There is a famous saying in narratology: "Although there are no fresh stories, there are always fresh lips." Fei Ming, a famous modern writer in my country, once said something similar: the story is not important, what is important is the way to tell the story. It should be said that many people’s aesthetic taste is based on appreciating stories, so no matter how good or exciting the story itself is, it is still within the readers’ expectations. Because many students often use a single narrative person in their narrative writing, this has already caused readers to suffer from aesthetic fatigue. If we take a different approach and put more effort into "narrative person", we may get unexpected results.

There are three main types of narrative persons: third-person narrative, first-person narrative, and second-person narrative.

Third person

Third person narration is a narration from the perspective of a bystander who has nothing to do with the story. Since the narrator is usually an bystander whose identity is uncertain, the traditional feature of this type of narrative is that there is no restriction of perspective. The narrator is like an omniscient God, who can appear in different places at the same time, can understand the past, predict the future, and can enter the depths of any character's mind to unearth privacy at will. In short, this narrative method gives the author full freedom because there is no limit on perspective. It is very common for traditional narrative works to adopt this narrative method.

First person

In works narrated from the first person, the narrator is also a character in the story. Therefore, the narrative perspective moves into the work and becomes an internal focus narrative. This narrative perspective has two characteristics: first, as a narrator and role, this character can not only participate in the event process, but also leave the environment of the work to describe and evaluate it to the readers. The texts we have learned such as: "Remembering Reading", "My First Literary Experience", "Sheltering from the Rain in the Mountains", "Deep in the Alley", "My Teacher", "The Autobiography of Lu Xun", etc. are written in the first person.

The first person in some articles is the author. Such as: diaries, letters, travel notes, autobiographies, etc. The "I" in the article tells about the author's own experience. The first person in some articles is not the author. Such as literary works written in the first person. The "I" in the work is just a fictional character created by the author. This character often contains some of the author's own life experiences, but it cannot be regarded as a real person. For example, the "I" in "She Opera" is not exactly Lu Xun.

The role of "I" in the text:

1. "I" is a witness. For example, the "I" in "Kong Yiji" and the "I" in "Blessing" only function as witnesses of events.

2. "I" is an important person. Such as "I" in "My Teacher" and "I" in "Deep in the Alley".

3. "I" is the protagonist. Such as "I" in diaries, letters, travel notes, and autobiographical articles (such as "The Autobiography of Lu Xun").

4. "I" is the person who pulls the strings. Choosing first-person narration allows the author to directly express his thoughts and feelings, and the reader feels real and cordial.

When using the first person, you cannot write about the appearance of "I", nor the psychological activities of others. The content described must be what is heard and witnessed within the scope of activities of "I" and "we" People and things, otherwise, it would be unreasonable. The advantage of first-person narration is that it has a sense of reality and is intimate and natural. The disadvantage is that it is limited by "I" and is inconvenient to reflect the vast real life, and it is difficult to reflect the thoughts of characters other than "I".

Second person

The author uses "you" and "you" to narrate, which is a second person narration. This person is rarely used in practical writing, because since there is "you", there must be "I", and it can also be regarded as the first person. But the second person often appears partially in first-person and third-person articles according to the needs of expression. In the change of persons, the beauty of the ups and downs of emotions is presented.

Person Change

In writing, there are also cases where first-person narrative and third-person narrative are used alternately. For example, Lu Xun's novel "Blessing" uses two personal pronouns to narrate. Narration using first and third person alternately.

Whether to use the first person, the third person or the second person when writing should be considered from the perspective of which person's narrative is most advantageous to handle the material and express the theme. Moreover, no matter which personal narrative is used, it must be determined in advance and consistent throughout the article. Otherwise, the narrative person will be confused and unclear, which will affect the expression of the central idea or theme. If we use two kinds of people to narrate events, we should pay attention to:

① Do not change frequently; ② When changing, we must explain clearly and do not interrupt the narrative thread. When changing persons, be sure to use transitional sentences to explain clearly and remind readers.

For example, in "Courage", the opening statement "I sat next to an American paratrooper" indicates that the whole text will mainly use "I" narrative; the transition sentence "He told me the following story" indicates that Will change the person's pronoun; "...this young man (American paratrooper)...she (French woman)..." indicates a shift to "he" narration; "I was fascinated by the two protagonists in this true story ” indicates that the narrative has returned to “I”. Because the transitional sentences are clearly explained and the persons are changed, the readers will not feel confused. Otherwise, readers will not know the context and be confused.

Editor: Xintai