What's the Point of View?
I grabbed my backpack and sprinted down the hallway hoping I was not too late.
What point of view is this?
Answer: First person.
I could not believe what I was hearing.
What pronoun tells you the point of view?
Answer: I.
The narrator only knows what one character is thinking and feeling. Is this limited or omniscient?
Answer: Limited.
You step into the elevator and press the button for the top floor. The doors close slowly and you feel your stomach drop.
What point of view is this?
Answer: Second person.
She packed her bags slowly and tried not to think about what she was leaving behind.
What pronouns tell you the point of view?
Answer: She / her.
The narrator knows what every single character is thinking and feeling. Is this limited or omniscient?
Answer: Omniscient.
She had been practicing her speech for three weeks and she still did not feel ready.
What point of view is this?
Answer: Third person.
You open the door and step into the cold night air.
What pronoun tells you the point of view?
Answer: You.
Zoe stared at the test paper and felt completely lost. She had no idea her teacher was watching her and already planning to offer extra help after class.
Is this limited or omniscient? How do you know?
Answer: Omniscient. We know what both Zoe is feeling and what her teacher is thinking.
We stayed up until midnight finishing the puzzle and nobody wanted to be the one to put in the last piece.
What point of view is this?
Answer: First person.
We had been planning this trip for so long that none of us could believe it was finally happening.
What pronouns tell you the point of view?
Answer: We / us / our.
Noah sat by the window and watched the rain. He wondered if the game would be cancelled. He hoped it would not.
Is this limited or omniscient? How do you know?
Answer: Limited. We only know what Noah is thinking and feeling — no other character's thoughts are shared.
Marcus felt proud of his project. Across the room his teacher was already planning to use it as an example for next year's class.
What point of view is this and is it limited or omniscient?
Answer: Third person omniscient because we know what both Marcus and his teacher are thinking.
They had no idea what was waiting for them at the end of the trail but they kept walking anyway.
What pronouns tell you the point of view and what point of view is it?
Answer: They / them — third person.
Why might an author choose third person limited instead of third person omniscient?
Answer: Third person limited keeps the reader focused on one character's experience which creates more suspense and a deeper connection to that one character. The reader only knows what that character knows.