Examples of Point of View
The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud: The author uses both third person and first person point of view. Nathaniel, the young magician, is told about in third person. Those chapters alternate with chapters that are told in first person, from the point of view of Bartimaeus, a powerful spirit (djinni). The latter are my favorite chapters, since Bartimaeus has such a fun sense of humor.
The Castle of Llyr by Lloyd Alexander: "Eilonwy of the red-gold hair . . . was leaving Caer Dallben. Dallben himself had so ordered it; and though Taran's heart was suddenly and strangely heavy, he knew there was no gainsaying the old enchanter's words."
This is from a third-person point of view, but just from this selection we don't know enough to determine whether it is third person limited or third person omniscient.
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle: "It was a dark and stormy night. In her attic bedroom Margaret Murry, wrapped in an old patchwork quilt, sat on the foot of her bed and watched the trees tossing in the frenzied lashing of the wind. Behind the clouds scudded frantically across the sky. . . ."
"She wasn't usually afraid of weather. --It's not just the weather, she thought. -- It's the weather on top of everything else. On top of me. On top of Meg Murry doing everything wrong."
That quote, as is the quote before it from The Castle of Lyr, is from the exposition of the book -- the beginning part that introduces the setting, characters, and basic situation. Both are third person, and again, just from reading this much, we don't yet know if it is third person limited or third person omniscient.
The Teacher's Funeral by Richard Peck: "If your teacher has to die, August isn't a bad time of year for it. You know August. The corn is earring. The tomatoes are ripening on the vine. The clover's in full bloom. There's a little less evening now, and that's a warning . You want to live every day twice over because you'll be back in the jailhouse of school before the end of the month.
"Then our teacher, Miss Myrt Arbuckle, hauled off and died. It was like a miracle, though she must have been forty. You should have seen my kid brother's face. It looked like Lloyd was hearing the music of the spheres. Being ten that summer, he was even more willing to believe in miracles than I was."
This one is first person. Though it uses the words "your" and "you," the story is not about you. The narrator is telling his own story -- a story he is in.
