POV Technique Study

This advanced literary analysis worksheet helps students examine how an author’s point of view (POV) shapes suspense, characterization, and theme. Students read a suspenseful excerpt in which a character enters an abandoned station carrying a dim lantern. Through guided questions, they analyze how the chosen POV controls what the reader knows, feels, and anticipates.

Students identify the point of view, cite textual evidence, and evaluate how the story’s tension and meaning would change if a different perspective were used.

Learning Goals

• Analyzing Author’s Point of View
  Identify the narrative POV and explain why it was chosen.
• Textual Evidence & Interpretation
  Support analysis with direct references to the text.
• Understanding Characterization Through POV
  Examine how access to thoughts, actions, and limitations shapes character understanding.
• Literary Analysis of Suspense & Theme
  Analyze how POV heightens tension and reinforces thematic elements.

Instructional Benefits

• Builds Advanced Close-Reading Skills
  Encourages careful attention to language, detail, and narrative control.
• Strengthens Evidence-Based Analysis
  Requires students to justify claims using specific textual clues.
• Deepens Understanding of Narrative Craft
  Shows how authors strategically use POV to manipulate suspense and mood.
• Ideal for Upper-Elementary & Middle Grades
  Well suited for literature units, discussion-based lessons, assessment, or enrichment.

The POV Technique Study worksheet helps students move beyond identifying point of view to analyzing its impact. By examining how narration shapes suspense, character insight, and theme-and by considering alternative perspectives-students develop sophisticated literary analysis skills essential for advanced reading and writing.

This worksheet is part of our Writing By Point of View (First, Second, Third Person) Worksheets collection.