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Difficulty: MediumNarrative Technique and Point of View

Read the prose excerpt below:

"As Nneka stepped onto the podium, her hands trembled slightly against the cool wood. She looked down at the sea of faces expecting brilliance, yet all she could recall was the hollow echo of her father’s final warning that morning. He had insisted that silence was safer than speech, but looking at the expectant crowd, she knew her father had never understood the weight of a stolen voice."

Which of the following best describes the narrative point of view used in this excerpt and its structural function?

  1. Third-person limited point of view, providing direct insight into Nneka's internal thoughts while presenting her father's stance only through her perspective.Answer
  2. B
    Third-person omniscient point of view, giving equal and objective access to the private thoughts of both Nneka and her father.
  3. C
    First-person point of view, as Nneka directly recounts her personal struggle and emotional state to the audience.
  4. D
    Third-person limited point of view, functioning primarily to establish an objective atmospheric tone without revealing internal psychological motivation.

Answer

Third-person limited point of view, providing direct insight into Nneka's internal thoughts while presenting her father's stance only through her perspective.
The correct option accurately identifies the narrative mode as third-person limited. The passage employs third-person pronouns while strictly filtering events and thoughts through Nneka's subjective consciousness, showing her inner anxiety and her personal interpretation of her father's warning.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Examine the grammatical pronouns used to identify the narrative perspective.
The text uses third-person pronouns ('she', 'her'), indicating a third-person narrative rather than a first-person account.
Identifying pronoun usage establishes the fundamental stance of the narrator.
2
Analyze the extent of narrator knowledge and character accessibility.
The narrator reveals Nneka's inner feelings ('hands trembled', 'all she could recall') but presents her father's view only through Nneka's memory and subjective interpretation.
Limiting consciousness to a single character confirms the third-person limited perspective rather than an omniscient one.

Key Concept

Third-Person Limited Point of View
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Topics

Narrative Technique and Point of View

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