Example research essay topic: Third Person Limited Third Person Omniscient - 971 words

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One Day In The Life Of Ivan One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich: The Point Of View Of A Solitary Z Point of view is the position from which we, the readers, receive information about the plot and the characters of a story. It is the technique through which the author is able to pass information on to the reader; a filter of sorts through which the events of the story pass through on their way to the reader. Although there are several types of point of view, the main three types are first person participant, third person omniscient and third person limited. In the case of the former, one can usually recognize it by the use of I or we in the story. This form of point of view presents us the story directly from the eyes and mind of one of the characters who is, or was, participating in the events of the story, usually in an important role. This advantage of such a technique is that it allows the reader to become more attached and more intimate with one of the characters which can, in turn, create an emotional attachment between the reader and the events in the book.

It is this kind of emotional response that most authors are after. The second form of point of view can be recognized by the fact that the reader is presented with not only the thoughts and perspectives of one of the characters, but the thoughts and perspectives of many. Also, this technique does not use such familiar terms such as I or we, but uses he, she or they instead. The advantage of this technique is that the author is able to show everything that happens, even if it is beyond the scope of one person. In effect, the author knows all and can tell the reader everything that is happening. Finally, the third point of view is somewhat akin to first person participant as the feelings and thoughts of one of the characters is made available, however, it is not done from the perspective of that selfsame character, but from the perspective of a neutral observer.

The advantage of this is that it can not only show the feelings of one of the characters and thus create a sense of intimacy, but can also allow the reader to make more objective judgements in regards to the events of the story. In the case of the novel One day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, the author chose to use the point of view of third person limited. The proof that this is the case and the effects of this choice on the text shall now be examined. As was just stated, the novel One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich is written from the point of view of third person limited. There are several elements found in the text that indicate that this is true. For example, in the attached excerpt # 1, which was taken from page 11, we are clearly privy to the thoughts of at least one of the characters.

In fact, the text clearly indicates that Shukhov feels resentful for having been punished without just cause. This could indicate first person participant, however, the text does not feature any use of the words I or Us but instead uses he. This means that the story is in the third person. The reason for which it is third person limited and not omniscient is evident in the first paragraph of the previously mentioned excerpt. Whereas we are privy to the thoughts of one character, we are not privy to the thoughts of all of the characters. Therefore, since all information on The Tartar is not is descriptive in nature and does not require an omniscient point of view, the point of view is indeed third person omniscient.

Now, having established the point of view that the novel uses, what were the effects of this choice on the novel? Well, first of all, the use of the third person in this instance allowed the novel to take a more sophisticated approach, which is needed for the kind of criticism this book represents. Simply put, the main character, Ivan Denisovich, does not seem very intelligent or sophisticated and thus first person could not work. For example, he does not seem to understand that there is not a new moon created every four weeks (excerpt # 2, page 93) and that the moon is instead simply not visible some of the time. Therefore, the effect of using third person is to allow the author to use more sophisticated language and ideas, which in turn makes the message to the reader more powerful and comprehensive.

Secondly, the use of the limited third person shuts out, in effect, all of the other characters, bringing the focus onto Ivan Denisovich. This not only simplifies the story to a large degree, but gives the reader the impression that Ivan is truly an average prisoner as the thoughts of other prisoners are seemingly not needed to be brought into consideration. This also has the effect of causing a more solid emotional bond to form between the reader and Ivan Denisovich as the reader is only privy to his thoughts. Thus, by using the third person limited, the author of One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich not only creates a bond between the reader and the main character, he also makes the expression of the theme of the book more powerful and more poignant. As was said, the third person limited point of view is characterised by the use of he or she and also by the focus on one single character. This was used to good effect in the novel and was a good choice for the author.

Research essay sample on Third Person Limited Third Person Omniscient