fbpx

KidsKonnect

Point Of View Worksheets

A point of view is the perspective from which a story is told. It can be from the narrator’s, main character’s, or another character’s view.

Search for Worksheets

Worksheets /English Language Arts /Point Of View Worksheets
Premium
Not ready to purchase a subscription? Click to download the free sample version   Download sample

A point of view is the perspective from which a story is told. It can be from the narrator’s, the main character’s, or another character’s view. Hence, point of view can be first person, second person, third person limited, and third person omniscient.

See the fact file below for more information on Point of View, or you can download our 25-page Point of View worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

WHAT IS A POINT OF VIEW?

  • While the story itself is important, the vantage point from which it is told is also vital in fully understanding the message of the story.
  • Point of view is the “who” the author chooses to tell the story. It is the “eye” or “narrating voice” of the story. 
  • The point of view can be of a narrator who is or is not a character in the story, or the main character or other characters. 
  • In some cases, a point of view can also be a direct address to the readers. These things will be determined by the author before writing the story itself.

IMPORTANCE OF POINT OF VIEW

  • Even if the story can be understood no matter which voice it is told using, point of view is still important in the narrative for several reasons.
  • First, point of view helps the reader understand the characters’ feelings and actions. Whoever is telling the story will surely portray a character in a certain way, so this will impact the reader’s opinion of the character and even the story itself.
  • Second, point of view affects the atmosphere of the story. The person who narrates the story will affect how it is felt by the reader. The characters in stories have different attributes, emotions, and even motives. Knowing whose voice is used in the narration will contribute to the overall feelings the story creates.
  • Third, point of view determines the narrative distance. It is important to establish this distance because in this way, the writer can determine the tone of the book, the amount of information that is shared, and the development of the plot.
  • Lastly, point of view establishes the narrative style. In relation to the amount of information that you are going to give the reader, the established point of view will be reflected in the character’s vocabulary and even in the manner of talking and thinking. The style of narrating the story will definitely be influenced by your chosen narrative voice.

TYPES OF POINT OF VIEW

  • There are different types of point of view. Aside from the style used to convey the story, pronouns have become very helpful in determining the type of point of view the story has.
    • The first-person point of view uses first-person pronouns such as I, me, my, mine, we, us, our, and ours.
    •  It creates intimacy between the reader and the characters because it makes the characters’ thoughts, emotions, and even motives accessible to the reader.
    • Nowadays, authors tend to use multiple first-person narratives, which happens when the narrative switches from that of one character to another.
  • Here’s an example:“I led him across the dunes to where I had left my gun and string of duck. At his request I undid the thong about their necks and laid them out on the sand, while he took them up one by one, spreading a wing to admire the changing colors of the speculum, or smoothing the feathers of a glossy head. At last he sighed, as he cut the end of a fresh cigar and looked up at me.”

    –The Pearl Lagoon by Charles Nordhoff

    In this narrative snippet, it can be seen that the author uses the first-person personal pronouns I and me which indicates that the narrative voice comes from the character. Also, the narrative shows the character’s observations and motivations.

  • The second type of point of view is second-person. Unlike the first-person point of view, the second-person point of view is not typical in narrative fiction because it directly addresses the reader. 
    • The second-person point of view uses second-person pronouns such as you, your, and yours.
    • The narrator talks to “you” or the reader of the text.  
    • It is commonly used in letters, poems, speeches, instructional writing, and persuasive articles.
    • It is also used to give rules, guidelines, or commands. However, in some cases, the pronoun “you” is not written anymore because it is assumed that the command is addressed to the person reading the text.
  • Here’s an example:
    “Your lungs fill & spread themselves,

    wings of pink blood, and your bones

    empty themselves and become hollow.

    When you breathe in you’ll lift like a balloon

    and your heart is light too & huge,

    beating with pure joy, pure helium…”

    –Flying Inside Your Own Body by Margaret Atwood

    The lines lifted from the poem apparently address a certain reader. Through the use of the pronouns “your” and “you”, the use of a second-person point of view is shown. Although there may be a specific addressee of the poem, the use of a second-person point of view may suggest that it is directly talking to a reader who can relate to the situation portrayed in the poem.

  • The next type of point of view is the third-person. The third-person point of view uses third-person pronouns such as he, she, it, they, and them, and other pronouns that show detachment from the speaker.
  • This point of view has two subtypes: third-person limited point of view and third-person omniscient point of view.
  • The first subtype, third-person limited point of view, is a narrative style that only sees the situation or what is more evident in the story as far as events are concerned.
    • It can also reveal the thoughts and emotions of the characters but only in a limited way. These things need to be evident in the scene or flow of the story.
    • It cannot get into the mind of any of the characters in the story as this is not always revealed by their words and actions in the story.
  • Here’s an example:

“When the Benson girls accused Betty of being quiet and absent-minded she laughed at them and asked if she generally monopolized the entire conversation. But on the way home she confided to Will that she hadn’t heard a word Sallie Benson had said about the plans for her coming-out cotillion.”

–Betty Wales & Co by Margaret Warde

First, the lines in the story utilize third-person pronouns, which shows that neither of the characters is the narrator of the story. Also, although it describes the events of the story, it can be seen that the narration has limitations. It only recounts the more observable characters’ actions in the story. The point of view does not disclose any of the characters’ thoughts and motives, which can only be accessible when the author gets in the characters’ minds.

  • The second subtype, third-person omniscient point of view, is a narrative style that sees everything.
    • As the term ‘omniscient’, which means ‘all knowing’, suggests, it can reveal even the characters’ thoughts, motives, and plans. 
    • It can describe the characters’ words and actions, not only from the more evident situation but also from the character’s reasons for doing so. Thus, the narrative voice can explain why the events happen.
  • Here’s an example:
    Example:

    “A raven was very unhappy because his feathers were black. One day he saw a beautiful white swan swimming in a lake. “How beautiful and white her feathers are,” he thought. “It must be because she washes them so much. Why, she almost lives in the water. If I should wash my feathers all day long, they might get white, too. I will try it.” So he flew from his nest in the woods, and lived for days near the lake.”

    –Why Ravens Croak from The Aldine Readers   

     by Frank E. Spaulding

    In these lines from the fable, not only the emotions of the animal character are revealed but also his thoughts, which are the bird’s observations of another bird. It also describes what happens in the characters of the story through the use of third-person pronouns. However, it discloses more of the characters than what can be observed in the story.

Point of View Worksheets

This fantastic bundle includes everything you need to know about Point of View across 25 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Point of View worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Point of View, which are two or more root words combined together to form another word with an individual meaning.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  1. Point of View Facts
  2. Correct Points of View
  3. What’s the Point of View?
  4. Investigate the Point of View
  5. Explain the Point of View
  6. Through a Point of View
  7. From Each Point of View
  8. From My Point of View
  9. Mirror the Point of View
  10. Across Points of View
  11. Your Own Point of View

Link/cite this page

If you reference any of the content on this page on your own website, please use the code below to cite this page as the original source.

Link will appear as Point Of View Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, April 20, 2016

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

Related Resources