Narrator and Voice
From “Who`s Talking” by John Legget
Difference between a narrator and an author:
Narrator-The voice telling the story.
Author- The person writing the story.
-Point of View is a vantage point from which a writer narrates, or tells a story.
Note: The terms point of view and narrator can be used interchangeably.
Major Points of View:
First-person-The narrator is a character in the story, using first-person pronoun I
-readers see and hear only what the narrator sees and hears.
third- person omniscient- the narrator plays no part in the story, but can tell us what all the characters are thinking and feeling, as well as what happens in the past and future.
Just like “Once upon a time”.
Narrator is an all -knowing, god-like or Santa clause-ish figure.
third-person limited- the narrator, who plays no part in the story, zooms in on the thoughts and feeling of one character.
Readers only know the thoughts and feelings of one character.
Think of a shadow or a little narrator on the character`s shoulder.
Voice- the writer or speaker`s distinctive use of language in a text.
Voice-diction[word choice] + language+ tone.
Helps to identify the author from reading just passage or two.
Tone- the attitude a writer takes toward a subject, character, or the reader.
Point of view effects tone: think of a madman`s tone versus a mother`s tone.