Question

Which is the point of view in "The Raven," and what effect does it have on the reader's interpretation of the text?

Answer 1

Answer: It is written in the first person so the reader only sees the raven as the speaker sees him.

The poem "The Raven" is written in the first person. This is clear from the first stanza:

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—

   While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—

           Only this and nothing more.”

The speaker is using the pronoun "I," which is the easiest way to identify the first person point of view. Throughout the poem, we are able to learn all of the student's thoughts and feelings of despair, confusion and fear. However, we cannot understand the raven's motivations. This adds to the supernatural tone of the poem.

Answer 2

It's is written in yhr third person so the reader understands both the speaker and the raven