What is the difference between first and third person when reading?

Question

In reading and then writing, a story is told by authors either in first, second, or third person. Do you or your child know the answer?

Answer 1

This is a very good question and one that is asked frequently.

1st person: This is when the writing refers to myself as the narrator of the writing. For example, "I was walking towards the store and just down the street, I saw a stray dog running towards me." The "I" and "me" tell you that it is written in first person.

3rd person: The writing is as if you are outside looking in to observe the characters. For example, "he was wondering to himself if this was the right move for him. After all, he'd been down this road before and taken her advice. They were all cheering him on but he was still hesitant." In this tidbit, we see the writing as if we are watching the scene take place but we are nowhere in the scene. Using "he," "she," and "they" are clues.

2nd person: Since we're on the subject, I thought I'd also throw this one in there. Second person is when the writing refers to "you." Many times, this can be seen in instruction writing or advertising. For example, "first you take a slice of bread and slather on the peanut butter. Don't worry if you put too much because the jelly will rest on top."

Answer 2

First and third person in reading is similar to speaking. When someone is speaking in the third person they are talking about themselves by name or with pronouns in place of his or her name. Third person is almost only seen when a character is the narrator of his or her own story. First person would be someone talking like most people do, in their own account. Instead of me saying "Gary walked down the road" (third person), I would say "I walked down the road." This sounds both more natural and can let the reader know better who is speaking or performing another action. Similar to third person, a character can speak in the first person in stories he or she narrates as well, but isn't as limited as speaking in the third person.