Final answer:
The literary technique that permits a reader to understand multiple characters' perspectives is the Third-person omniscient point of view. It differs from Third-person limited, First-person, and Second-person points of view because the narrator has full knowledge of all characters' thoughts, feelings, and actions.
Step-by-step explanation:
The literary technique that allows the reader to see several characters' points of view is called Third-person omniscient. This narrative mode enables the narrator to relate the story from an all-knowing perspective, having access to all information, thoughts, feelings and actions of each character within the story. Unlike Third-person limited, where the narrator only knows as much as one or a few characters, Third-person omniscient narrators provide a more reliable and objective narration as they are not confined to the knowledge and biases of a single character's perspective.
In contrast, First-person narration involves the character telling the story with 'I' as the central perspective, thus limiting the viewpoint to that character's knowledge and experiences. The Second-person point of view, which is less common in literary works, directly addresses the reader as 'you', placing them in the role of a character within the story. However, it does not provide the same expansive view that third-person omniscient narration does. Therefore, the answer to the student's question is: A. Third-person omniscient.