Various Narrative Viewpoints(:

Last Friday, we were given a worksheet to complete by Ms Huang. The worksheet included 5 short stories and we were supposed to dissect the story by identifying the characters, their characteristics and the author’s use of either the first-person perspective or the third-person perspective. Now, I will summarise the usage and importance of both the first-person and third-person perspective.

When I use the first-person perspective to narrate my story, I can have various intentions to do so. Using the first-person perspective would greatly help to understand the narrator more, as everything that happens in the story is seen in the narrator’s eyes, and all his thoughts and feelings are explicitly in the story, hence the reader would be able to understand the narrator more. A first-person narrative is generally used for in-depth character development, and is used when the author wants to develop the character aspect of the story. A first-person narrative is usually opinionated and I would use it when I want to write a personal narrative. For example, if I want to write a story called “A Day at the Beach”, I would use the first-person perspective instead of the third-person perspective because the narrative is a recount of an incident that happened before, and therefore is more personal to me. In a nutshell, I would use the first-person narrative when I want to develop the character deeper, and when I want the reader to actually feel close to the narrator through his feelings and thoughts.

Next, when I use the third-person perspective to narrate my story, as opposed to the first-person perspective, I do not intend to develop my character too in-depth. Instead, I will focus on reporting the events in the story using subjective narration instead of objective narration as in the case of the first-person narrative. When I write third-person narratives, it is not intended that the characters be involved in many parts of the story. Not much character development is present, much more is focused on the setting, plot and at times, theme of the story. When I write a third-person narrative, my aim is to focus on the aspects of the setting and plot of the story. Like what I had mentioned earlier, by using a third-person perspective, the reader will read less of the characters’ feelings and opinions, instead, they will read more about the plot and setting of the story, and is left to interpret the story based on their own opinion. In a nutshell, I would use the third-person narrative when I want to develop the plot of the story, and when I want the reader to know solely about the events that take place in the story, and possibly interpret them on his own, given the objective viewpoint of the plot of the story.

This is my take on the usage of both the first-person and third-person perspective, and when I would want to use them. Feel free to comment below!

Cheers,

Roystan