What effect does Defoe create by using first person point of view in his account?This question came out of an "Elements of Literature" book. The...

Daniel Defoe wrote "A Journal of The Plague Year," in the first person to make this historical fiction more creditable.  By writing this Defoe was able to combine his journalism skills with his creative side.  He developed a fictional narrative in the style of a journal.  According to "Prentice Hall Literature,

"The story is "true history,' but it is narrated by a fictional character identified only as H.F..  By using the first person point of view Defoe created a feeling of immediacy and reality."(pg 408).

Defoe began a new style of writing with this piece of work.  He was born about 4 years before the actual plague so there are many historical facts which are related by a fictional character.