First-Person and What it Entails

Hi guys!

This week we are focusing on first-person narrative and the effect it has on writing from the reader’s perspective.

What does first person narrative achieve?

-        Creates a personal connection to the reader

-        Contributes to the story’s ambiguity

-        Limits what the reader can perceive

            Tadeusz Borowski displays an excellent example on the use of first-person narrative and how it can evoke reader’s emotions within the text. In the story, “This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen,” you are put into the shoes of the narrator and are fully amerced into World War II as a Nazi, watching as Jews are led into the gas chamber.

            “I go back inside the train; I carry out dead infants; I unload luggage. I touch corpses, but I cannot overcome the mounting, uncontrollable terror. I try to escape from the corpses, but they are everywhere: lined up on the gravel, on the cement edge of the ramp, inside the cattle cars. Babies, hideous naked women, men twisted by convulsions” (Borowski, 1946).

This dispassionate tone reels the reader in and puts them right in the story, as if they are the one’s carrying out the infants, and touching corpses. It’s a haunting picturesque image that Borowski paints, one that would not be as effective if it weren’t in first person. In fact, if it were told in anything else but first-person, it would be an entirely different story.

 This theme would be perfect to teach to students to show how first-person narrative can be used to an author’s advantage and how in doing so, it can change the effects the writing has on the reader. One option of teaching them is to have them write a story that they remember from history. It can be in WWII like Borowski, or when George Washington became President. Giving them the choice to choose will get them more invested and interested in the assignment.         Have them write it in first-person at first, then second, then third. Then, have the class analyze their writings and the different effects they see personally as they read through each type of narrative. After they take their notes, have them share with a partner and analyze each other’s writings. Once everyone has notes of their own down, go around the class and share the findings, with pupils reading some of their own work, and noting all the differences they see between the different point of views.  

            Many books in pop culture are written in first person. Choose a book for your class that is both written in first person and have the class read a portion of that text (or the whole book if you’re looking for a long-term assignment). Have them take notes of the narrative and restrictions they have (they can’t tell what the other characters are thinking, they only see what the main character sees, etc.). After reading, have an open discussion with the class about what if the story was written in a different perspective and ask them these questions:

·       What would the story look like if it were written in a different perspective?

·       What are the pros to reading it in first-person like this?

·       What are the cons to the first-person narrative?

·       How does the view affect the emotion that the reader gets?

·       What are the differences when you change perspectives and how the story shifts?

            You can also have the class write out portions of the text in different point-of-views, and if they think those views are better or worse for the story and audience perception overall? Each table will get a part of the text to rewrite and a certain point-of-view. They document their findings, and share it to the class for further analysis.

            Some great texts to have your class read includes:

 

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

 

 
 

 -  This book allows for humor and wit to be involved in the classroom, while gaining students attention and creativity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

As a classic, you can introduce the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald to students gradually and let them dissect the text to gain a further understanding of it.
















The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

This book has gained literary storm since being released and is widely popular among Young Adults. The point of view offers the reader a great deal of difference if it is changed and would be fun to have students explore.

These projects and assignments let students dive deep into narration while not overcomplicating it and discouraging them and letting their imagination flow free.

That’s all for today guys! See you soon!

Lily