What a Character!

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Characterization

The way an author

presents a character

2 types of characterization• Direct– The author TELLS you something about the

character

• Indirect– The author SHOWS you something about the

character

Why Use Direct Characterization?• Get quick details• Leaves something

to be discovered

• Moves the story forward

• Exactly what you need to know

“He was tall, young, skinny, a brunette, named Zach, and only 23 years old.”

Why Use Indirect Characterization?

• More descriptive (not literally)• Allows reader to use imagination• Encourages deep thinking and analysis• Reader must use clues to infer characteristics

Indirect characterization makes every character…

A S.T.A.R.

A S.T.A.R.• Appearance• Speech• Thoughts/Feelings• Actions• Reactions

Appearance• What does the character look like?

– Strong– Frail– Handsome– Greasy

• What does the character wear?– Dirty rags– Expensive jewels– Jersey

• How does the character carry his or herself?– Strut– Slump– March

Write the first word/words that come to mind to describe

the following characters (Based solely on their appearance, NOT your previous knowledge):

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

Speech• What does a character say?

1. “Nice touchdown pass last night!”2. “It’s about time you completed a pass this

season.”

• How does a character say it?3. “Get out of my way,” Emily demanded.4. “Get out of my way,” Emily pleaded.5. “Get out of my way,” Emily growled.6. “Get out of my way,” Emily whispered.7. “Get out of my way,” Emily stammered.

Thoughts/Feelings

• Where does a character’s mind wander?

• What are his/her concerns?• What does he/she obsess over?– Lindsey couldn’t stop thinking about the

poor puppies she had seen earlier at the pound.

– Charles felt guilty for lying to his mother.

Actions• What does a character

do?

• How does he/she behave?

• What are his/her motivations for doing something?– Sometimes, characters

may seem good, but their motivations are actually bad. Other times, the opposite is true.

Julie glanced at her watch for the fifth time in two minutes, as she waited to be called in for the interview. She ran her sweaty palms over her skirt in an effort to press out any wrinkles she had missed that morning with the iron.

Julie is:Confident Angry Nervous

What do Julie’s actions say about her character?

Reactions• How do other

characters react to this character’s actions and speech?

• Are they afraid? Intimidated? Mean?

During his first five years in Maycomb, Atticus practiced economy more than anything; for several years thereafter he invested his earnings in his brother's education.

John Hale Finch was ten years younger than my father, and chose to study medicine at a time when cotton was not worth growing; but after getting Uncle Jack started, Atticus derived a reasonable income from the law. He liked Maycomb, he was Maycomb County born and bred; he knew his people, they knew him, and because of Simon Finch's industry, Atticus was related by blood or marriage to nearly every family in the town.

Miss Trunchbull, the Headmistress, was something else altogether. She was a fierce tyrannical monster who frightened the life out of the pupils and teachers alike . There was an aura of menace about her even at a distance, and when she came up close you could almost feel the dangerous heat radiating from her as from a red-hot rod of metal. When she marched–Miss Trunchbull never walked, she always marched like a storm-trooper with long strides and arms aswinging – when she marched along a corridor you could actually hear her snorting as she went, and if a group of children were in her path, she ploughed right on through them like a tank, with small people bouncing off her to left and right. She was above all a most formidable female. She had once been a famous athlete, and even now the muscles were clearly in evidence. You could see them in the bull neck, in the big shoulders, in the thick arms, in the sinewy wrists and in the powerful legs. Looking at her you got the feeling that here was someone who could tear telephone directories in half. Her face, I’m afraid to say, was neither a thing of beauty nor a joy forever. She had an obstinate chin, a cruel mouth and small arrogant eyes.