Narrative Point of View: The narrator’s position in relation to the story being told.

• First-Person: In a first-person narrative the story is relayed by a narrator who is also a character within the story, so that the narrator reveals the plot by referring to this viewpoint character as “I” (or, when plural, “we”).
  Examples:
  
  • The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway is written in first-person unreliable voice of the protagonist to withholds information to add intrigue to the narrative.
  • I, Robot by Isaac Asimov uses the first-person pronoun “we” instead of “I”.
  • The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins uses first-person present to create a quick pacing and a sense of real-time shock.
  • The Sherlock Holmes Books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is written in first-person by Dr. Watson instead of in the more conventional Point of View of the protagonist.
• Second-Person: In the second-person narrative mode, the narrator refers to one of the characters as “you”, therefore making the audience member feel as if he or she is a character within the story.
  Examples:
  
  • Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas by Tom Robbins is written entirely in the second-person, present tense.
  • Please Send a Published Copy to 101 Harris Road by Rachel Ephraim speaks in first-person to a second-person character.
  • Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney uses second-person to create an intense sense of intimacy between the narrator and the reader
  • A Prayer for the Dying by Stewart O’Nan creates a sense of insanity with its second-person narrative
• Third-Person: Third-person narration provides the greatest flexibility to the author and thus is the most commonly used narrative mode in literature. In the third-person narrative mode, each and every character is referred to by the narrator as “he”, “she”, “it”, or “they”.
  Examples:
  
  • Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is written in classic third-person.
  • The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling uses third-person Point of View with limited Voice almost exclusively throughout the series.
  • Labyrinth by Kate Mosse is told in third-person and follows two protagonists through the narrative.
  • The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas uses third-person Point of View with omniscient Voice.
• Alternating Person: Many stories, especially in literature, alternate between the first and third person. In this case, an author will move back and forth between a more omniscient third-person narrator to a more personal first-person narrator. Alternating Person Point of View may also vary the character perspective within the story.
  Examples:
  
  • The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson changes Point of View when the author of the “letters” changes.
  • Bleak House by Charles Dickens switches between third and first person.
  • World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks is a collection of individual accounts in the form of first-person anecdotes.
  • Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card switches between dialogue or messages between characters at the beginning of the chapter and a third-person subjective (aka third-person limited) the rest of the time.