First, Second and Third-Person Points of View: First, second and third-person points of view are nothing but a bunch of pronouns used to describe the identity of social and non-social animals. Pronouns are added as a very sensitive element when it comes to the choice of people they want to be addressed. It is a good thing to ask people how they should be treated or called.
There’s a comparative notion that in the world, existing pronouns are only either he/she which isn’t true because the adaptation of a human being on their biological statement is quite different from what one thinks of other. If we address people according to their will, it will allow them a sense of freedom which they should get.
First-person pronouns consist of pronouns of a singular subject like “I and we”
Second person pronouns consist of “you” and
The Third-person’s point of view has “they/she/he/their” these pronouns in it. First second and third-person pronouns are written in such a way so that the author can write, describe or communicate with the reader properly.
First, Second and Third-Person Points of View in English
- What are the first person points of view?
- What are the second-person points of view?
- What are the third-person points of view?
- How the third person point of view is different from the third person limited point of view?
- What is third person objective?
What are the first-person points of view?
First-person points of view generally talk about ourselves. When we speak of something as a singular form that is ‘I’ we can use it as first-person pronouns. We generally see this during narration, storytelling, narrative essays, autobiographies, biographies, etc. When the story is dealing with ‘i’ to be specified being the center of attraction.
It is not always possible to use the first person’s perspective that is why we use the second-person perspective in demand. One fascinating thing about the first-person perspective is the direct contact or communication of the writer to the readers. It creates a unique sense of intimacy between the two because it has a direct stimulation to it. For example, I am drinking water and this is my water bottle.
This means the person who states this example uses ‘I’ as a singular form of perspective to convey his or her thoughts. There is no indulgence of another subject to the sentence framework. There are many books also present written from the first person’s viewpoint, for example, in the book named “The great Gatsby by F.scott”, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, etc.
These are the books written from the first-person perspective where the actual story revolves around the protagonist who’s writing it. The center of attraction and concentration are both that one particular being. Well, there are other pronouns like “our, we, or ourselves” also there which can be used as first-person pronouns as it has a plural form but talk about an individual entity.
Point of view devices of first-person Specification
- The Specification is a very important device when it comes to determining a pronoun. We have seen that perspective or narrative writing for the first person is always written for the main character. The story deals with the identification of the protagonist. It can be seen from a side character too who’s not that important but the identity of the primary character is the most important.
- Responsibility it is the responsibility of the first person to convey the message to the readers in such a way that they can understand the hidden agenda of the context. It is the sole reliability of that particular person because the whole narrative has been brought up by the one who has written it.
So the actual outline he wants to present should reflect or else it will be unclear to the audience. Point of view the same event can be seen differently from different perspectives of different personalities. For example, if person “A” is a warrior of a particular war he can share his experiences whereas “B” can share his experience of the same war in a different manner that can be used from the first person’s perspective.
It is completely okay because this isn’t always necessary to go through the same events in the same way. Person “A and B” must have had some shared experience of that particular war together but not exactly the whole thing. Configuration of an opinion As we know a writer is full of opinions when it comes to writing.
That writer will be engaged in such a manner that first-person perspective would help him share his opinion on different routes through his writings.
What is the second-person point of view?
The second-person point of view deals with the pronoun “you”. The usage of you is often given in this perspective so that we can give advice or directions to a different person. When we address you as in pronoun then it gradually shifts its position from one person to another person.
Now it doesn’t talk about “I” as a person. Now it talks about “you” as a person. When the story is told by another person of the same story who’s not the main protagonist or when the reader can analyze what’s being said in the book then it will be called a second person’s point of view. It enlarges the mind of the reader to read and empathize side by side understanding from their viewpoint what’s being said.
For example, if the writer has written on the topic of “global warming is the issue for the melting of glaciers”, in this topic the writer has already explained the demerits of global warming as an issue and how it affects the glacier throughout the year. But he is questioning your ability to understand if it is a problem or not.
He is asking you about your say in this. And when it comes to “you” it becomes the second person’s perspective. It is also called one of the rarest perspective points as it leads to thinking about oneself. Another example of the second-person perspective is the famous book “bright lights, big city”, Jay McInerny.
In his book, he describes his pronouns either as you/your which pretty much sums up the second person pronoun game.
What is called a third-person perspective?
A third-person perspective is used as an omniscient perspective where the author describes himself or anyone with pronouns like they/them/he/she/her etc. These pronouns are used by the writer as “all-knowing” sources. This is called one of the oldest perspectives of storytelling series where multiple characters are infused together.
This is also known as the most used perspective of all time especially in the classic novels of the 18th and 19th centuries. This narrative has thoughts, emotions, and feelings, the durability of every character surrounding the author. The writer has to provide a very descriptive and organized way of detailing as it deals with a large number of fractions.
It is a great way to put deeper meaning into the protagonist’s life. For example, there’s a book named little women which was later made a movie in these times. The book was written by Louisa M Alcott, in this book, a great relationship is shown by four sisters in the time of need which makes the reader very empathetic about the whole situation. Every character in the book is so well defined with the emotional balance between each other that it makes it a classic. The side roles which are there are greatly defined too. So as we can see, in this perspective no corners are non-valued.
How the third person point of view is different from the third person limited point?
It is absolutely important to grasp the difference between these two notions to understand pronouns in a better way. The main difference between the third person limited point of view is that it deals with the omniscient character, which means it deals with the protagonist on a much deeper level, it understands all emotions in a detailed way but all the other character’s quotient externally.
It does not simplify another character descriptively. For example, the entire fictional book that has been written in the past is complete example of the third-person limited point. Harry Potter series is one of the great fictions written by JK rolling but written from a point of view of the protagonist that is Harry potter. Though all the characters indeed are described in an organized manner. But it’s fully biased onto the sides of the protagonist.
There’s another example of such fiction which is the book “pride and prejudice” by Jane Austen, a masterpiece, which is again described from the perspective of Elizabeth who has the lead role.
What is third person objective?
Third-person objective in this perspective, the author explains the character without knowing any actual motive behind it. The reader gets into a trap of understanding a character’s multiple personalities. It questions people mysteriously about the real and actual intentions behind the context
For example, in a book a character has shown in such a way that he is violent like a psychopath who murders different people and calls it self-defense or reflexive position to save him.
Well, from the reader “A” perspective, he or she sees the protagonist as a good person who kills people to save himself or anyone’s life. But from the reader “B” perspective, he or she sees it as a sin.
They do not allow it to be defensive. So this is how a reader gets into a much thinkable situation when he sees duality in perception. And this is when a third person’s objective works.
The most important factor that pronouns deal with is in English literature. It is crucial to think critically about where a person’s pronouns stand in writing the story with formation. Point of view determines what this author has to say about the relationships of a particular being.
In ancient time’s Classical literature also dealt with “thou” as a pronoun which means a second singular person “you”. So this the specification writer does clarify where the centre of character stands. It’s being widely spread over time that is why writers can write many genres and best-selling books, pronouns compactly and profoundly.