Kids start learning about point of view in elementary school where they often learn about first person point of view and third person point of view. Sometimes they even learn about the third person omniscient point of view. But as students advance in high school courses, they need to realize that point of view is very nuanced. That’s why these activities for point of view are a perfect way to encourage upper level and AP® Literature students to examine point of view in a more in-depth way.
As I continue to share ways to teach close reading, point of view is one of the areas we can examine to understand the reliability of the narrator along with advantages those narrative positions create in a text.
Teaching Point of View High School
Since high school students already know the basic principles of point of view, it is important to show them there is more to point of view than first person participant and third person omniscient. They need to dig deeper and evaluate the nuances of ALL the forms of point of view.
There are lots of ways to teach point of view in high school. Below is a list of my favorite activities for teaching point of view to high school students.
Point of View Anchor Charts
The first thing I like to do is take students into the sub categories of first person and third person points of view. I love to do this with notebook sized point of view anchor charts that outline the details of first person participant, first person observer, innocent eye narrator and stream of consciousness. Though high school students have probably seen all of these types of points of view, they likely have never named them.
We repeat with third person limited and omniscient. Getting those terms out there along with their advantages and disadvantages is important to establishing the more comprehensive look at point of view and to allow students to see the nuances of point of view.
Activities for Point of View Using Task Cards
Point of View Task Cards are a great place to start because you can use them with any text. Task cards can be used as bell ringers (for more on bell ringers, be sure to check out this post), stations or discussion starters.
Students can work from the same task card or different task cards to answer questions like:
- Who is the speaker or narrator of the text? How do they establish a relationship between the text and the reader?
- How does the narrator or speaker see the circumstances of their world?
- Which details in the text identify who the narrator or speaker is?
- How does a narrator’s or speaker’s background shape the way they present the story?
- To what extent is the first person narrator or speaker reliable? Be sure to provide evidence.
- How does the point of view (first person, third person) contribute to the development of the characters in the text?
You can get these 6 questions and 6 more in ready to use task cards here.
Teaching PoV Through Poetry
Poetry is a great place to start looking at point of view. Although the narrator in a poem is called the speaker, they still tend to be written in either the first person or third person. And because poems are short and concise, it is easy to address the author’s purpose through that speaker.
Additionally, poetry is a great place to find poems that contain second person. It seems that poets are far more likely to address a “you figure”. So this is a great place to help students understand the second person.
Pair these poems with task cards, collaborative annotations, or seminars in which the students specifically discuss who the speaker is, who they are addressing and why it matters to the author’s purpose.
Another way that you can use poems to teach point of view would be to use different poems, from differing points of view at stations. Students could travel from poem to poem and identify the point of the view and the impact it has on the individual poems. Once the students have completed the stations, you could reconvene as a class and compare the impacts of each speaker.
Poems to Teach Point of View
Poems to Teach First Person Observer Point of View
“The Writer” Richard Wilbur (for more on teaching this poem, check out this post on Smith Teaches 9 to 12)
Poems to Teach First Person Participant Point of View
“The More Loving One” WH Auden
“Looking for the Gulf Motel” Richard Blanco (I learned about this poem through the podcast Poetry Unbound, for more about podcasts for English teachers, check out this post.)
“Moon Over Gaza” Naomi Shihab Nye
Point of View 2nd Person Poems
“This be the Verse” Philip Larkin (note: may not be appropriate for school)
“Flying Inside Your Own Body” Margaret Atwood
Third Person Limited Point of View
“The Unknown Citizen” W. H. Auden
Third Person Omniscient Point of View
“Mothers Arrange Their Aches at Night” Maya Abu Al-Hayyat
“Casey at Bat” Ernest Lawrence Thayer
Activities for Point of View
Point of view is so integral to understanding author’s purpose. Without a clear understanding of the point of view and why it matters, students can lose sight of the tone and therefore the purpose of the text. Using anchor charts, task cards and poems are a great set of activities for point of view to get students into the process and thinking it through.
Related Resources
Point of View Anchor Charts and Task Cards
Collaborative Annotations for High School English
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