First person vs. Second person vs. Third person - Rebekah Bergman
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0:14 - 0:16“I am an invisible man.”
-
0:16 - 0:21“Mrs. Dalloway said she would
buy the flowers herself.” -
0:21 - 0:25“You are about to begin reading
Italo Calvino's new novel.” -
0:26 - 0:31These three opening lines,
from Ralph Ellison’s "Invisible Man," -
0:31 - 0:33Virginia Woolf’s "Mrs. Dalloway,"
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0:33 - 0:37and Italo Calvino’s
"If on a winter’s night a traveler," -
0:37 - 0:40each establish a different point of view.
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0:40 - 0:43Who is telling a story,
and from what perspective, -
0:43 - 0:46are some of the most important choices
an author makes. -
0:46 - 0:51Told from a different point of view,
a story can transform completely. -
0:53 - 0:54Take this fairytale:
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0:54 - 1:00"Rapunzel, Rapunzel,"
the Prince called, "let down your hair." -
1:00 - 1:03Rapunzel unbraided her hair
and slung it out the window. -
1:03 - 1:06The prince climbed her tresses
into the tower. -
1:06 - 1:11Rapunzel is typically told like this,
with the narrator outside the story. -
1:11 - 1:14This point of view is called third person.
-
1:14 - 1:18But Rapunzel can also be told
by a character in the story— -
1:18 - 1:20a first person narrator.
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1:20 - 1:23The tail end of Rapunzel’s locks
plopped down at my feet. -
1:23 - 1:27I grabbed on and began to climb… ugh!
-
1:27 - 1:29I couldn’t untangle myself.
-
1:29 - 1:32Strands came off all over me,
sticking to my sweat. -
1:32 - 1:36In a first person narrative, the story
can change dramatically -
1:36 - 1:41depending on which character
is the narrator. -
1:41 - 1:44Say Rapunzel was narrating
instead of the prince: -
1:44 - 1:51I hope he appreciates how long it takes
to unbraid 25 feet of hair, I thought. -
1:51 - 1:56OUCH! I'll be honest; I thought my scalp
would stretch off of my skull. -
1:56 - 2:00"Can you climb any faster?" I yelled.
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2:00 - 2:05In second person, the narrator addresses
the story to the reader: -
2:05 - 2:10He calls your name. He wants you
to let your hair down. -
2:10 - 2:14You just finished braiding it, but hey–
you don't get a lot of visitors. -
2:14 - 2:18Third person, first person,
and second person perspectives -
2:18 - 2:22each have unique possibilities
and constraints. -
2:22 - 2:26So how do you choose a point
of view for your story? -
2:26 - 2:28Constraints aren’t necessarily
a bad thing— -
2:28 - 2:33they can help focus a story
or highlight certain elements. -
2:33 - 2:34For example,
-
2:34 - 2:39a third person narrator is necessarily
a bit removed from the characters. -
2:39 - 2:43But that can be good for stories
where a feeling of distance is important. -
2:43 - 2:47A third person narrator
can be either limited, -
2:47 - 2:51meaning they stick close to one
character’s thoughts and feelings, -
2:51 - 2:54or they can be omniscient,
able to flit between characters’ minds -
2:54 - 2:57and give the reader more information.
-
2:57 - 3:02A first person story creates closeness
between the reader and the narrator. -
3:02 - 3:05It’s also restricted
by the narrator’s knowledge. -
3:05 - 3:07This can create suspense
-
3:07 - 3:11as the reader finds out information
along with the character. -
3:11 - 3:13A first person narrator
doesn’t necessarily -
3:13 - 3:16have to represent the character’s
experience faithfully— -
3:16 - 3:19they can be delusional or dishonest.
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3:19 - 3:23In Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel
"The Remains of the Day," -
3:23 - 3:29Stevens, an aging British butler in 1956,
recounts his many years of service, -
3:29 - 3:33but fails to acknowledge the flaws
of the man he serves. -
3:33 - 3:37The cracks in his narrative eventually
draw the reader’s attention -
3:37 - 3:41to the under-acknowledged failings
of the culture and class system -
3:41 - 3:43he inhabits.
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3:43 - 3:46Justin Torres’s novel, "We the Animals,"
-
3:46 - 3:49begins with a plural
first person narrator: -
3:49 - 3:53“We were six snatching hands,
six stomping feet; -
3:53 - 3:59we were brothers, boys, three little kings
locked in a feud for more.” -
3:59 - 4:02Partway through the story,
the point of view shifts -
4:02 - 4:07to first person singular,
from we to I, as the boys come of age -
4:07 - 4:11and one brother feels alienated
from the others. -
4:11 - 4:14Second person is a less common choice.
-
4:14 - 4:19It requires the writer to make the reader
suspend disbelief to become another “you.” -
4:19 - 4:21Placing the reader
in a character’s perspective -
4:21 - 4:24can build urgency and suspense.
-
4:24 - 4:25Sometimes, though,
-
4:25 - 4:29second person is intended to distance
the narrator from their own story, -
4:29 - 4:32rather than bring the reader closer
to the story. -
4:32 - 4:33In these cases,
-
4:33 - 4:38second person narrators refer
to themselves as “you” rather than “I.” -
4:38 - 4:43Writers are constantly experimenting
with fresh variations on point of view. -
4:43 - 4:46New virtual and augmented
reality technologies -
4:46 - 4:50may expand the possibilities
for this experimentation. -
4:50 - 4:54By placing people at a particular
vantage point in virtual space, -
4:54 - 4:58how might we change the way
we tell and experience stories?
- Title:
- First person vs. Second person vs. Third person - Rebekah Bergman
- Speaker:
- Rebekah Bergman
- Description:
-
View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/first-person-vs-second-person-vs-third-person-rebekah-bergman
Who is telling a story, and from what perspective, are some of the most important choices an author makes. Told from a different point of view, a story can transform completely. Third person, first person, and second person perspectives each have unique possibilities and constraints. So how do you choose a point of view for your story? Rebekah Bergman explores the different ways to focus a story.
Lesson by Rebekah Bergman, directed by Gibbons Studio.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TED-Ed
- Duration:
- 05:00
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Tara Ahmadinejad edited English subtitles for First person vs. Second person vs. Third person |