Topic 8 - Discourse structure and point of view > Point of view in a more extended example

Point of view in a more extended example

On this page we are going to put all that we have learnt about viewpoint into practice by examining an extended extract. We will do this by looking at a passage from D. H. Lawrence's , short story Fanny and Annie a sentence at a time, noting:

(a) whose viewpoint is being represented;
(b) what kind of viewpoint is involved;
(c) what linguistic indicators of viewpoint are being used to signal the viewpoint, and;
(d) what meanings and effects are associated the viewpoint factors we notice.

Task A

Read the introduction we provide below, and then read the passage it introduces carefully until you feel you understand it and are familiar with it.

Context: We have already examined a small extract from Fanny and Annie on the linguistic indicators of viewpoint page, when we introduced the idea of attitudinal viewpoint. Lawrence's short story is told via a 3rd-person narrator who narrates a considerable amount of the story from Fanny's viewpoint. She is thus the main 'reflector' or 'focaliser' in the story and we tend to sympathise with her as we read it. Fanny, a governess who has lost her job, has returned to the village she grew up in, and everyone assumes that she will marry her childhood sweetheart, Harry Goodall. But it is clear from the beginning that Fanny is really returning because she has nowhere else to go, and so, at best, she is lukewarm to her proposed marriage. This is reflected in the extract we have already examined though the attitudinal adjectives marking her viewpoint.

When she gets off the train she thinks of the station as small and grubby and this sets the tone for the story: she doesn't seem to like the village she grew up in or her fiancé very much. She has left them behind in social and attitudinal terms. She consistently uses the 'title + last name' formulation 'Mrs Goodall' to address Harry's mother, suggesting a rather distant social relationship with her prospective mother-in-law. The extract below occurs towards the end of the story, and the incident described appears to be the factor which helps Fanny decide to marry Harry. Indeed, soon after the incident she addresses Mrs Goodall as 'mother' for the first time.

So, the context for the passage below is that although it has been assumed by everyone else that Fanny will marry Harry, now that she has returned to the village, she has been debating in her own mind whether to go ahead or not. The scene is the village church, in the middle of a church service, and with the entire village, including Fanny, in the congregation. Harry is a soloist in the church choir. As one of the hymns comes to a close on Harry's solo, an extraordinary event happens.

After you are familiar with the passage, for each sentence in turn, write down:
  (a) whose viewpoint you think we are getting
  (b) what kind of viewpoint you think is being represented (spatial, temporal,   social, attitudinal, conceptual), and
  (c) what linguistic markers of viewpoint are involved.

To compare your answer for each sentence with ours, click on the sentence number

Task B

We have two more questions for you to consider. Write down your comments, before comparing them with ours (by clicking on the question).

A. What can we learn in general terms from this exercise?

B. And what can we learn about the story itself?

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