WRITING IN THE THIRD PERSON: MAIN FEATURES - LITERATURE - 2024

Texts written by a narrator who is not involved in what he writes is known as third-person writing. That is, the narrator is oblivious to the facts. This is why he tells them from the point of view of the exterior of the events.

It is used for different reasons depending on the interest of the writer. In literature and narrative it works to create an atmosphere in which the narrator knows everything.

In journalism it is almost mandatory to use it, because with this it is shown that the facts outlined are objective. For its part, in academic texts it works to give truth to what is said.

The 5 example of third person paragraphs

1- Writing academic texts

“Few issues are more debated in recent times than the correct use of the term 'human rights'. However, few are more used in normal speech, in conversations, in international forums and seminars with a more precise meaning.

In all probability, any citizen living in societies belonging to the Western cultural tradition knows exactly what is meant when reference is made to human rights. "

Excerpt from the text Human rights. An essay on its history, its foundation and its reality, by José Martínez de Pisón.

Third-person writing for academic texts is characterized by not using first or second person pronouns. In other words, "I", "you", "my", "our", "we", among others, are avoided.

Only third person pronouns are used, such as "he", "she", "their", "they", among others.

In the cases of academic texts, when the writer must refer to his own work, he must do so in the third person; you should write "this research" or "this project."

2- Witness narrator

In his novel In Cold Blood Truman Capote writes from the perspective of a witness narrator.

“All the materials in this book that are not derived from my own observations have been taken from official archives or are the result of interviews with people directly affected; interviews that very often spanned a considerable period of time. "

With this narrator the only inclusion in the text is as an observer. That is, it is a character in the story who narrates what he observes or what was told to him.

His work does not change history, it might not even be taken into account. Knowing only what he sees or is told, he is a narrator with limited information.

3- omniscient narrator

“Many years later, in front of the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía would remember that remote afternoon in which his father took him to see the ice.

Macondo was at that time a village of 20 houses made of mud and cañabrava, built on the banks of a river with diaphanous waters that fell on a bed of huge, polished white stones, like prehistoric eggs. »

Opening paragraph of One Hundred Years of Solitude, by the Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez.

In this text, the narrator is a third person who is not involved in the events that he narrates.

His identity and the source of his knowledge are unknown, although he appears to know everything, including what the characters remember. This is the so-called omniscient narrator.

4- Equiscient Narrator

The equiscient narrator is the one who tells the facts in the third person but who, unlike the omniscient, has limited knowledge. That is, he does not know everything, but only what the reader himself knows.

“In the middle of the long hallway of the hotel, he thought it must be late and he hurried out into the street and took the motorcycle out of the corner where the doorman next door allowed him to store it.

At the jewelry store on the corner he saw that it was ten minutes to nine; she would arrive in plenty of time where she was going. The sun filtered through the tall buildings in the center, and he - because to himself, to go thinking, he had no name - mounted on the machine savoring the ride. »

Excerpt from the story The night face up, by Julio Cortázar.

5- Multiple third person

Will sensed the tension around Gared's mouth and the barely contained anger in his eyes under the thick black hood of the cloak.

Gared had been in the Night's Watch for forty years, much of his childhood and his entire adult life, and he wasn't used to being mocked.

But that was not all. Will sensed something more about the old man than wounded pride. A tension too much like fear was almost palpable in her. "

Excerpt from the prologue of A Song of Ice and Fire; game of thrones, by the author George RR Martín.

There were twenty of them in all, and Bran rode among them, nervous and excited. It was the first time he had been considered old enough to accompany his father and brothers to witness the king's justice.

It was the ninth year of summer, and the seventh of Bran's life. "

Excerpt from the first chapter of A Song of Ice and Fire; game of thrones, by the author George RR Martín.

This type of writing in the third person is the one that jumps from one character to another when he changes chapters. When he is with you, he is omniscient in that character's universe; you know what you think and feel.

But when he goes to another character, he only knows his universe, as in the example given, in which the narrator changes with the beginning of each chapter of the book.

References

1. First, Second and Third person. (2017) grammarly.com
2. What is third person? grammar-monster.com
3. Third person. (2017) collinsdictionary.com
4. Third person meaning. (2017) meanings.com
5. Example of writing in the third person. (2015) aboutespanol.com
6. The grammar perspective. (2017) portalacademico.cch.unam.mx