Foreshadowing & Point of View

Foreshadowing: clues in a story that hint about what is going to happen later in the plot

-used to arouse the reader’s curiosity, to build suspense, and to help prepare the reader to

accept events that occur later in the story

Point of View: the perspective from which a story is told.  There are three common POVs.

• 3rd Person Limited POV: uses pronouns he, she, and they

–tells the story from the perspective of one of the characters (so the reader learns this character’s thoughts and feelings)

–the reader does not get access to other characters’ thoughts and feelings

• 3^rd Person Omniscient POV: uses pronouns he, she, and they

-the narrator is all-seeing and all-knowing

-the narrator share the thoughts and feelings of several characters

• 1^st Person POV: story is told by a character (major or minor)

–uses pronouns I or we

–sometimes we can trust this narrator, and sometimes we cannot

-a 1^st person narrator will most often have a limited POV.

William Anderson (Schoolworkhelper Editorial Team)

William completed his Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts in 2013. He current serves as a lecturer, tutor and freelance writer. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, walking his dog and parasailing.

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English Literary Terms & Definitions

Article last reviewed: 2022 | St. Rosemary Institution © 2010-2024 | Creative Commons 4.0

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