozing off, he
starts playing that stupid saxophone. Ive
already been fired from one job because I fell
asleep on the night shift. Now its going to
happen again. I dont know which sounds worse,
that tone-deaf saxophonist or that yowling dog.
Im going to call the police.
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Voice
You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will
not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a
threat. At length I would be avenged this was a
point definitively settled - but the very
definitiveness with which it was resolved,
precluded the idea of risk.
TRUE! - nervous - very, very dreadfully nervous I
had been and am but why will you say that I am
mad? The disease had sharpened my senses - not
destroyed - not dulled them. Above all was the
sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the
heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in
hell. How, then, am I mad?
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Voice
It must be understood, that neither by word nor
deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good
will. I continued, as was my wont, to smile in
his face, and he did not perceive that my smile
now was at the thought of his immolation.
Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen
know nothing. But you should have seen me. You
should have seen how wisely I proceeded - with
what caution - with what foresight - with what
dissimulation I went to work! I was never kinder
to the old man than during the whole week before
I killed him.
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Practice
Write a paragraph telling the
saxophone story from the point of view of the
young woman or the big brown dog. Use either the
first-person or the third-person-limited point of
view, and try to create a distinctive voice.
Remember to show what the character is thinking
and feeling.
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The End