English Terms For Review

Total Omniscience

The state of knowing everything, including all thoughts, feelings, and events. The narrator can move freely between characters. Generally third person.

Limited/Selective Omniscience

A narrative perspective where the narrator knows only the thoughts and feelings of some or only one character(s), providing a focused view of the story.

Impartial Omniscience

A narrative perspective where the narrator presents the story without bias or personal opinions, remaining neutral and objective.

Editorial Omniscience

A narrative style where the narrator interjects personal opinions or commentary into the story, influencing the reader's perception of characters and events.

Objective Point of View

A narrative perspective where the narrator reports only observable events and dialogue without delving into the thoughts or feelings of characters.

Omniscient/All-Knowing Narrator

A narrator who knows everything about all characters and events in a story. Moves freely between characters’ consciousness.

Participant/First-Person Narrator

A narrator who is a character in the story, telling the events from their own perspective using "I" or "we".

Observer

A narrative perspective in which the narrator reports events as an onlooker, without insight into any character's thoughts or emotions.

Third-Person Narrator

A narrator who tells the story from an outside perspective, focusing on the thoughts and feelings of one or more characters, typically using "he," "she," or "they."

Innocent/Naive Narrator

A narrator who lacks experience or understanding, often leading to a misinterpretation of events and an unfiltered perspective.

Unreliable Narrator

A narrator whose credibility is compromised due to bias, personal beliefs, or limited knowledge, resulting in a distorted depiction of the story's events.

Interior Monologue

A narrative technique that captures a character's inner thoughts and feelings, typically presented in a stream-of-consciousness format.

Stream of Consciousness

A narrative style that attempts to capture the flow of thoughts and feelings running through a character's mind, often disregarding traditional structure and punctuation.