ORIGINAL: You push the door open: you don’t expect any of them to be latched, you know they all open at a push. The scattered lights are braided in your eyelashes as if you were seeing them through a silken net. At last you can see that they’re votive lights, all set on brackets or hung between unevenly spaced panels. They cast a faint glow on the silver objects, the crystal flasks, the gilt-framed mirrors. Then you see the bed in the shadows beyond, and the feeble movement of a hand that seems to be beckoning to you.
FIRST PERSON: I push the door open: I don’t expect any of them to be latched, as I know they all open at a push. The scattered lights are braided in my eyelashes as if I were seeing them through a silken net. At last I can see that they’re votive lights, all set on brackets or hung between unevenly spaced panels. They cast a faint glow on the silver objects, the crystal flasks, the gilt-framed mirrors. Then I see the bed in the shadows beyond, and the feeble movement of a hand that seems to be beckoning to me.
THIRD PERSON: He pushes the door open: he doesn’t expect any of them to be latched, he knows they all open at a push. The scattered lights are braided in his eyelashes as if he were seeing them through a silken net. At last he can see that they’re votive lights, all set on brackets or hung between unevenly spaced panels. They cast a faint glow on the silver objects, the crystal flasks, the gilt-framed mirrors. Then he sees the bed in the shadows beyond, and the feeble movement of a hand that seems to be beckoning to him.
The main difficulty I found from switching is when I switched to third person as I had to change the tense of some of the words to present tense as I second guessed myself on which way the word should be.
-Sabera Qazi
The second person connects to the reader in a different way from the other two point of views. In the original version, the reader reads the text and understands it as if he or she is the one performing what is occurring. “You push the door open….you were seeing them through the silken net”. The main in difference in point of view is that the reader can visualize everything better. In the first and third person versions of the story, the reader connects to the reading by visualizing someone else experiencing the story. The tone is the original version is extremely different in the reading of the tone of the first and third person. Switching from original the first person almost makes me feel like I am reading a completely different story. The way that the words are interpreted are completely different, because I visualize the story from a completely different point of view.
-William Dayan
The second person point of view contrasts from the third and first person point of views in how unique it is to tell a story. Often, when reading we visualize the story in our heads. When reading in the second person point of view, we picture ourselves doing the actions of the main character. However, when we read in either the first or third person we picture another character going through the story. For example, when switching to from the second to the third person point of view it is as if we are hearing the story from a all knowing narrator. In this case, we are able to not only know what the main character is thinking but also what the rest of the world is like in detail. This differs from second and first person where you only know the inner thoughts of the main character. Through the different points of views, I was able to see how it affected the reader’s understanding of the story.
-Brian Baigorria
I like how Brian pointed out that the third person perspective shows “what the main character is thinking but also what the rest of the world is like in detail.” Which is true, because the third point of view is like another voice that reads to you in your head. Making it easier to visualize the surroundings the character is in as well as what the character is doing.
-Myra K.
I think is interesting what you think that the first and third person give the reader an image of someone else conducting the action, and that the second person (original version) gives the reader an image of doing the actions themselves: “the original version, the reader reads the text and understands it as if he or she is the one performing what is occurring. “You push the door open….you were seeing them through the silken net”. The main in difference in point of view is that the reader can visualize everything better. In the first and third person versions of the story, the reader connects to the reading by visualizing someone else experiencing the story.” However, I disagree William. Usually when we say the words “you” (second person) in a conversation, we are directing the words towards someone else rather than ourselves. Where’s as when we say the word “I” (First Person) talking about ourselves and the actions we are taking.
Brian, I like what you wrote about the difference in visualizing the story in our minds. I agree that the author has the power to manipulate how our minds will picture the narrative. The second person point of view enables us to bring ourselves to the story. The story becomes different for every reader because everyone has a different background, character, and intent in reading it. For one person the story would mean a lot, and for another – nothing, because it is personal. It is not about someone’s feeling, but about you.
I also agree with what William and Brain point out. They made a good point about the second point of view. I agree as well when the narrator uses the second point of view I feel as he is directly talking to the reader and is building a personal connection. By using the word “you” as that’s how the narrator talks to you in the second person view it’s almost a sort of a command I must follow. I feel as if I the reader is in the particular circumstance in the story and doing each action step by step.