English & American

Literature
LECTURER: CALUM LEATHAM UNIT 6
Todays Seminar
Part 1 Part 2

POV Examples & Gone With the

Wind

Styles, Tone & Irony The Great Gatsby & Author

Preview
Game: POV (Point of View)
Examine the pieces of works in the next slide and discuss
with each other:
Is it written from a Third-Person or First-person POV?
Game: POV (Point of View)
The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss
If this story is to be something resembling my book of deeds, we must begin at the beginning. At
the heart of who I truly am. To do this, you must remember that before I was anything else, I
was one of the Edema Ruh.
Contrary to popular belief, not all traveling performers are of the Ruh. My troupe was not some
poor batch of mummers, japing at crossroads for pennies, singing for our suppers. We were
court performers, Lord Greyfallow’s Men. Our arrival in most towns was more of an event than
the Midwinter Pageantry and Solinade Games rolled together. There were usually at least eight
wagons in our troupe and well over two dozen performers: actors and acrobats, musicians and
hand magicians, jugglers and jesters: My family.
Game: POV (Point of View)
The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss
If this story is to be something resembling my book of deeds, we must begin at the beginning. At
the heart of who I truly am. To do this, you must remember that before I was anything else, I was
one of the Edema Ruh.
Contrary to popular belief, not all traveling performers are of the Ruh. My troupe was not some
poor batch of mummers, japing at crossroads for pennies, singing for our suppers. We were court
performers, Lord Greyfallow’s Men. Our arrival in most towns was more of an event than the
Midwinter Pageantry and Solinade Games rolled together. There were usually at least eight wagons
in our troupe and well over two dozen performers: actors and acrobats, musicians and hand
magicians, jugglers and jesters: My family.

First Person
Game: POV (Point of View)
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (1813)
...Mr. Darcy soon drew the attention of the room by his fine, tall person, handsome features,
noble mien, and the report which was in general circulation within five minutes after his
entrance, of his having ten thousand a year. The gentlemen pronounced him to be a fine figure
of a man, the ladies declared he was much handsomer than Mr. Bingley, and he was looked at
with great admiration for about half the evening, till his manners gave a disgust which turned
the tide of his popularity; for he was discovered to be proud; to be above his company, and
above being pleased; and not all his large estate in Derbyshire could then save him from having
a most forbidding, disagreeable countenance, and being unworthy to be compared with his
friend.

Third-Person Omniscient
Game: POV (Point of View)
A Study in Scarlet - Arthur Conan Doyle
“Poor devil!” he said, commiseratingly, after he had listened to my misfortunes. “What are you
up to now?”
“Looking for lodgings,” I answered. “Trying to solve the problem as to whether it is possible to
get comfortable rooms at a reasonable price.”
“That’s a strange thing,” remarked my companion, “you are the second man to-day that has
used that expression to me.”
“And who was the first?” I asked.
“A fellow who is working at the chemical laboratory up at the hospital. He was bemoaning
himself this morning because he could not get some one to go halves with him in some nice
rooms which he had found, and which were too much for his purse.”
Game: POV (Point of View)
A Study in Scarlet - Arthur Conan Doyle
“Poor devil!” he said, commiseratingly, after he had listened to my misfortunes. “What are you up to
now?”
“Looking for lodgings,” I answered. “Trying to solve the problem as to whether it is possible to get
comfortable rooms at a reasonable price.”
“That’s a strange thing,” remarked my companion, “you are the second man to-day that has used that
expression to me.”
“And who was the first?” I asked.
“A fellow who is working at the chemical laboratory up at the hospital. He was bemoaning himself this
morning because he could not get some one to go halves with him in some nice rooms which he had
found, and which were too much for his purse.”
First Person
Game: POV (Point of View)
The Dictionary of Lost Words - Pip Williams
Scriptorium. It sounds as if it might have been a grand building, where the lightest footstep
would echo between marble floor and gilded dome. But it was just a shed, in the back garden of
a house in Oxford.
Instead of storing shovels and rakes, the shed stored words. Every word in the English language
was written on a slip of paper the size of a postcard. Volunteers posted them from all over the
world, and they were kept in bundles in the hundreds of pigeon-holes that lined the shed walls.
Dr. Murray was the one who named it the Scriptorium—he must have thought it an indignity for
the English language to be stored in a garden shed—but everyone who worked there called it
the Scrippy. Everyone but me. I liked the feel of Scriptorium as it moved around my mouth and
landed softly between my lips. It took me a long time to learn to say it, and when I finally did
nothing else would do.
Game: POV (Point of View)
The Dictionary of Lost Words - Pip Williams
Scriptorium. It sounds as if it might have been a grand building, where the lightest footstep would
echo between marble floor and gilded dome. But it was just a shed, in the back garden of a house
in Oxford.
Instead of storing shovels and rakes, the shed stored words. Every word in the English language
was written on a slip of paper the size of a postcard. Volunteers posted them from all over the
world, and they were kept in bundles in the hundreds of pigeon-holes that lined the shed walls. Dr.
Murray was the one who named it the Scriptorium—he must have thought it an indignity for the
English language to be stored in a garden shed—but everyone who worked there called it the
Scrippy. Everyone but me. I liked the feel of Scriptorium as it moved around my mouth and landed
softly between my lips. It took me a long time to learn to say it, and when I finally did nothing else
would do.
First Person
Game: POV (Point of View)
Dune - Frank Herbert (1965)
The Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam sat in a tapestried chair watching mother and son
approach. Windows on each side of her overlooked the curving southern bend of the river and
the green farmlands of the Atreides family holding, but the Reverend Mother ignored the view.
She was feeling her age this morning, more than a little petulant. She blamed it on space travel
and association with that abominable Spacing Guild and its secretive ways. But here was a
mission that required personal attention from a Bene Gesserit-with-the-Sight. Even the Padishah
Emperor's Truthsayer couldn't evade that responsibility when the duty call came.
Damn that Jessica! the Reverend Mother thought. If only she'd borne us a girl as she was
ordered to do!
Third-Person Omniscient
Third-Person Narrator
Third-Person perspective:
The narrator never appears within the story as a character
(usually).

 Omniscient Narrator:
The word omniscient means: all-knowing or knowing
everything.
The narrator can move wherever and whenever the narrative
needs them.
The narrator can observe the thoughts of any character.
Third-Person Narrator
Editorial Omniscience:
 The narrator has unlimited knowledge and insight into the thoughts,
feelings, and perspectives of all characters in the story.
 Often shares the POV of every character.

Neutral Omniscience:
Maintains a neutral and objective stance - narrator does
not express personal opinions, judgments, or emotions.
Allows characters’ actions and thoughts to speak for
themselves.
Objective point of view:
 The narrator does not see into the mind of any character.
 Never tells you what the characters think, just their actions. – Almost
like a film.
First-Person Narrator
First-Person Perspective:
 Narrator is a character within the story.
 Typically the uses first-person pronouns such as "I," "me," and "my.“
The narrator (arguably the author) is typically an active participant
in the story's events with their actions and decisions shape the
unfolding narrative.

Unreliable & Naïve Narrator:

First-person narrators may be unreliable, as their perspective may
be biased or incomplete.
Likely to believe a narrators perspective then learn to distrust them.
Only knows what the narrator personally experiences or perceives.
Limited access to the thoughts and feelings of other characters.
Discussion: POV (Point of View)

What advantages does each style of POV have?

(Think about previous stories and what POV they had
and why)
Style
How writers arranges their words or characters words:
Diction: The choice of words
level of formality, complexity, and the use of specialized or
everyday language.
 James Joyce Ulysses is full of purposefully selected complex words.

Structure/Syntax: How sentences are arranged.

Simple, compound, or complex sentences
 Hemmingway’s Soldier Home avoids complex sentences.

 Each style has an impact on the ‘simulation’ of the reader

and how the reader perceives the narratives tone.
Tone
 Tone is the authors attitude towards the people, places and
events within their narratives.
 Impacts the readers interpretation of the story setting the
overall atmosphere and shapes the reader's experience with the
text.
Serious tone with formal vocabulary might be used when examining a
difficult subject.
Comical tone with informal structure and words might be used when
examining a lighthearted subject.
Tone can be used to subvert readers expectations.

Impacts how the author wants characters to be perceived.

 Example: Chopin’s ‘The Story of an Hour’ character Mrs. Millard
Collapses and dies on the return of her supposedly dead husband.
How do you think she felt when Millard saw her husband alive?
 Irony
 Irony is a literary device characterized by a inconsistency between appearance and reality, or between what is
expected and what actually happens.
 often used to add depth, humor, or complexity to a literary work.

 Verbal Irony: This occurs when a character says something, but the intended meaning is opposite to the literal
meaning of the words.
 Sarcasm is an example of explicit irony: “Wow, what a great job” to somebody who failed.
 Literary Irony is typically subtle and restrained, influencing how you perceive a character: A character saying something
that we aren’t supposed to agree with can make us question if the character is serious or hiding their true feelings.

 Situational Irony: This happens when there is a contrast between what is expected to happen and what actually
occurs in a situation. It often involves a twist of fate typically to signify the central meaning of the narrative.
Dramatic Irony: his occurs when the audience or reader knows something that the characters in the story do not.
 The contrast between what the characters believe and what the audience knows creates tension or humor.
 Can tell us more about a character.
Discussion:
Reflect upon the P&P, GWTW and South of the Slot:
What PoV do these narratives have?
What Style and Tone does each narrative present?
Are there any examples of Irony is each piece of work?
The Great Gatsby Preview
Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald (Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald) was an American
novelist and short story writer in the early 20th century.
Time of Writing/ Setting: "The Great Gatsby" was written in 1924 and
published in 1925. The novel is set during the summer of 1922, in the fictional
towns of West Egg and East Egg on Long Island, as well as in New York City.
Themes: The novel explores themes such as the corruption of the American
Dream, the illusion of wealth and success, the consequences of obsession and
unrequited love, and the moral decay of society during the Roaring Twenties.
Style/Tone: Fitzgerald's writing is often lyrical and captures the excesses and
disillusionment of the Jazz Age. Often the character reflects on their own
mental and emotional state.
PoV: First-person – look out for ideas related to unreliable narrator, irony and
ideas expressed through symbols and themes.
Additional Reading
Read: Symbols and Themes within the Handbook
Watch: The Great Gatsby