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How Authors Develop Point of View

Standards: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6., CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.6                                                 

In this activity, you will practice analyzing how an author develops the point of view of a character. You may remember learning how to describe the point of view of a character, and how that can affect the way a story’s events are described. Now, you are going to examine what an author does to communicate a character’s point of view to a reader.

Let’s take a look at the first sentence of the story “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe. As you read, think about what the character’s point of view is, and what clues the author gives you about it.

“True! — nervous — very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?”

Wow, this narrator has some strong feelings! But how can a reader know that?

We’ll start by looking just at the grammar of the sentence. Is this following grammar rules? Starting off with an apparently random exclamation, then adding dashes? Definitely not. It’s a strange sentence construction, almost like two sentences forced to be one sentence, and it immediately suggests that the narrator of the story has an uncommon point of view.

Next, let’s look at the word choice in the first part of the sentence. The narrator repeats the word “nervous” twice, and uses three adverbs to show the strength of his nervousness. In this way, the author reveals to the reader that something is likely very wrong for the narrator. The character is upset and unhappy, and his situation probably isn’t comfortable.

Finally, let’s have a look at the last part of the sentence: “but why will you say that I am mad?”. Here, the author gives us an important piece of information about the narrator’s point of view: this person addressing someone else. More than that, we learn that the narrator is actually disagreeing with his audience. Asking “but why…” suggests that he is protesting the opinion of whoever he is talking to. At last, with the words “will you say that I am mad,” the author communicates to the reader that the narrator has been told he is mad, but believes he is sane.

That’s a lot of development in just 20 words, isn’t it? There’s a reason Edgar Allen Poe is sometimes called one of the greatest short story writers of all time!

Now it’s your turn. Read the rest of the first paragraph of “The Tell-Tale Heart.” Then, analyze the text and identify 1-2 ways that the author continues to develop the narrator’s point of view. Start by stating what the author wants the reader to understand about the narrator, then give evidence to support your statement.

“The disease had sharpened my senses — not destroyed — not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily — how calmly I can tell you the whole story.”

Sample Answer: The author wants the reader to understand that the narrator is insane. The sentence, “I heard many things in hell,” supports this. It is not possible to “hear things in hell,” but the narrator claims he did. In fact, the next sentence the narrator says, “How, then, am I mad?” This suggests that the narrator thinks having heard things “in hell,” means he is sane. That suggests he does not actually know the difference between reality and his mind, so he is mad.