Voice Shapes How We Read
Definition
Voice
Voice is the distinct personality, style, or perspective that comes through in a text.
- Voice is how we "hear" the narrator or speaker.
- The same story told in a different voice becomes a completely different experience.
Tip
- Voice is closely tied to point of view but goes beyond it.
- It includes the narrator's attitude, tone, and style.
Voice is Personality
- It’s shaped by:
- Point of view (first-person, third-person, omniscient)
- Language and register (formal, casual, poetic, angry…)
- Sentence structure and rhythm
- Emotional reliability (do we trust them?)
Analogy
Think of voice like a filter: it changes how we see the story, the characters, and even what we believe.
1. First Person Voice
- The narrator uses "I" or "we," giving us direct access to their thoughts and feelings.
- This creates a sense of intimacy and immediacy.
Example
- “I kept walking, pretending not to hear them. Pretending I didn’t care.”
- This pulls us into the narrator’s emotional world, guarded, defensive, maybe lying to themselves.
2. Third-Person Voice
- The narrator uses "he," "she," or "they."
- This can be limited (focused on one character) or omniscient (sees everything).
Example
- “She smiled, but her hand stayed clenched around the glass.”
- We’re not inside her head, but the action hints at tension, the voice stays close, but controlled.
Hint
The third-person voice provides a more detached perspective, but can still reveal a character's inner world.
3. Omniscient Voice
- The narrator knows everything about the characters and events.
- This voice can shift between characters and provide insights that the characters themselves might not know.
Example
- “None of them saw the shadow behind the curtain but each, in their own way, sensed it
- This voice creates dramatic irony: we know more than the characters do.
The omniscient voice gives us a broader understanding of the scene.
4. Unreliable Voice
- The unreliable voice makes us question the narrator's version of events.
- They might lie, exaggerate, or miss the point entirely.
- This forces readers to read between the lines, creating tension, mystery, or dark humor.
Example
- “I never meant to hurt her. It was just a joke.”
- The gap between what’s said and what’s true becomes the centre of the story.
How To Spot Voice
- Point of view
- Is it first-person, third-person, or omniscient?
- How close are we to the narrator’s thoughts and feelings?
- Register
- Is the language formal or informal? Serious or playful?
- Rhythm and sentence length
- Short, choppy sentences = urgency, stress, panic
- Long, flowing ones = reflection, control, distance
- Syntax (sentence structure)
- Strange or broken sentence structures can signal emotion, personality, or trauma.
Example question
Try this: “I didn’t even flinch when he slammed the door. That’s how done I was.”
Solution
- First-person voice
- Informal, clipped sentences
- Shows emotional exhaustion and detachment
- The voice helps us understand the narrator’s state of mind — resigned, numb
Why Voice Matters
- Consider this: A student opens their results and sees they failed a major exam.
- With a cold, detached voice (third-person, clinical tone): "He looked at the grade. 38%. He closed the tab and opened YouTube."
- With a bitter, defensive voice (first-person, angry tone): "38%. Seriously? After everything? Whatever. It’s not like the teacher ever explained anything properly anyway."
- With a self-deprecating voice (first-person, insecure tone): "I stared at the screen for a while. 38%. Honestly, I kind of expected it. I don’t even know why I thought I could pull this off."
Note
- Notice how voice can shift our emotional reaction, trust in the narrator, and sense of what really happened for the same event and setting.
- It's a filter that controls how we understand everything else.
Theory of Knowledge
How does the choice of voice influence our perception of truth in a text?
