Tips for Teaching Literary Analysis - Point of View and The Magician's Nephew

Tips for Teaching Literary Analysis - Point of View and The Magician's Nephew

The Chronicles of Narnia series is considered a classic now that generations of readers have enjoyed its marvelous characters and literary richness. Written by C.S. Lewis on so many interpretive levels, with the help of a Narnia unit study a reader can see the important literary elements in each of the seven books.

One such literary element is the point of view. A synonym for perspective, point of view is the angle from which a story is told, the "voice" from which it is being told. Each of the books in The Chronicles of Narnia may be told from a different point of view.

As explained in a Narnia unit study, an author writes a book from someone's perspective, someone's angle. That person is the narrator. Either a character in the story, or someone outside the story looking in, is the narrator who moves the plot along.

To think about the point of view in The Magician's Nephew we can ask ourselves:

1. Does the narrator use "I"? (If so, he's speaking from a first person point of view.)

2. Does the narrator use "you"? (If so, he's speaking from a second person point of view.)

3. Does the narrator use "he," "she," or "it"? (If so, he's speaking from a third person point of view.)

For example, Digory may say, "I am so hungry," which uses "I" and is therefore written from the first person point of view. As the narrator, Digory would then be limited to telling only about what he knows or feels; he cannot get inside the head or heart of other characters to know what they are thinking or feeling.

Or the story may say, "You and Polly Plummer must be so hungry." That is written from the second person point of view. The narrator is a character The Magician's Nephew and therefore can tell about himself and the characters close to him.

Finally, the story may say," He was so hungry he couldn't take another step." Written from the third person point of view, this narrator is not a character and is outside the story. A Narnia unit study conveys that this "omniscient" narrator can show the reader the thoughts and feelings of many of the characters in the story.

Think about what you've read so far in The Magician's Nephew in terms of point of view. What angle does the narrator use? Is the point of view the same throughout the chapters or is there more than one narrator? As suggested in a Narnia unit study, write down your answers to all these questions and you will have analyzed the point of view for this Narnia "prequel."

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Melanie Hexter is the author of The Chronicles of Narnia unit study, a LEMILOE Publishing "Winning at Literature" comprehensive literature-based unit study that provides teachers and home school parents with a step-by-step guide for teaching literary analysis while exploring the wonders of Narnia. To learn more about this study, visit www.NarniaUnitStudy.com.

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