Second-person narration is a narrative technique in which the protagonist or another main character is referred to by employment of second-person personal pronouns and other kinds of addressing forms, e.g. the English second-person pronoun "you". The main character is the central figure of a story. ... In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a word that usually takes the place of a noun or noun phrase that was previously mentioned (such as she, it) or that refers to something or someone (I, me, you). Pronouns are often one of the basic parts of speech of the... Look up you in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

• "You are not the kind of guy who would be at a place like this at this time of the morning. But here you are, and you cannot say that the terrain is entirely unfamiliar, although the details are fuzzy. You are at a nightclub talking to a girl with a shaved head. The club is either Heartbreak or the Lizard lounge. All might come clear if you could just slip into the bathroom and do a little more Bolivian Marching Powder" (The opening lines of Jay McInerney's Bright Lights, Big City (1985)).

Traditionally, the employment of the second-person form in literary fiction has not been as prevalent as the corresponding first-person and third-person forms, yet second-person narration is, in many languages, a very common technique of several popular and non- or quasi-fictional written genres such as guide books, self-help books, D.I.Y-manuals, interactive fiction, role-playing games, Choose Your Own Adventure series of novels, pop song lyrics, advertisements, etc. Jay McInerney (born in 1955 in Hartford, Connecticut and christened John Barrett McInerney, Jr. ... ÜýÝ ... First-person narrative is a literary technique in which the story is narrated by one or more of the characters, who explicitly refers to him or herself in the first person, that is, I. The narrator is thus directly or indirectly involved in the story being told. ... The Narrator is the entity within a story that tells the story to the reader. ... A guide book is a book for tourists or travelers that provides details about a geographic location, tourist destination, or itinerary. ... Zork, an early work of interactive fiction, running on a modern interpreter Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, describes software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. ... A role-playing game (RPG, often roleplaying game) is a type of game in which the participants assume the roles of fictional characters and collaboratively create or follow stories. ... The Cave of Time, the first Choose Your Own Adventure book. ... Lyrics are the words in songs. ... Wikibooks has more about this subject: Marketing Billboards and street advertising in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, (2005) Advertising is paid communication through a non-personal medium in which the sponsor is identified and the message is controlled. ...

Although not the most common narrative technique in literary fiction, second-person narration has, however, constituted a favoured form of various literary works within, notably, the modern and post-modern tradition. In addition to a not insignificant number of consistent (or nearly consistent) second-person novels and short-stories by, for example, Michel Butor, Marguerite Duras, Carlos Fuentes, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Georges Perec, Jay McInerney, etc., the technique of narrative second-person address has been widely employed in shorter or longer intermittent chapters or passages of narratives by William Faulkner, Günter Grass, Italo Calvino, Nuruddin Farah, Jan Kjærstad and many others (cf. the list of second-person narratives below). Modernism is a trend of thought which affirms the power of human beings to make, improve, deconstruct and reshape their built and designed environment, with the aid of scientific knowledge, technology and practical experimentation, thus in its essence both progressive and optimistic. ... Postmodernism (sometimes abbreviated pomo) is a term applied to a wide-ranging set of developments in critical theory, philosophy, architecture, art, literature, and culture, which are generally characterized as either emerging from, in reaction to, or superseding, modernism. ... Michel Butor is a French post-World War II writer. ... Marguerite Donnadieu, better known as Marguerite Duras, (April 4, 1914 – March 3, 1996) was a French writer and film director. ... Carlos Fuentes Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes Macías (born November 11, 1928) is one of the best-known living novelists and essayists in the Spanish-speaking world. ... Nathaniel Hawthorne (born Nathaniel Hathorne; July 4, 1804 - May 19, 1864) was a 19th century American novelist and short story writer. ... Image of artist Georges Perec (March 7, 1936 - March 3, 1982) was a 20th century French novelist, filmmaker and essayist, a member of the Oulipo group and considered by many to be one of the most important post-WWII authors. ... Jay McInerney (born in 1955 in Hartford, Connecticut and christened John Barrett McInerney, Jr. ... William Cuthbert Faulkner (September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was a Nobel Prize winning novelist from Mississippi. ... Günter Grass - German author, and Nobel prize laureate for literature. ... Italo Calvino (October 15, 1923 – September 19, 1985) was an Italian writer and novelist. ... Nuruddin Farah (born 1945) is a Somali novelist particularly concerned with womens liberation in postcolonial Somalia. ... Jan Kjærstad (born March 6, 1953) is a Norwegian author. ...

List of second-person narratives

Narratives written consistently in the second person or narratives including chapters or larger and/or intermittent passages in the second person:

• Iain Banks 1997 A Song of Stone
• Samuel Beckett 1979 Company
• Michel Butor 1957 La Modification (tr. Second Thoughts)
• Italo Calvino 1979 Se una notte d’inverno un viaggiatore (tr. If On a Winter's Night a Traveler)
• Marguerite Duras 1982 La Maladie de la mort (tr. Malady of Death)
• Nuruddin Farah 1986 Maps
• William Faulkner 1936 Absalom, Absalom!
• Carlos Fuentes 1962 Aura (tr. Aura)
• Günter Grass 1961 Katz und Maus (tr. Cat and Mouse)
• Sunetra Gupta 1993 The Glassblower's Breath
• Nathaniel Hawthorne 1835 "The Haunted Mind" in Twice-Told Tales (1837)—
• Jan Kjærstad 1993 Forføreren (tr. The Seducer)
• Dennis Lehane 2004 "Until Gwen" in The Atlantic Monthly
• Karin Lowachee 2002 Warchild
• Jay McInerney 1984 Bright Lights, Big City
• Chuck Palahniuk 2005 "Foot Work" in Haunted
• Georges Perec 1967 Un homme qui dort (tr. A Man Asleep)
• Tom Robbins 1994 Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas
• Keith Roberts 1980 Molly Zero
• Jeff VanderMeer 2003 Veniss Underground
• Gao Xingjian 1990 Ling Shan (tr. Soul Mountain)

Iain Menzies Banks (officially Iain Banks, born on February 16, 1954 in Dunfermline, Fife) is a Scottish writer. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Cover of an early edition of the book Spoiler warning: A Song of Stone is a novel by Scottish writer Iain Banks, published in 1997. ... Samuel Barclay Beckett (13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish dramatist, novelist and poet. ... For the Smashing Pumpkins song, see 1979 (song). ... Michel Butor is a French post-World War II writer. ... Year 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... La Modification (1957) (English title: Second Thoughts) is a novel by Michel Butor. ... Italo Calvino (October 15, 1923 – September 19, 1985) was an Italian writer and novelist. ... For the Smashing Pumpkins song, see 1979 (song). ... If on a Winters Night a Traveler (Se una notte dinverno un viaggiatore) is a novel published in 1979 by Italo Calvino. ... If on a Winters Night a Traveler (Se una notte dinverno un viaggiatore) is a novel published in 1979 by Italo Calvino. ... Marguerite Donnadieu, better known as Marguerite Duras, (April 4, 1914 – March 3, 1996) was a French writer and film director. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nuruddin Farah (born 1945) is a Somali novelist particularly concerned with womens liberation in postcolonial Somalia. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... William Cuthbert Faulkner (September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was a Nobel Prize winning novelist from Mississippi. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Absalom, Absalom! is a Southern Gothic novel by William Faulkner, published in 1936. ... Carlos Fuentes Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes Macías (born November 11, 1928) is one of the best-known living novelists and essayists in the Spanish-speaking world. ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ... Günter Grass - German author, and Nobel prize laureate for literature. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... Cat and Mouse, published in Germany in 1961 as Katz und Maus, is a novella by Günter Grass, the second book of the Danzig Trilogy. ... Cat and Mouse, published in Germany in 1961 as Katz und Maus, is a novella by Günter Grass, the second book of the Danzig Trilogy. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... Nathaniel Hawthorne (born Nathaniel Hathorne; July 4, 1804 - May 19, 1864) was a 19th century American novelist and short story writer. ... | Come and take it, slogan of the Texas Revolution 1835 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Twice-Told Tales is a short story collection in two volumes by Nathaniel Hawthorne first published in 1826. ... Queen Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom (1837 - 1901) 1837 (MDCCCXXXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Jan Kjærstad (born March 6, 1953) is a Norwegian author. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... Dennis Lehane (born 1966) is an American author. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Atlantic redirects here; for the ocean, see Atlantic Ocean. ... // Overview Karin Lowachee is a Canadian author of science fiction. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... Warchild is a science fiction novel by Karin Lowachee. ... Jay McInerney (born in 1955 in Hartford, Connecticut and christened John Barrett McInerney, Jr. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Bright Lights, Big City is a novel published by Vintage on August 12 1984 by the American author Jay McInerney. ... Charles Michael Chuck Palahniuk (IPA: )[1] (born February 21, 1962) is an American satirical novelist and freelance journalist living in Portland, Oregon. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Haunted (2005) is a novel written by Chuck Palahniuk that was released on May 3, 2005. ... Image of artist Georges Perec (March 7, 1936 - March 3, 1982) was a 20th century French novelist, filmmaker and essayist, a member of the Oulipo group and considered by many to be one of the most important post-WWII authors. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... Thomas Eugene Robbins (born July 22, 1936 in Blowing Rock, North Carolina) is an American author. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ... This page meets Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ... For the former head of the Grenadian security forces, see Keith Roberts (Grenada). ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Jeffrey Scott VanderMeer (July 7, 1968—) is an American writer, although he has pursued careers in editing and publishing. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Veniss Underground is a 2003 New Weird novel by Jeff Vandermeer, following the lives of three different protagonists across a short period of time in the hellish, surreal city of Veniss, which is situated above a vast underground labyrinth of hovels and mines ruled over by the amoral crime-lord... Gao Xingjian (高行健, pinyin: Gāo Xíngjiàn; born January 4, 1940), is a Chinese emigré novelist, dramatist and critic, who won the 2000 Nobel Prize in Literature. ... 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• Point of view (literature)
• Narrator

In literature and storytelling, a point of view is the related experience of the narrator — not that of the author. ... The Narrator is the entity within a story that tells the story to the reader. ...

External links

• PhD thesis on second-person narration