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Dear Mr. Hobbs,

My name is Lyndsay Krall I was an S.A. in class on Monday February 19, 2007
Thank you

2.19.07

Professor Hobbs,

The point of view in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce is a third person narrative. In third person narrative, the person telling the story is not a character in the story. This is seen when Ambrose Pierce wrote in the first sentence, “He was a civilian, if one might judge from his habit, which was that of a planter” (200). This sentence does not use “I” so we know it is not first person; the narrator is reporting the actions of the characters using words such as “he”. Using words such as “he, she, they” represents a non-participant point of view (Roberts 85).
Third person narratives can also be described as dramatic. An example of this is when the narrator uses dialogue within the story (Roberts 85). When an order is placed for any civilian to be hanged when caught prying near railroads, bridges, etc., Peyton Farquhar discusses this with a passing soldier. “How far is it to the Owl Creek bridge?” asked Farquhar, and the soldier responded, “About thirty miles” (Bierce 201). The narrator is reporting what he believes was said by the characters. The narrator is also omniscient or “all knowing” (Roberts 85). This is evidenced by the narrator’s ability to enter the mind of the character in the example, “By nightfall he was fatigued, footsore, famishing” (Bierce 204). The narrator is going into the character’s role and assuming that Peyton Farquhar is going through these hardships.

See you in class,
Jen N.
English 121.003 MWF 11:45-12:45

Bierce, Ambrose. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” 1891. Rpt in Writing About Literature by Edgar V. Roberts. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2006.

Roberts, Edgar V. Writing About Literature. 11th ed. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006.

Rebecca Shenkle
2/19/07

Point of View

The story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” is told from the third person point of view. I know this because a third person point of view is when the narrator is not participating in the action of the story, but is able to talk about the character’s feelings (C.P, 62). In this story there is a narrator that is not involved in the story, but is telling about the man who is being hung and how is he is feeling throughout the process. For example, in the story, the narrator talks about what the character is thinking: “Striking through the thought of his dear ones was a sound which he could neither ignore nor understand, a sharp, distinct, metallic percussion like the stroke of a blacksmith’s hammer upon the anvil; it had the same ringing quality (Roberts, 200). This is just one example that proves that this story was told from the third person point of view.

Works Cited
Bierce, Ambrose. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” 1891. Story in Writing about Literature by Edgar Roberts, ed. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006.
“Exploring Point of View.” 2005. Literature: What Makes a Good Story? Annenburg/CPB. 7 Dec. 2006 .

Jenny Troutman
ENGL 121.003 Humanities Literature
Point of View Summary
21 February 2007

In Bierce’s piece, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” is shown in a narrative third person but as an omniscient point of view. Bierce tells the story of Peyton Farquhar being hanged by these two private soldiers in the Federal Army. They were under the direction of the sergeant which may have been the deputy sheriff. “The man who was engaged in being hanged was apparently about thirty-five years of age,” (p. 200). As the paragraph goes on, Bierce states about Peyton’s characteristics so the reader can have a good, ideal picture of what he looks like. Ambrose Bierce shares about the private soldiers and Peyton of what is going on in their minds, and then read what they have said so the reader knew what was going on.

“In a nonparticipant (third-person) point of view, the teller of the tale is not a character in the tale,” (p. 65: CP) “The omniscient teller can at any time enter the mind of any or all of the characters; whereas the first-person narrator can say…,” (p.65: CP). With these definitions of what a third person and omniscient is, Bierce shows in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” the story of the man, Peyton thoughts and worries while he is being executed. Also Bierce shares of what the two private soldiers are thinking while they are following their sergeant’s orders. So with the information provided in the Course Packet (CP), I believe that Bierce is stating this story as a third person but in an omniscient point of view.

Bierce, Ambrose. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” 1891. Rpt. in Writing About Literature by Edgar V. Roberts, 11 Ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2006.

Hobbs, Lee. "Narrative Point of View." 2007. Page 65.

20 February 2007

Mr. Hobbs-

The short story “The Masque of Red Death” written by Edgar Allen Poe in our text Writing About Literature tells the story of a deadly disease in the 1800s. The author, Poe, uses a third person point of view to tell the story. Not only that, but he also writes in an objective or “fly on the wall” approach.
According to our course packet, “with the objective view, the writer tells what happens without stating more than can be inferred from the story’s action and dialogue” (62). This is very true in the case of this story since Poe describes the seen without saying anything of what the characters’ are personally feeling. We can also tell it is third person when Poe always refers to the prince as “Prince Prospero” such as on page 239. Even more to add on to the third person view is that the pronoun “he” is used when the prince speaks out on page 241. Third person point of view will tend to use these pronouns when referring to a character rather than using “you” or “I” as would be in other points of view. Throughout the story of the Red Masque, Poe keeps the feeling as one would have if they were watching from a TV and does not let on to be any part of the action. There is never any comment on the happenings and no mention of participation in the occurring events. All of these details let the reader know that the story is in fact an objective third point of view piece of literature.

Works Cited:
Poe, Edgar Allen. “The Red Masque.” 1842. Rpt. In Writing About Literature by Richard Adams, ed. New Jersey: Upper Saddle River, 2006.

Bettina Herold
ENGL121.003 Humanities Literature MWF 1145-1245

Dear Mr. Hobbs,
The story" An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is an integral setting.This story is an integral setting because the setting is an important deatil to the story, knowing the setting actually gives readers a better understanding of this story and the characters actions. The characters are in the Army so explaining or giving the setting of the story only enhances the readers comprehension of this story. The author's description of the location helps readers be able to paint a mental picture of what is going on in the story.The setting being giving makes the story seems more realistic.When History is written the location of the battle is always given that is why this seems so realistic.

Dr. Lee Hobbs

The Masque of the Red Death

The Masque of the Red Death is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe, in the Nonparticipant, or the third-person point of view. It is written in the third-person point of view because Edgar Allan Poe wanted to relate his meaning and symbols of morals and death, and if he was actually apart of the short story, it wouldn’t have as much meaning as it does without having him as an actual character. He uses the red death, to describe a disease, and the true meaning of red was to express blood (Roberts pg 238). He just uses characters to explain, that it doesn’t matter your importance, but though no one can break away from death. In some ways I think Edgar Allan Poe also used selective omniscience. Selective Omniscience provides a focus especially if limited to a single or few characters (course pack pg 65). I believe he touched a little on this because his main focus seemed to be on the prince and a few others. The Masque of the Red Death uses third Point of view.

Works Cited

Roberts V. Edgar. Writing about Literature Brief 11th edition. 2006. Saddle River, New Jersey.
Hobbs. Lee, Ed. English 121.003 Humanities Literature. Indiana University of Pennsylvania Spring 2007. Course Pack.

Until Next Class
B.Decker

Professor Hobbs,

Ambrose Bierce, while relating the events of “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” uses the omniscient point of view. The narrator describes the scene: a Captain, Sergeant, and sentry, dressed in Union colors, are positioned on a railroad bridge with a man who is bound and strung up. (Roberts 200) The bound man, Peyton Farquhar, is the main protagonist; all the events in the story as well as the narration center on him and his actions. This description could be attributed to a limited omniscient point of view, where the narrator has knowledge of just a single character; however I don’t believe this to be true. (CP 62)

With a limited omniscient point of view the narrator possesses emotional and inner knowledge of a single character and how that character views their world. (CP 62) If this were true, we would not have known that the dusty rider was in fact a Union soldier, and the later events may have been more of a surprise. (Roberts 201) (This same thing happens in Sergio Leone’s “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”.) From Peyton’s point of view and thus the narrator’s, the dusty soldier is a member of the Confederate army, the fact that the rider was indeed a Yankee would be unknown to Peyton.

This assertion is a long shot; the case of the mistaken “Federal scout” is a part of the story mechanics: without it, the story would not be as convincing, and after multiple readings I have yet to find another instance like it. Limited omniscient point of view centering on Peyton Farquhar is a more accurate description of the narrator’s point of view.

Works Cited

Bierce, Ambrose. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” Writing About Literature. Edgar V. Roberts, Ed. with Leah Jewell. Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006. Pages: 199-204.

“ENGL 121.003 Humanities Literature Course Pack”. Lee Hobbs, ed. Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Spring 2007. Pages 62-67.

Best Regards,

Justin Bleggi

Professor Hobbs,

From the reading of “The Masque of the Red Death,” and the course booklet about the different points of views, I believe that the story is told in the third person point of view and the first person narrative. The short story starts off as a third person, because in the beginning Poe does no use words such as I, me, mine, us, we and so on. He does not participate in the action of story, however we learn about the characters/setting through outside voices. For example on page 239 it states, “But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious.” Here Poe is letting the readers learn more about Prince Prospero and the setting of the story.

However, it seems that Poe mixes the third person narrative with first person narrative. Poe begins to use himself in the text following the third person narrative. He begins using I and me in the story. Likewise, the first person point of view states that the narrator participates in the action of the story. For example, Poe states on page 239, “But first let me tell of the rooms in which it was held.” As you can see Poe, uses the pronoun “me” and refers back to himself, as though he was a character in the story. Another time he does this is on page 241 he states, “In an assembly of phantasms such as I have painted, it ma well be supposed that no ordinary appearance could have excited such sensation.” Here again Poe uses the pronoun, “I”. In these two examples, Poe has used himself as a character in the story. However, in the beginning of the story he uses the third person point of view to explain the action of the story.

Sincerly,
April H.

Professor Hobbs,

The story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by author Ambrose Bierce, is a piece of literature written in the third person. This tale is narrated by a “non-participant” who describes the death of a man named Peyton Farquhar. The evidence in supporting this statement is included throughout the story by referring to the main subject using the words him, his, the man, and he. “The man who was engaged in being hanged was apparently about thirty-five years of age. He was a civilian, if one might judge from his habit…” (Bierce, 200). The author used the words man, he, and his when describing the main character Peyton Farquhar.
Not only does the author write in the third-person, he also writes in the neutral omniscience point of view. The narrator is merely describing the situation that occurred, leaving out any emotional or judgmental contribution. “As Peyton Farquhar fell straight downward through the bride he lost consciousness and was as one already dead”. (Bierce, 201).

Citations
Bierce, Ambrose. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” 1891. Rpt. in Writing About
Literature by Edgar V. Roberts, 11th ed. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006.

Sincerely,
Stephanie Vrabel
ENGL 121.003 Humanities Literature

Gillenberger 1

Erika L.Gillenberger
Instructor Lee Hobbs
ENGL 101.025 College Writing
21 Feb 2007
Point of View
When reading “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” I came to realize that this particular story is written in the third person point of view. This is clearly defined in the readings of “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” when the narrator lets us know how the character that is about to be hung feels. Even though the narrator does not participate in the action of the story we learn about the character who is about to be hung through the characters outside voice.
To give you a better understanding of the third person point of view lets look at a statement from one of the passages in this story. “If I could free my hands,” he thought, “I might throw of the noose and spring into the stream.” (pg 200) This statement lets us the readers know it is in the third person point of view, because the narrator says, “he thought” referring to the character in the story. This shows us the character feelings and thoughts by the narrator speaking with the characters outside voice.

Works Cited
Roberts, Edgar. Writing About Literature: Brief Eleventh Edition. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., 2006.

Point of View

The short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce is told in a third person, limited omniscient point of view. In other words, the narrator does not participate in the story as a character and has limited knowledge of only one character. In this case, that character is Peyton Farquhar, who is the man being hung in the story. In Part I Bierce describes the setting in which the story is taking place and of the people in it, including a man who is to be hung. Here is where we are first drawn into the character being hung when Bierce says, “He closed his eyes in order to fix his last thoughts upon his wife and children” (200). Yet, we are still unsure of the exact name of the character being hung.
In Part II we learn about the character of Peyton Farquhar, but no other character. “Peyton Farquhar was a well-to-do plantar…” (201). Other characters speak, but that is all. “The Yanks are repairing the railroads,” said the man, “and are getting ready for another advance…” (201). This goes to show that Peyton Farquhar is a character of much more importance and that he is the only character that the narrator knows about making it a limited omniscient point of view. In Part II we learn that Peyton Farquhar is indeed the man being hung and we fall into what he thinks and sees going on. “He was not conscious of an effort, but a sharp pain in his wrist apprised him that he was trying to free his hands” (202). The narrator never reveals himself throughout the story that is how we know that it is a third person point of view.

Katie Kovac
English 121 003

I was an S.A. on monday feb. 19th.

Mr. Hobbs,

I believe the “Masque of the Red Death” is written from the objective point of view. The objective point of view is defined as a story in which the narrator simply tells the story. The narrator does not give any insight more that can be inferred from the story itself (Point of View, 62).

The “Masque of the Red Death” falls into this category simply because it matches the description exactly. The narrator gives a very descriptive account of the story, but includes nothing about the actual feelings of the characters. For example, the description of Prince Prospero simply gives an introduction of his character and the follows through with his actions and interactions and nothing more (Poe, 239) This type of story appears as though the narrator is simply interested in the overall plot of the story, leaving out all little details such as the characters feelings.

Works Cited

Allan Poe, Edgar. "The Masque of the Red Death." Writing About Literature. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006. 238-242.
Hobbs, Lee, ed. Point of View. Humanities Literature. Dec. 2006 .

Thank you,
Jaime Hersh

Professor Hobbs,

In the short story “Mask of the Red Death” by Edgar Allen Poe, the story is told in first person point of view. On page 64 of the Coursepack text it states “Sometimes a first person narrator still says “I”, but the reader feels the story is not chiefly about this “I”, but some other figure.” Many speakers can also be unnamed narrators of a story.
In the story the narrator, or unnamed speaker tells us of the “Red Death” disease, symbolized by blood, attacking Prince Prospero. The first person unnamed narrator gives us the detailed description, of not only the setting and look of the seven chambers, but also the fear of the Prince. We realize he is a narrator when he uses the phrases such as “as I have told you” and “as I have painted” (241) proving his status of a first person point of view.

Sincerely,
Tina W

Lauren Wozniak
Instructor Lee Hobbs
ENGL 121

Deciding Point of View

At the very beginning of the short story, “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe, Poe begins to tell the story in third-person point of view. This is when the narrator does not participate in the action of the story as one of the characters, but lets us know exactly how the characters feel. (Course Packet, 62) For example, instead of taking on the role of the characters, Poe becomes an observer. In most cases, a third-person narrator does not use certain pronouns; such as me, I, mine, we, and us. But, because Poe uses pronouns such as those listed above he implies a shifting point of view. Poe switches from third-person point of view to first-person point of view.
Here are a few quotes from “The Masque of the Red Death” where Edgar Allan Poe switches point of view. “But first let me tell of the rooms in which it was held.”
(Poe, 239) Here Poe states, “…let me tell” indicating first person. Once again on page 241, Poe states, “In an assembly of phantasms such as I have painted, it may well be supposed that so ordinary appearance could have excited such sensation.” Here he switches the story from third-person point of view to first-person by saying, “…such as I have painted.”
By Poe switching the story from third-person point of view to first-person point of view, he is implying that he has assumed the role of Prince Prospero. In conclusion, by switching point of views Poe is making his reader assume that he could have lived to tell his story, which is impossible because the Red Death killed everyone and left no survivors.

“Exploring Point of View.” 2005. Literature: What Makes a Good Story? Annenburgh/CPB. 7 Dec.2006 .

Poe A. Edgar “The Masque of the Red Death” Writing About Literature by Edgar V. Roberts, ed. 11. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006

In the story "The Masque of the Red Death" it is told in the third person point of view. It's a little confusing because when the author Edgar Allan Poe is describing a room where a masquerade ball was held he states: "But first let me tell of the rooms in which it was held" (Roberts, 239). Even though this is in there, the main character of the story is Prince Prospero who is obviously not Edgar Allan Poe. He uses the prince's name when talking about him which justifies that this is written in third person.

Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Masque of the Red Death. 1842. Rpt. in Writing About Literature by Richard Adams, ed. New Jersey: Upper Saddle River, 2006.

Shayne Schmidt

Instructor: Lee Hobbs

ENGL 121.003 Humanities Literature

21 February 2007
Point of View
“The Masque of the Red Death”

The point of view being expressed in this story is the third person. The reason I think is because in the story you learn about the Prince from the author telling the story. You learn all of the character traits from the author. Through out the whole story you hear no dialogue that would probably establish a first person tone. The author speaks to the audience in the way he feels about the character and story.
Another point of view the author could have established is a limited omniscient point of view. The reason I think this is because in the whole story it mostly seems as if the author is limiting him self to one character. The author only talks about one character’s feeling and thoughts in the story.

I think the point of view in Ambrose Bierce's "An Occurence at Owl Bridge Creek" is third person, but her or she knows a lot about each character at times. At first in the beginning of the story, it's just physical descriptions, such as that of the "man being hanged." Bierce writes, "... was apparently about thirty-five years of age. He was a civilian, if one might judge from his habit, which was that of a planter." (291) If the narrator were an omniscient one, he or she would know these details already.

"The Masque of the Red Death," however, is in a first person point of view and an omniscient because there are I's in the story, but the narrator does not really shed light on his or her own experiences with the blood. Though the tone sounds participatory, the narrator focuses on the Prince. That's why I think it's a little of both, because he narrates the Prince's actions: "It was then, however, that Prince Prospero, maddening with rage and the shame of his own momentary cowardice, rushed hurriedly through the six chambers..." (330). Yet, with lines such as "In an assembly of phantasms I have painted..." (329), the narrator includes his or herself.

Hobbs, Lee. "Humanities Literature Course Pack." Copies Now, 2007. 62.

Roberts, Edgar V. Writing About Literature: Tenth Edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2003.

Lee Hobbs,

The story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce is written in the third person omniscient point of view. This is because in the story the narrator describes each character with great detail and emphasis. It is also written in the “narrative dramatic point of view” because of the plot and details of Bierce sudden death, while he is about to be hanged.
In the story, Bierce is able to explain the characters thoughts and feelings by expressing it in the omniscient point of view. Without this view a reader might decipher that the escape for home was in fact real. Since the speaker knows everything that is going on readers are able to indicate the story takes a stance also on the objective point of view. The author is able to communicate to the reader by letting the audience know what Farquhar was feeling before he died. For example, “his neck was in pain and lifting his hands to it found it horribly swollen”(204). The character Farquhar did not tell us himself what he was feeling. The readers gather their information from the narrator.

Bierce Ambrose. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” 1842. Rpt. in Writing About Literature by Richard Adams, ed. New Jersey: Upper Saddle River, 2006.

Mr. Hobbs,
After reading the passage of, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, it seems that the type of point of view illustrated through out this text is that of the third person point of view. In the third person point of view the narrator doe not have any participation in the action of the story. The narrator is just simply a narrator and not a character from the story telling the story. The narrator does inform you of what is going on and what the other characters are feeling through out the story.
The elements of this text that allow a reader to establish that this is indeed a work in the point of view of third person are that the narrator never uses the words I or me. Usually in a text these words are used when a character is talking about them selves concerning the story.
Also the narrator establishes the other characters with him or her. For example, He closed his eyes in order to fix his last thoughts upon his wife and children. (Page 200, line5) Here the narrator is informing the reader of what is going on in the story. The point of view is with in the third person because the narrator did not establish themselves as a character and seeing this occur.
The narrator in a text that has a point of view of the third person also educates the reader on how the characters are feeling in the story. He felt the ripples upon his face and heard their separate sounds as they struck. (Page 202, line23) Here the narrator is informing the reader of how a character feels something physically. This is something that another character of the story could not tell. They would not be able to speak out about the emotional or physical feelings of a character with such certainty.

- Carlos Gonzalez
English 121.003
2-21-2007

Dear Mr. Hobbs,

Each story is told by someone, and in the literary world there are many points views that may be taken. A point of view is simply the way in which the story is told; for example if the story is being told by an active character or an outside narrator. When writing a story the author chooses the point of view that would be most effective in bringing out the meaning of their work.
Ambrose Bierce’s “The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” tells the story of a man as he is being executed. She chose to write this story in the Omniscient Point of View. In this point of view the story is told by a narrator who is all knowing (ENGL 62). One way that the reader can tell that the narrator is omnipotent is that the narrator knows what our protagonist is thinking. “He closed his eyes in order to fix his last thoughts upon his wife and children” ( Bierce 200)...”And now he became conscious of a new disturbance.”(Bierce 200). The narrator is not speculating what the protagonist might be thinking. He knows it as it happens.
I believe that Bierce made an excellent choice in choosing the Omniscient Point of View for this story; it allows the reader to feel a very raw description of what the main character is going through with out having the character tell it himself. This allows the reader to feel like an observer, and yet allows them to feel close to him; almost like a close friend.

Works Cited:
Beirce, Ambrose. “The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” Writing About Lirerature. Roberts, Edgar V.. Brief Eleventh Edition. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc, 2006. 199-204.

“Point of View.” ENGL121.003 Humanities Literature. Indiana: 2007. 62.

--Erika Knox

Donnetta Allen

Professor Hobbs,

After reading The Masque of the Red Death I think that this story was written in third person. Although there is a point where the narrater refers to himself, "But first let me tell of the room in which it was held" (239). This made me wonder a little but as I kept reading it became clear that it was third person.

The course pack says, "the teller of the tale is not a character in the tale" (65). Throughout the book someone was telling the story and was not actually in the story. Even though his descriptions are as though he was present in the room, in the palace with the prince he is not actually a character in the story.

Edger Allan Poe “The Masque of the Red Death.” 1842. Rpt. in Rpt. in Writing About Literature by Richard Adams, ed. New Jersey: Upper Saddle River, 2006.

Lee Hobbs, ed. University of Pennsylvania, Spring 2007. ENG 121.003 Humanities Literature

Lorin Gdula
Deciding The Point of View-An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

I think that in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” is written in an objective point of view. Ambrose Bierce tells us what happens in the story without telling us details that we couldn’t figure out on our own. The author just tells us the story and really doesn’t participate in the story. In the beginning we learn that the main character is tied up at the edge of the bridge. We later learn that the Union Army was going to hang him for attempting to destroy the bridge. The author leads us to believe that the rope breaks and that Farquhar falls into the water, but only to escape that mess that he is in and to be reunited with his wife. But, in the end we found out that Farquhar was indeed hung and that these images were only glimpses of what he only dreamed of before his last seconds of life. She leads you into the story making you think what you want and actually look into the story, that is why I think that it is written in objective point of view.

Bierce Ambrose, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” 1891. Writing About Literature by Richard Adams, ed. New Jersey: Upper Saddle River, 2006.

Professor Hobbs,

In an Occurrence at Owl Creek a limited omniscient third person point of view is being used. It is limited omniscient because throughout the whole story the feelings and thoughts of the other characters are never expressed, the only things we see of them are their own actions. In the course pack it describes third person point of view, “Here the narrator does not participate in the action of the story as one of the characters, but lets us know exactly how the characters feel. We learn about the characters through this outside voice.” (P. 62)
It is made apparent very early in the story that it is a third person point of view. I realized it was third person in the first few sentences, “A man stood upon a railroad bridge in northern Alabama, looking down into the swift water twenty feet below. The man’s hands were behind his back, the wrists bound with a cord. A rope closely encircled his neck.” (p. 199) Now for somebody who hadn’t already read this story these sentences might not make it completely obvious since this could be coming from the views of another character there watching, but since I know already that Peyton is the main character and the only person who could’ve been the narrator I know this is not the case. These sentences made it obvious for me because the narrator is telling us exactly what’s going on and describing everything while not being involved in the story. If this were a movie and we were watching the man from the camera’s point of view we’d be getting the same point of view as the narrator is giving us.

English 121 course pack.

Bierce Ambrose. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek.” 1891. Rpt. in Writing About Literature by Richard Adams, ed. New Jersey: Upper Saddle River, 2006

Jeff Hoover

Mr. Hobbs

After reading the story The Masque of the Red Death, by Edger Allen Poe, I have come to the conclusion that it was written in non-participant point of you. This is because it was never written as "I". The characters were written as "he" and "prince". Further I believe that the story was written in Selective omniscience because it was limited to the single character.

Nicole Novak

Colin Hough

Instructor Lee Hobbs

ENGL 121.017

21 February 2007

The Point of View in “The Masque of the Red Death”

In Edgar Allen Poe’s famed short story, “The Masque of the Red Death,” the main character, Prince Prospero, holds a ball at his palace that turns horribly wrong. The town over which Prince Prospero rules at the time of the story had been being annihilated by a plague known as the “Red Death.” At this masquerade held by the Prince, he spots a guest dressed as a victim of the Red Death; a costume that thoroughly insulted Prospero. In need of finding out the guest’s identity, Prospero chases the guest around the castle until finally he corners the guest in the “black room,” as the rooms of the party were color coordinated. When the guest reveals his identity, Prospero found himself standing before the figure of the Red Death itself, who immediately causes the spreading of the disease throughout the kingdom.
In this story Edgar Allen Poe uses the third person point of view in order to provide narration for the story. What this means exactly is “that the narrator does not participate in the action of the story as one of the characters, but lets us know exactly how the characters feel. A great example of the third person narration in “The masque of the Red Death” is when the narrator illustrates the thoughts of Prospero’s guests when they noticed the unwanted guest. “The whole company, indeed, seemed now deeply to feel that in the costume and bearing of the stranger neither wit nor propriety existed” (Roberts, 241). Explaining how the guests felt, this quotation from Poe’s short story clearly identifies the point of view taken within it as that of the third person.

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*NOTE* The deadline for this assignment has now passed. Comments are no longer being accepted for this exercise

~Lee