WEBVTT 00:00:14.026 --> 00:00:16.496 “I am an invisible man.” NOTE Paragraph 00:00:16.496 --> 00:00:20.728 “Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself.” NOTE Paragraph 00:00:20.728 --> 00:00:24.777 “You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino's new novel.” NOTE Paragraph 00:00:26.370 --> 00:00:30.742 These three opening lines, from Ralph Ellison’s "Invisible Man," 00:00:30.742 --> 00:00:32.762 Virginia Woolf’s "Mrs. Dalloway," 00:00:32.762 --> 00:00:36.562 and Italo Calvino’s "If on a winter’s night a traveler," 00:00:36.562 --> 00:00:39.682 each establish a different point of view. 00:00:39.682 --> 00:00:42.892 Who is telling a story, and from what perspective, 00:00:42.892 --> 00:00:46.412 are some of the most important choices an author makes. 00:00:46.412 --> 00:00:50.544 Told from a different point of view, a story can transform completely. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:52.504 --> 00:00:54.360 Take this fairytale: 00:00:54.360 --> 00:00:59.820 "Rapunzel, Rapunzel," the Prince called, "let down your hair." 00:00:59.820 --> 00:01:03.350 Rapunzel unbraided her hair and slung it out the window. 00:01:03.350 --> 00:01:06.420 The prince climbed her tresses into the tower. 00:01:06.420 --> 00:01:11.064 Rapunzel is typically told like this, with the narrator outside the story. 00:01:11.064 --> 00:01:14.164 This point of view is called third person. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:14.164 --> 00:01:18.044 But Rapunzel can also be told by a character in the story— 00:01:18.044 --> 00:01:19.854 a first person narrator. 00:01:19.854 --> 00:01:23.284 The tail end of Rapunzel’s locks plopped down at my feet. 00:01:23.284 --> 00:01:26.614 I grabbed on and began to climb… ugh! 00:01:26.614 --> 00:01:28.694 I couldn’t untangle myself. 00:01:28.694 --> 00:01:32.404 Strands came off all over me, sticking to my sweat. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:32.404 --> 00:01:36.460 In a first person narrative, the story can change dramatically 00:01:36.460 --> 00:01:40.636 depending on which character is the narrator. 00:01:40.636 --> 00:01:44.366 Say Rapunzel was narrating instead of the prince: 00:01:44.366 --> 00:01:51.255 I hope he appreciates how long it takes to unbraid 25 feet of hair, I thought. 00:01:51.255 --> 00:01:56.212 OUCH! I'll be honest; I thought my scalp would stretch off of my skull. 00:01:56.212 --> 00:02:00.212 "Can you climb any faster?" I yelled. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:00.212 --> 00:02:04.801 In second person, the narrator addresses the story to the reader: 00:02:04.801 --> 00:02:09.892 He calls your name. He wants you to let your hair down. 00:02:09.892 --> 00:02:14.350 You just finished braiding it, but hey– you don't get a lot of visitors. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:14.350 --> 00:02:18.230 Third person, first person, and second person perspectives 00:02:18.230 --> 00:02:21.740 each have unique possibilities and constraints. 00:02:21.740 --> 00:02:25.740 So how do you choose a point of view for your story? NOTE Paragraph 00:02:25.740 --> 00:02:28.400 Constraints aren’t necessarily a bad thing— 00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:32.946 they can help focus a story or highlight certain elements. 00:02:32.946 --> 00:02:34.106 For example, 00:02:34.106 --> 00:02:39.024 a third person narrator is necessarily a bit removed from the characters. 00:02:39.024 --> 00:02:43.156 But that can be good for stories where a feeling of distance is important. 00:02:43.156 --> 00:02:46.636 A third person narrator can be either limited, 00:02:46.636 --> 00:02:50.516 meaning they stick close to one character’s thoughts and feelings, 00:02:50.516 --> 00:02:54.446 or they can be omniscient, able to flit between characters’ minds 00:02:54.446 --> 00:02:57.295 and give the reader more information. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:57.295 --> 00:03:02.170 A first person story creates closeness between the reader and the narrator. 00:03:02.170 --> 00:03:05.480 It’s also restricted by the narrator’s knowledge. 00:03:05.480 --> 00:03:07.010 This can create suspense 00:03:07.010 --> 00:03:10.920 as the reader finds out information along with the character. 00:03:10.920 --> 00:03:13.180 A first person narrator doesn’t necessarily 00:03:13.180 --> 00:03:16.340 have to represent the character’s experience faithfully— 00:03:16.340 --> 00:03:19.360 they can be delusional or dishonest. 00:03:19.360 --> 00:03:22.744 In Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel "The Remains of the Day," 00:03:22.744 --> 00:03:29.292 Stevens, an aging British butler in 1956, recounts his many years of service, 00:03:29.292 --> 00:03:33.292 but fails to acknowledge the flaws of the man he serves. 00:03:33.292 --> 00:03:37.042 The cracks in his narrative eventually draw the reader’s attention 00:03:37.042 --> 00:03:41.025 to the under-acknowledged failings of the culture and class system 00:03:41.025 --> 00:03:42.625 he inhabits. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:42.625 --> 00:03:45.595 Justin Torres’s novel, "We the Animals," 00:03:45.595 --> 00:03:48.895 begins with a plural first person narrator: 00:03:48.895 --> 00:03:52.705 “We were six snatching hands, six stomping feet; 00:03:52.705 --> 00:03:58.542 we were brothers, boys, three little kings locked in a feud for more.” 00:03:58.542 --> 00:04:01.587 Partway through the story, the point of view shifts 00:04:01.587 --> 00:04:06.577 to first person singular, from we to I, as the boys come of age 00:04:06.577 --> 00:04:10.677 and one brother feels alienated from the others. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:10.677 --> 00:04:13.697 Second person is a less common choice. 00:04:13.697 --> 00:04:18.511 It requires the writer to make the reader suspend disbelief to become another “you.” 00:04:18.511 --> 00:04:21.201 Placing the reader in a character’s perspective 00:04:21.201 --> 00:04:23.621 can build urgency and suspense. 00:04:23.621 --> 00:04:24.791 Sometimes, though, 00:04:24.791 --> 00:04:28.937 second person is intended to distance the narrator from their own story, 00:04:28.937 --> 00:04:31.677 rather than bring the reader closer to the story. 00:04:31.677 --> 00:04:32.807 In these cases, 00:04:32.807 --> 00:04:37.881 second person narrators refer to themselves as “you” rather than “I.” NOTE Paragraph 00:04:37.881 --> 00:04:43.082 Writers are constantly experimenting with fresh variations on point of view. 00:04:43.082 --> 00:04:46.150 New virtual and augmented reality technologies 00:04:46.150 --> 00:04:49.730 may expand the possibilities for this experimentation. 00:04:49.730 --> 00:04:53.730 By placing people at a particular vantage point in virtual space, 00:04:53.730 --> 00:04:57.590 how might we change the way we tell and experience stories?