# term for this: narrative directed at the reader? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 29, 2007, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-this-narrative-directed-at-the-reader/424453 "2007-10-29T16:09:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![drhess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@drhess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drhess)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-this-narrative-directed-at-the-reader/424453/1 "2007-10-29T16:09:57Z")
Is there a term for a narrative (in this case non-fiction) that is, I guess, third person but directed at the reader? Like this: “Just when you are starting to think you will never figure this mess out you recall the “universal problem solver” button on your keyboard.” Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-this-narrative-directed-at-the-reader/424453/2 "2007-10-29T17:13:40Z")
Isn’t that what “narrative” is? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-this-narrative-directed-at-the-reader/424453/3 "2007-10-29T17:20:54Z")
“You” isn’t third-person, it’s second-person. ---
**Author:** ![Intelligently\_Designed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intelligently_designed/32/20957_2.png) [@Intelligently\_Designed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intelligently_Designed)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-this-narrative-directed-at-the-reader/424453/4 "2007-10-29T17:36:40Z")
[Second-person narrative](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second-person_narrative). ---
**Author:** ![drhess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@drhess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drhess)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-this-narrative-directed-at-the-reader/424453/5 "2007-10-29T19:18:32Z")
Gotcha on the 2nd person narrative. Is all 2nd person “directive” in this sense? Is there a way to be 2nd person and not have this sense of an all-knowing narrative? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-this-narrative-directed-at-the-reader/424453/6 "2007-10-29T19:29:13Z")
[QUOTE=drhess] Gotcha on the 2nd person narrative. Is all 2nd person “directive” in this sense? Is there a way to be 2nd person and not have this sense of an all-knowing narrative? [/QUOTE] How do you mean? You can certainly have omniscient second-person: “The dame walked into your office, all legs and blond hair and trouble- you could tell it right away. For her part, the dame thought you looked like a drunk - which just goes to show you that your clients have better judgment than you do.” But that reads strangely. Most second-person narrative would only know what _you’re_ thinking and seeing - it’s supposed to be a “you are there” sort of thing. Like: “The dame walked into your office, all legs and blond hair and trouble - you could tell it right away. For her part, you could only imagine what she thought _you_ looked like - a drunk, probably. You hoped that’s what she thought, anyway - it would be nice to have clients with better judgment than you.” ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2007, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-this-narrative-directed-at-the-reader/424453/7 "2007-10-29T19:43:27Z")
Third person narratives can be broken down that way too…a narrative can be in third person, yet only describe the thoughts of one person, or no people, or everyone. Or they could switch. You could have a first person omniscient narrator, but it would be kind of weird too. This can sometimes work in limited cases, “I didn’t know at the time, but the dame was secretly working for the CIA. Later she would end up dead in a Central American prison. But I only learned this years later.” Or the first person could be some entity who can read thoughts and see the future, a story told with Jesus as the first person narrator could do this. Bright Lights, Big City is the only 2nd person novel I’ve ever read, and it worked fairly well because the protagonist is constantly surprised by the events of this own life, due to being a coked-up hipster spiraling out of control. > **[Bright Lights, Big City (novel)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bright_Lights%2C_Big_City_%28novel%29)** > > Bright Lights, Big City is a novel by American author Jay McInerney, published by Vintage Books on August 12, 1984. It is written about a character's time spent caught up in, and notably escaping from, the early 1980s New York City fast lane. The novel is written in the second person, an unusual narrative method in English language fiction. > The story's protagonist is a 24-year-old writer who works as a fact checker for a highbrow magazine for which he had once hoped to write. By night, he is a c... ---
**Author:** ![drhess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@drhess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drhess)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-this-narrative-directed-at-the-reader/424453/8 "2007-10-30T17:09:08Z")
[QUOTE=Lemur866] the protagonist is constantly surprised by the events of this own life, due to being a coked-up hipster spiraling out of control. [/QUOTE] Like most SDers. ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-this-narrative-directed-at-the-reader/424453/9 "2007-10-31T13:23:19Z")
I’ve allso seen first-person with occasional second-person asides. Something like: "The dame walked into my office, all legs and blond hair and trouble and I immediately knew that it would be Catherine all over again. What. I never told you about Catherine? Well, let’s just say that in this business you shouldn’t get too close to your clients. I made that mistake once. If you learn any lessons of life from me, make sure that’s one of them." ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-this-narrative-directed-at-the-reader/424453/10 "2007-10-31T13:45:14Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Excellent] How do you mean? You can certainly have omniscient second-person: “The dame walked into your office, all legs and blond hair and trouble- you could tell it right away. For her part, the dame thought you looked like a drunk - which just goes to show you that your clients have better judgment than you do.” But that reads strangely. Most second-person narrative would only know what _you’re_ thinking and seeing - it’s supposed to be a “you are there” sort of thing. Like: [/QUOTE] This combines second with a third person aside. It implies that later on you find out what her impression of you was. It can be problematic, because if you never resolve it, then it does indeed seem strange, if not downright amateurish. ---
**Author:** ![Intelligently\_Designed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intelligently_designed/32/20957_2.png) [@Intelligently\_Designed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intelligently_Designed)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-this-narrative-directed-at-the-reader/424453/11 "2007-10-31T19:33:40Z")
I don’t know if that’s what you mean, **drhess** , but I can identify at least two kinds of second-person narratives. One is where the “you” points to the reader, such as in Italo Calvino’s [If on a winter’s night a traveler](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_On_a_Winter%27s_Night_a_Traveler). Another case is Oriana Fallaci’s [A Man](http://www.amazon.com/Man-Oriana-Fallaci/dp/067143487X/ref=pd_bbs_1/105-0390636-3754061?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193858328&sr=8-1), in which she tells the story of, well, a man by writing directly to him using “you”. The novel thus takes the form of a very long letter. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-this-narrative-directed-at-the-reader/424453/12 "2007-10-31T19:40:04Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] “You” isn’t third-person, it’s second-person. [/QUOTE] But **You** are the first person in my book, Twickster. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-this-narrative-directed-at-the-reader/424453/13 "2007-10-31T19:46:02Z")
What irks me no end is when some one writes something like “This book is intended for you, the reader,…” Please don’t ask me to explain it. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/term-for-this-narrative-directed-at-the-reader/424453/14 "2007-10-31T19:48:53Z")
Though this is more of an acting term, I believe it’s often called “[breaking the fourth wall](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_wall)”. I don’t know if there’s a literary term for it.