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Difficulty: HardNarrative Techniques and Point of View

Read the extract below carefully:

"From my quiet corner behind the heavy mahogany desk, I watched the prosecutor pace back and forth across the courtroom floor. His shadow lengthened against the wall as the afternoon sun dipped lower. Beside me, Barrister Effiong remained motionless, his eyes fixed on the jury box. None of them paid any attention to me—the court clerk quietly recording every syllable of a trial that would destroy two prominent families in Calabar."

Which narrative point of view is employed in the extract above?

  1. First-person peripheralAnswer
  2. B
    Third-person omniscient
  3. C
    First-person main protagonist
  4. D
    Third-person limited

Answer

First-person peripheral
The passage is narrated using first-person pronouns ("I", "my", "me"), but the narrator is a minor observer (the court clerk) positioned on the sidelines documenting the actions of the main characters. This is the defining characteristic of a first-person peripheral narrative point of view.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the grammatical pronouns used by the narrator in the excerpt
The presence of pronouns such as "my", "I", and "me" confirms a first-person narrative perspective.
Narrative stance is determined primarily by the grammatical point of view employed by the storyteller.
2
Analyze the narrator's function relative to the main conflict and characters
The narrator is a minor participant (the court clerk) sitting in a corner observing the primary figures (Barrister Effiong and the prosecutor).
A first-person narrator who functions primarily as an observer recording the experiences of central characters is classified as a peripheral narrator.

Key Concept

First-person peripheral narrative perspective
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Topics

Narrative Techniques and Point of View

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