SF1 - Lesson: Explaining the Function of Narrator or Speaker

A pair of hands holds the word "Narrative" on strings, like a puppet. This symbolizes the narrator.Explaining the Function of Narrator or Speaker

The last of the core elements for the analysis of fiction is the narrator or speaker. The perspective of a narrator or a speaker controls the details and emphases that affect how readers experience and interpret a text. More simply, a narrator or speaker is the voice telling the story. Understanding how to recognize, identify, and analyze a narrator is perhaps one of the most sophisticated skills in AP English Literature, and we will begin and return to this concept throughout the course. But first some basics.

Defining a Narrator

Narrators or speakers relate accounts (details of the story) to readers and establish a relationship between the text and the reader. Narrators may also be characters, and their role as characters may influence their perspectives. Perhaps the most important point is that a speaker or narrator is not necessarily the author.

Let’s review some basic terms.

  • Perspective: refers to how narrators, characters, or speakers see their circumstances.
  • Point of view: refers to the position from which a narrator or speaker relates the events of a narrator. Within point of view we have two possible options:
    • First-person narrators are involved in the narrative; their relationship to the events of the plot and the other characters shapes their perspective. Generally, has “I,” “we”, and “us.”
    • Third-person narrators are outside observers. Third-person narrators’ knowledge about events and characters may range from observational to all-knowing, which shapes their perspectives. The outside perspective of third-person narrators may not be affected by the events of the narrative. Generally, has “he,” “she,” “it” and character names.

Within the category of the third person narrator, you might find one of the following sub-classifications:

  • Objective: the narrator does not convey the thoughts and feelings of any character and relates the events in a neutral way.
  • Limited: knows the thoughts of a single character.
  • Omniscient: aware of every character’s thoughts and feelings.

Remember that point of view contributes to what narrators, characters, or speakers can and cannot provide in a text based on their level of involvement and intimacy with the details, events, or characters.

Writing Practice

Here is a little thought experiment. Consider a time in your life when you were wrong or mistaken about something. Now tell that story from two perspectives:

  • your point of view (first person)
  • the point of view of an outside observer who knew you were wrong (third person)

Take 5 minutes and write about the event from both your first person point of view and then an all-knowing third person narrator. Once you've completed your writing exercise, return to this page and let's analyze your two passages.

Analysis of the Role of the Narrator

Now reflect on what you have written by answering the following questions:

  • Which one of the two accounts seems more intimate or reflective of your thought process?
  • Which one of the two accounts seems more distant or reflective of the actions that occurred?
  • Which one of the two accounts seems more biased?
  • Which one of the two accounts seems more objective?

Generally, first person narratives are more intimate and reflective but tend to be biased. Third person narratives, on the other hand, are more distant and action-based, but end up more objective.

For this lesson, work on understanding the function of the narrator and the distinction between first and third person narration. We will be revisiting this concept with literature throughout the entire course.

Reflections on the Narrator

This lesson marks the end of our review of Core Literary elements for analyzing fiction: characters, setting, plot, and narrator. Although these concepts are simple to define and understand on a surface level, they can be challenging when we try to write about their function in a literary work. Throughout the entire course, we will be returning to these concepts and practicing analyzing their function. 

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