Which description best explains third-person limited narration?

Which description best explains third-person limited narration?

• A. The narrator follows one character's internal experience and does not reveal others' thoughts
• B. The narrator knows the thoughts of all characters
• C. The narrator is a character in the story telling events
• D. The narrator uses 'you' to address the reader

Answer: (A)

In third-person limited narration, the voice stays outside the story but focuses closely on one character’s inner life. The narrator can reveal that character’s thoughts, feelings, and perceptions, but does not grant direct access to the private thoughts of the other characters. This creates a tight, intimate viewpoint while keeping a narrative distance overall. It differs from third-person omniscient, which can share multiple characters’ inner lives, and from first-person narration, where the story is told by a character within the world using “I.” It also isn’t second-person, which addresses the reader as “you.” For example, we might know exactly what the focal character thinks during a tense moment and how they interpret what’s happening, but we wouldn’t know what another character is thinking unless the focal character reveals it through dialogue or action.

In third-person limited narration, the voice stays outside the story but focuses closely on one character’s inner life. The narrator can reveal that character’s thoughts, feelings, and perceptions, but does not grant direct access to the private thoughts of the other characters. This creates a tight, intimate viewpoint while keeping a narrative distance overall. It differs from third-person omniscient, which can share multiple characters’ inner lives, and from first-person narration, where the story is told by a character within the world using “I.” It also isn’t second-person, which addresses the reader as “you.” For example, we might know exactly what the focal character thinks during a tense moment and how they interpret what’s happening, but we wouldn’t know what another character is thinking unless the focal character reveals it through dialogue or action.