[PW] Re: Grammar question re person

[Dan Clinton]

Let's straighten this out. The concept of person is grammatical. The 
situation described by Daphne has nothing to do with grammar. Neither has 
the application of the terms by creative writing teachers.

1st person is the speaker, the subject of the verb = I 'alone' or we 'I and 
one or more others'
2nd person is the person spoken to, sing. or plural = "you"
3rd person is the person spoken about (the one over there--later also the 
thing talked about) = "s/he or they"

In writing the point of view chosen may be any person (usually singular and 
most frequently third). Omniscience may be complete, partial, or absent. 
Most fiction is 3rd person completely or partially omniscient; 1st person is 
confessional and usually not. 2nd person narrative is rarely done --  it 
always sounds like a staged, self-conscious exercise. I think the last one I 
read was Jay McInerney's Bright Lights, Big City (1985).

IMHO Daphne was right. She usually is.

Dan Clinton / Census Library / Suitland, MD

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Andrew Warren" <awarren at synaptics.com>
To: <list at project-wombat.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 03, 2006 5:03 PM
Subject: [PW] Re: Grammar question


> Daphne Drewello wrote:
>
>> Patron wants to know if there is a grammatical term for the
>> following:
>>
>> A person pretends to be another person to show that person how she
>> should have responded to a third person.
>>
>> Patron thinks the term is "third person" but I have problems with
>> that.
>
> Daphne:
>
> If anything, it's "first person", not third.
>
> The third-person point of view is the omniscient one; third-person
> narratives use pronouns like "he" and "she", and most novels are written
> in that form.
>
> Second-person is the imperative form; the pronoun is "you", and it's
> rare (outside the realm of cookbooks and other how-to books) to see it
> used in print... But if you're giving someone instructions, you might
> find the second-person form most natural.  For example, "When someone
> asks you a question that you can't answer, tell them you don't know but
> you'll find out and get back to them as soon as possible."
>
> First-person is from the "I" point of view: "Let's say I'm a reference
> librarian and I'm asked a question I can't answer.  I say, 'I don't
> know... Lemme ask the Project Wombat list.'"
>
> -Andrew
>
> === Andrew Warren  - awarren at synaptics.com
> === Synaptics, Inc - Santa Clara, CA
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