After some interesting questions regarding points of view and pronouns, on the pronouns cases article, I felt it would be useful to share my more extensive look at perspective in English, as taken from the Advanced Writing Skills book. So here’s a slightly abridged chapter to clarify everything about point of view.
There are three main perspectives (or points of view) in English. They are used in both fiction and non-fiction. Perspectives can be ordered by the distance they give the writer from a viewpoint. First person reports the writer’s point of view (me), second person reports the reader’s point of view (you), and third person reports a more neutral viewpoint, with or without insights into thoughts and feelings.
First Person Perspective
First person perspective uses the pronouns I / me / mine (singular) and we / our / ours (plural). In fiction this is presented in a character’s voice; in non-fiction it represents the writer personally:
- I watched as the ship came into the harbour, and worried that Anne was not on board.
- We developed a prototype for a new kind of bicycle, and intend to test it in the market.
First person is often removed from academic and business writing, though ideas and events may be described from a personal perspective. Such writing is made neutral by writing in the passive voice:
- A prototype for a new kind of bicycle was developed with the intention of testing it in the market.
Second Person Perspective
Second person perspective uses the pronouns you / your / yours (singular and plural). Information is either given directly, such as in instructions or via narratives that place the reader in a situation:
- You will find the keys under the mat.
- You stand at the mouth of a cave, and have a decision to make. Will you go in and brave the beast’s lair, or go home for tea?
Third Person
Third person perspective uses nouns and third person pronouns, he / she / it (singular) and they (plural), to describe events. It can vary in how subjective or distanced it is. The three main stances third person perspective takes are: third person objective, third person limited, and third person omniscient (there are other ways to describe third person narratives, but these are a good starting point).
Third person objective is a neutral description of events – providing no insight into internal feelings. This is commonly used in non-fiction; for example, reports and academic texts:
- The vets saved the kitten and celebrated by opening a bottle of champagne. (no description of internal thoughts or feelings)
Third person limited limits the text to information only available to one subject. This is common in fiction, keeping the reader’s perspective close to a character’s without actually telling a story in their own voice:
- Martin knocked on the door; he could hear someone laughing, far away. It was unsettling. (In this example, unsettling is an insight into Martin’s personal feelings in the situation.)
Third person limited is less common in non-fiction, but may be used when reporting a situation where a restricted viewpoint was important, such as in an incident report detailing a particular perspective.
Third person omniscient describes events with an unlimited perspective, potentially offering full knowledge of a character’s feelings, an in-depth topic, or a complex situation. This could take the form, for example, of a comprehensive non-fiction report, or of a narrative that describes information the characters do not all have access to themselves:
- Two suspects were arrested near the carnival tent, while the ringleader escaped on a scooter. (two events described at the same time)
- Martin waited for his wife to answer the door, unaware that she was preoccupied in the garden. (Martin’s activities described with reference to something he does not know)
- Martin waited for his wife to answer the door, unsure if she was in. Betty busied herself in the garden, hoping Martin would just go away. (two different character perspectives shown in one narrative)
Which Perspective to Use in Non-fiction
Typically, non-fiction is written in either the personal first person or the more official third person. You may be expected to use a certain perspective by your publication or audience. This may be decided for you by a company or publication style guide. Usually, a company or publisher (depending on its size) will make efforts to frame all its content in the same perspective, as part of an established image. If you have a choice, however, the following points should help you decide.
In the case of writing correspondence, such as emails and letters, it is natural to write in the first person. You are typically representing yourself, and it would be strange to present yourself otherwise. If you wish to write an email on behalf of your company, however, you need to consider whether the email is in the first person (plural) or third person:
- We are happy to announce the release of our flying car.
- SkyAuto are happy to announce the release of their flying car.
Here, first person sounds informal while third person sounds official. Both have their uses. The first person can build rapport and a relationship, which is good for engaging readers and encouraging action, while the third person creates distance, which is good for reporting news with a greater sense of importance. The first person is useful when putting on a friendly, human face while the third person can create a sense of a wider picture. The third person is also useful when you expect your writing to be reproduced. This is important when sending press releases, so publications can use your message without editing it.
In reports, articles, books and other work of longer, descriptive non-fiction, the third person objective or omniscient is typical when the topic being discussed is more important than the writer’s viewpoint. Removing the writer’s viewpoint stops the writer from becoming a distraction. This can make your writing more neutral, to help it appear objective and reliable. Consider how much more authority the second example has here:
- I tested the prediction model in three environments, with the same results.
- The prediction model was tested in three environments, with the same results.
This choice of perspective here is connected to using the passive voice.
For marketing and related writing, when the goal is to generate an action, the choice of perspective may be more creative. Using an unexpected style may help a company to stand out or to specifically engage on a topic. For example, a large company might adopt the first person perspective to appear more friendly, or to take responsibility when breaking bad news.
Marketing and related writing is where you will commonly see the second person perspective (you) in writing. Writing in the second person engages the reader. Using a second person subject appeals to self-interest. Consider the different impact of these examples:
- I think this is a great product.
- You’ll think this is a great product.
This speaks to people on a personal, motivating level. It can be used inspirationally, encouraging sales or other actions (You have to buy this car!), and it can be used within instructional texts, to demonstrate possibility and help engage the reader personally (as is used throughout this guide – you can write this way, too).
Using Different Perspectives in Fiction
The choice between perspectives in fiction and creative writing is much more flexible and subjective than with non-fiction. It will depend on the nature of your narrative and the response you wish to get from your reader. To decide which perspective is best, these questions may help:
- Do you want to describe your character’s innermost thoughts and feelings?
- Do you want to explore a particular viewpoint?
- Can you maintain a particular tone of voice (and will it be a good reading experience)?
- Can you tell your story effectively with the information that a particular perspective offers?
From there, you can consider each perspective in more detail to decide which is most appropriate. Note that second person and third person objective narratives are rare in creative writing, as addressing your reader directly or discussing neutral topics are less useful when you wish to engage them in a story.
First person perspective is the best choice for an intimate telling of a story, in a specific tone of voice. It limits the viewpoint for the purposes of information and tension, and makes it easier to explore your character’s feelings.
Third person limited perspective offers a specific external viewpoint. Events are described in the third person, but the information provided is limited to what one character can see, and should only present information the character knows:
- Gertrude pulled the lever, but the box didn’t open. She couldn’t see what was wrong. (Third person limited: the character does not know the explanation.)
- Gertrude pulled the lever, but the box didn’t open. The mechanism inside had snapped. (Third person omniscient: the narrator gives information which the character cannot see.)
Providing thoughts and feelings for the character can be done with varying levels of directness, including direct and indirect reporting and a method often called free indirect style.
The following examples demonstrate different ways the third person limited can present the thoughts of a character (Sally):
- As Bob described his plan to Sally, she kept quiet, thinking “What a terrible idea.” (direct speech for reporting thoughts, shown in quotes or, in some styles, italics)
- As Bob described his plan to Sally, she kept quiet, thinking it was a terrible idea. (indirect speech for reporting thoughts)
- As Bob described his plan to Sally, she kept quiet. What a terrible idea. (free indirect style)
Free indirect style includes thoughts and feelings of the character as part of the narrative, essentially creating a mix between third and first person. Thoughts and feelings may be presented without quotation marks, though they should be clearly separated from the general narration; for example, appearing as separate sentences or with other appropriate punctuation.
When verbs for character thoughts are included, it is best that the tense agrees with the narrative, to avoid confusing the reader (so the thought comes from the character but is not a direct quote):
- She opened the drawer and frowned, wondering, “Where’s my diary?” (direct quote of a thought)
- She opened the drawer and frowned. Where was her diary? (free indirect style, thought included as a narrative sentence)
In the third person limited, we should never be told what another character thinks, feels, or sees. If you wish to give insights into a different character, it must be done through the main character’s viewpoint. Do this with verbs that tell us, for example, how things seem, appear, or look to the main character. You may need to add additional details (such as body language indicators) to make this credible:
- Jim arrived at the party early. This was going to be great fun. When he saw Kylie come in, though, she had a scowl on her face that suggested she didn’t feel the same way.
In this example, because we are writing from Jim’s perspective, Kylie’s attitude is shown through her scowl, and we use the verb suggest to give an idea of her viewpoint.
The third person omniscient perspective gives a global point of view. It can give a wider picture of events, without limiting us to what one character sees or thinks. It can be used to demonstrate multiple viewpoints within a scene, though this should be done with appropriate verbs for direct or indirect reporting, to avoid confusion:
- The Willis family entered the restaurant. Tracy loved this place, and took in the old Chinese lanterns fondly, but her sons thought it was tacky.
Multiple thoughts shown in this way would be inappropriate in third person limited. Even in third person omniscient, such examples are rare. Jumping between perspectives in a single scene, or a paragraph, is referred to as head hopping, and can easily become confusing or unsettling for readers:
- Jim arrived at the party early. This was going to be great fun. Kylie came in just behind him. It looked like a bore.
The example above quickly gives two perspectives, which would be confusing for the reader. An omniscient narrative works better as a series of limited passages, rather than flowing together like this. Third person omniscient may then separate points of views distinctly with a line break or other indicator that the narrative has been interrupted (e.g. Kylie came in just behind him. To her, it looked more like a bore.). Some writers advise that you only change perspective between chapters, which, strictly speaking, creates an omniscient story from a series of limited perspectives.
Third person omniscient can also be used to present information that the character does not know, which is useful for building tension and is sometimes necessary to help a reader understand a situation:
- Lana swam at full speed, determined to beat her record, completely unaware of the shark below her.
- Ted tossed more paper into the fire, in the hope of getting it going. He had no way of knowing that the scrap he’d mistaken for an old receipt was, in fact, the winning lottery ticket.
Though this technique has its specific uses, such details can be disorientating for a reader or break the flow of a narrative, so there are other ways to present these situations, with a limited perspective. In these examples, Lana could be surprised by a shark attack, or Ted could later realise his ticket had gone missing. Clues could also be left so that the reader might notice what the character doesn’t (e.g. Lana swam at full speed, ignoring the shadow-like form that was moving below her). In such situations, the choice between third person limited and third person omniscient depends on how skilfully you can present these situations from one perspective or another, to give the reader the best experience.
I hope you’ve found this information useful; as always if you have any questions, please get in touch or ask in the comments below!
Hi Phil,
I was thinking about what you mentioned before (under the comments section for another one of your article on “The many cases of pronouns”) that “it’s not the intended audience that decides Point Of View (POV) of a piece of writing, it is who is presenting the information.” If we are talking about the first person POV, I can see how this point is applicable since the speaker/writer is sharing from his perspective. But for second person and third person POV writings, isn’t it a case where the speaker/writer is also the one presenting the information, except that now the speaker/writer isn’t taking about or referring to himself/herself/themselves as is the case when the writing is in first person POV? As such, how do we reconcile the point about “it is who is presenting the information that matters when determining a writing’s POV” with second and third person POV writings?
Secondly, under this article, you mentioned the following: ” “We developed a prototype for a new kind of bicycle, and intend to test it in the market.” First person is often removed from academic and business writing, though ideas and events may be described from a personal perspective. Such writing is made neutral by writing in the passive voice: “A prototype for a new kind of bicycle was developed with the intention of testing it in the market.”” Is it a case where all passive sentences/writings are considered as being in the third person POV?
Thirdly, I was wondering about second person POV writings/stories, where the most common example to me is, for instance, an email detailing instructions for a person to follow. But this seems to be a “passive form” of second person POV writing where the person receiving the instructions doesn’t really express any thoughts but simply follows the instructions. However, am i right to say that other than such instructional, “passive” forms of second person POV writings, another example of second person POV writing is also one where the author directly assumes the mindset of the reader and says stuff like “you are obviously feeling lonely, and feel a burning desire to do something to change the situation, but yet you recognize the futility of it all, and so now you wallow in regret and self-condemnation for not acting earlier” – where this appears to more of an active example showcasing the thoughts going on in the reader’s mind?
Thanks
Regards,
Shizuka
Hi Shizuka,
Yes, I can see where the confusion might come in there – it’s about the point of view that the information is ‘presented’ as, rather than who is actually writing it. POV or perspective could also be defined by asking whose voice a piece of writing is told in – first person being in character, third person being in a neutral voice. So sorry if I wasn’t clear on that, when I say who is presenting the information I don’t mean to say who wrote it specifically, but rather the way the information itself is presented.
On the passive question – yes, I think it would be fair to say that if you have a piece of writing that is totally passive then it would necessarily need to be third person, as there would be no subjects as such. Again, there would be exceptions – it would be possible if a character were reflecting on events without involving themselves, if you knew from context who was doing the describing. (For example, a narrative could start “I recall the building of the new swimming centre. The foundations were laid in spring…”, and continue entirely in the passive would have been presented in first person.)
On the second person, yes you are correct those are two quite different types of second person writing styles, instructions are generally neutral while we also have that style that assumes the reader’s feeling.
I hope this helps!
Phil
Dear Phil,
To summarize: While pronouns are useful in helping us to determine what Point of View (POV) an article is written in, pronouns alone may not be enough and we would also have to look at the writing as a whole to see the way the information is presented. In other words, when looking at the non-direct speech parts of a writing, and trying to determine the writing’s point of view (that is whether the writing is written in first, second or third person POV), we should not be distracted by the use of pronouns that do not belong to the writing’s point of view (for example, the use of first or third person pronouns within an article written in the second person point of view, or perhaps the use of first and second person pronouns within an article written in the third person point of view, and so on/so forth..), but to read through the whole of article and then decide from whose point of view is the article/writing being presented from.
Firstly, may I know if the above summary is correct?
Secondly, I understand that when determining POV of an article/writing, we do not look at the direct speech parts of the article/writing but rather focus on the rest of the article/writing (i.e. the main, non-direct speech parts of the article/writing). May I know if this point is correct, and if so, would it be possible for you to craft a simple example illustrating the use of first and/or third person pronouns in an article/writing/paragraph which is written in the second person POV?
Thanks!
P.S. (my apologies if some parts seem to repeat what we’ve covered previously, but I thought it best to cover here as it truly does help with my comprehension of this topic, so thanks once again!)
Regards,
Shizuka ✨
Hi Shizuka,
Yes, both your summaries here are correct. For a second-person POV article, this would be quite rare; one area that you would find bigger examples would be in the genre of ‘choose your own adventure’, which is not so popular now but I’ll see if you can find you some examples.
And I’m happy to help!
Phil
Dear Phil,
Thanks! Looking forward to your examples.
Regards,
Shizuka
Hi Phil,
Thanks again for all your advice concerning the subject of POV. Keeping in mind an earlier point where you mentioned that “For letters and emails these will actually mostly be in the first person, because they are written from a particular person’s point of view – unless you are explicitly sending instructions without a point of view (which would be rare and perhaps slightly strange!)”, I came across the following: “”Class, you need to be in your seats when the principal arrives. Tom and Jerry, I’m speaking to you as well. By the way, are these comic books yours?
Would the above example be considered as a first person POV or second person POV writing? It seems that with the many second person pronoun (i.e. “you”, yours) used, this would appear to be a second person POV, and yet the speaker is the one saying this (as evidenced by the “I’m speaking…)
Regards,
Shizuka
Hi Shizuka,
Yes you’re correct this is in the first person, it is merely the address that is second person, instructing the class. I think it’s mostly fair to say that if you have a text that includes ‘I’ at any point to indicate a first person subject, this is a good indicator that it is all technically first person. (Likewise if we have any other indicator of who is making the address; if the speaker is credited, then it will be a first person perspective, unless they completely cut out their own perspective.)
I hope this helps.
Phil
Hi Phil,
Thanks again! Three issues which I would like to seek your kind advice on are:
Firstly, my confusion with this example is that many others, including the author of the example, refers to this example (i.e. “Class, you need to be in your seats when the principal arrives. Tom and Jerry, I’m speaking to you as well. By the way, are these comic books yours?”) as a plural second-person sentence, however, I do note your point that because of the presence of “I”, it means that the entire example comes from the author of the example and hence is a first person POV paragraph. How do I reconcile these two apparently different opinions concerning this example?
Secondly, the author of the above example also quoted the following in her quick guide on POV, that “You use the second-person point of view to address the reader. The second person uses the pronouns “you,” “your,” and “yours.” We use these three pronouns when addressing one, or more than one, person. Second person is often appropriate for e-mail messages, presentations, and business and technical writing”. That being said, again, I do note your earlier advice that in fact most writings such as emails and letters are first person POV writings because they typically express the thoughts of the writer rather than just containing purely instructional writings. But again, I have trouble reconciling what this author said (about second person often being appropriate for emails) with your advice.
Thirdly, I once asked whether you had any examples of a third person POV writing/essay/story containing use of first and second person pronouns, to which you replied one good example would be a story written in third person limited perspective, which is third person but limited to the perspective of a particular character, and that this might include first person style reactions in the middle of the third person prose (something we call “free indirect style/speech”). Would the following be an example of such a third person POV writing with first person style reactions be as follows:
Harry turned the corner and bumped into the pearly white apparition of Ludmilla. (I must be mad) though Harry, (It must have been the wine from dinner that’s causing this hallucination).
This example shows first person style reaction (evidenced with use of first person pronoun “I”), while the whole writing is still third person limited since its the author describing the character “Harry’s” experience?
Thanks!
Regards,
Shizuka
Hi Shizuka,
I’ll answer the first two points together as I think it’s the same general idea. I think the confusion comes here in the difference over what level of writing you’re discussing with relation to the POV. Because in terms of the grammar of individual clauses, if we look at independent sentences, we could say that those examples/sentences are in the second person, with this idea that ‘you’ makes that clear. What the author is conveying, really, is writing particular sentences or instructions in the second person this way, but the overall piece itself might be in a different POV, the same way that a passage in a story may tell things in third person even though the overall story is first person, if a section doesn’t actually include the narrator or their opinions. It really comes down to if you’re analysing particular clauses for POV, or looking at the piece as a whole. But if we step back and look at something as a complete unit of writing, for example an email, I’d say it’s very rare that an email would ever be fully second person, as it must come from someone. But certainly you might include second-person clauses, I’d just personally argue that such sentences are not a shift in POV, merely a shift in subject. If that makes sense!
On your third person limited example, this is a tricky one – the inclusion of “thought Harry” means it’s not really free indirect style as we’re still describing the action in third person. It could still be third person limited, that depends more on if we don’t include information from anyone else’s perspective, but to get us closer to the first person style we’d probably expect a more direct inclusion of his thoughts (which there’s certainly an art to):
Harry turned the corner and bumped into the pearly white apparition of Ludmilla. Was he mad? It must have been the wine from dinner that’s causing this hallucination.
In this way, we merely present the thoughts without describing them, and the reader takes it as Harry’s thinking.
I hope this helps!
Phil
Hi Phil,
Extracted the following from your post above, for easy reference:
“What the author is conveying, really, is writing particular sentences or instructions in the second person this way, but the overall piece itself might be in a different POV, the same way that a passage in a story may tell things in third person even though the overall story is first person, if a section doesn’t actually include the narrator or their opinions. It really comes down to if you’re analyzing particular clauses for POV, or looking at the piece as a whole. But if we step back and look at something as a complete unit of writing, for example an email, I’d say it’s very rare that an email would ever be fully second person, as it must come from someone. But certainly you might include second-person clauses, I’d just personally argue that such sentences are not a shift in POV, merely a shift in subject. If that makes sense!”
I see. So I suppose that what you mean by the above is the same as a point which we’ve covered previously (i.e. we cannot judge what an article’s POV is just solely based on looking at the pronouns used within a few sentences or paragraphs of the article). For example, an article in first person POV may contain passages/paragraphs with heavy use of second and third person pronouns, but as a whole the article is still considered to be in first person POV. Of course, if we choose to focus only on those passages that contain heavy use of second and third person pronouns from the first-person-POV article, then it is not wrong for us to conclude that these passages are written in the second or third person POV. However, again, we should not be misled by these selected passages because when these passages are read and considered as part of the entire article, the entire article is still considered as being written in first person POV, correct?
And that this understanding equally applies to articles whose POV may be second person POV, but which contains paragraphs with heavy use of first/third person pronouns, or articles in third person POV but with paragraphs with heavy use of first/second person pronouns, or any other combination?
Lastly, on your point about “”What the author is conveying, really, is writing particular sentences or instructions in the second person this way”, with ref to the example “tom and jerry” example, I suppose the author of the example is simply trying to explain the use of the second person pronouns “you,” “your,” and “yours”.
Thanks!
Regards,
Shizuka
Hi Shizuka,
Yes, I think that’s all a fair summary!
Phil
Dear Phil,
Sorry, I left this point out but when you said “but the overall piece itself might be in a different POV, the same way that a passage in a story may tell things in third person even though the overall story is first person, if a section doesn’t actually include the narrator or their opinions”, by “a section”, you are referring to “a passage”, correct?
Also, this understanding would apply to any other combination (e.g. overall article in second person POV, but which contain sections/passages in first/third person perspectives through the heavy use of first/third person pronouns; or article in third person POV with sections/passages in first/second person perspectives through use of first/second person pronouns)?
Regards,
Shizuka
Yes, that’s right, section meaning passage, or any part of, and correct, it could apply generally.
Hi Phil,
As you’ve mentioned above, “there are three main perspectives (or points of view) in English. They are used in both fiction and non-fiction”. Since perspectives apply to fiction as well as non-fiction (i.e. real life, actual), since anything we say or write must have a perspective depending on who is saying/writing as well as how the person presents the saying/writing, may I know why certain dictionaries define “point of view” (aka perspective) as “in fictional writing, the narrator’s position in relation to a story being told”. Such a definition seems to suggest that “point of view” is a term only applied to fictional writing/saying, which is contrary to our understanding?
Would appreciate your advice, thanks! And Merry Xmast to you too!
Regards,
Shizuka
Hi Shizuka,
Again this is one of those areas where it may depend on the purposes of what we’re trying to define – perspective is probably most often associated with fiction because it is where we make an active choice over POV, so it’s where we must give it the most thought. But absolutely POV is not restricted merely to fiction – it is a choice made in journalism, academic writing, advertising and elsewhere. Such a definition as that one, then is limited because that’s simply what the dictionary is choosing to focus on without the wider considerations of general grammar.
And thank you, I hope you have had a good Christmas!
Phil
Hi Phil,
you mentioned before that “I think it would be fair to say that if you have a piece of writing that is totally passive then it would necessarily need to be third person, as there would be no subjects as such.”
Come to think of it, could you explain what you meant by “as there would be no subjects as such”? I am confuse because I thought that even passive sentences or structures have subjects too?
Regards,
Shizuka
Hi Shizuka,
Yes, apologies I’ve been a bit particular/lazy with the way I worded that, which isn’t entirely accurate. When we discuss passive sentences one of the easiest ways to explain how they work is to look at them from the perspective that they reverse the typical relationship of active sentences, where the [subject] – [does], as in a passive sentence the verb [is done] without necessarily telling us who did it (so often lacking the expected active sentence subject) I.e. “Bob opened the door.” -> “The door was opened by Bob.” or possibly “The door was opened.” In the passive sentence “the door” becomes the subject, but we can lose the actual actor, Bob, entirely. So I’d slipped into that mentality suggesting passive sentences don’t necessarily have the subject in the active sense, i.e. who/what does the action, but of course you are right it isn’t accurate to say passive sentences do not have subjects. I suppose it would be more accurate to say there wouldn’t necessarily be an active actor involved.
Thinking more on your point it certainly would be possible to have a passive piece of text in a different perspective, e.g. first, if everything was done to the narrator, rather than by them, but this would be unusual. It would remove any agency because we would have no opportunity for the speaker, “I”, to act for themselves.
I hope this clarifies things.
Phil
Hi, I am curious. So using your article as an example, does this mean that your entire article is written in First Person (from writer’s perspective, meaning you), as demonstrated by the fact that you started your article with the first person pronouns “I”, as in “….I felt it would be useful to share my more extensive look at perspective in English…”, or is it a case where your article is written in the second person perspective, as shown when you said the following in your article “…… and it can be used within instructional texts, to demonstrate possibility and help engage the reader personally (as is used throughout this guide – you can write this way, too)”?
Or, is it a case where the first part of your article is written in the First Person, but beginning from “First person perspective uses the pronouns I / me / mine (singular) and we / our / ours (plural). In fiction this is presented in ….”, the article is written by you in the Second Person, since the article is addressed to me, the reader?
Or finally, would it instead be accurate to say that while parts of your article are written by you in First Person, and the rest in Second Person, when considering the article collectively as one piece of writing, it is still considered as a First Person article, simply because it is written by you (the author) and sharing your view/thoughts? If so, would it be right to conclude that generally speaking, whenever an article contains a first person pronoun, regardless of whether the rest of the articles contains second and third person paragraphs, the article as whole would be considered as being in First Person perspective?
Hi Magnuslin,
Yes, I think you’re spot on with your final analysis. It really depends on what level we are looking at a particular text, as we could say an article, paragraph or sentence is in a particular perspective and this might vary across a text. So as you correctly say, the early part of the article may be in first person but then it adopts a more second person style – if we look at the paragraphs or sentences individually then we might draw different conclusions to the perspective. However, as you correctly say, the article itself is in the first person because we have evidence of first person pronouns, so even if large parts do not contain first person text it is framed from a particular perspective. On the whole, it is a first person article, though the bulk of it may be presented in second person, and indeed generally if there are any first person pronouns in a text then we could indeed describe it as first person.
In practice, you may find attitudes to perspective vary more than this, though, as sometimes second or third person texts might have first person introductions or very occasional first person ‘thoughts’, which the author might consider don’t constitute a first person text overall. Examples that spring to mind are academic texts, where for the most part writers are encouraged to include no first person pronouns or personal thoughts (for a neutral, third person perspective), but some might occasionally slip in. Also in fiction, particularly classical fiction, you may find a fashion for introducing a story from a certain perspective before the story is then told in a fully third person account (for example) – such was popular with ‘found footage’ style stories, such as where a first person narrator says they discovered the following information in a certain way (e.g. uncovered a mysterious book) and then goes on to tell a story that otherwise doesn’t involve the narrator at all. In such cases, the framing is first person but the text itself isn’t really.
Phil