Methods of Characterization

Characterization Characterization is how the author reveals the personality of a character. Revealed through direct characterization and indirect characterization. 2

Direct Characterization directly tells the audience what a character is like. Examples: “The patient boy and the quiet girl were well mannered and did not disobey their mother.” The boy is _________ The girl is _________ 3

Indirect Characterization shows things that reveal the personality of the character. Speech Thoughts Effect on others Actions Looks 4

1. Speech What does the character say? How does the character speak? Pay attention to how the character addresses others and the type of language they use. “Excuse me, sir? May I bother you for a moment? I need assistance with my computer.” “Hey! My computer doesn’t work! I need help! Come here and help me!” 5

2. Thoughts What is revealed through the character’s private thoughts and feelings? “Oh well,” she thought, “I guess I can’t win every time. Tomorrow, I’ll go to practice early so that I have more time to work on my free throws.” “I can’t believe I missed that shot,” he thought, “I hate this game, I hate my team, and I hate that stupid basket.” 6

3. Effect on others What is revealed through the character’s effect on other people? How do others behave towards the character? By paying attention to others, you can see if your character is liked, feared, hated, respected, admired, popular, trustworthy, friendly, etc... When the teacher entered the room, the students immediately sat up straight in their seats and sang out, “Good morning, ma’am!” 7

4. Actions What does a character do? How does the character behave? (Pay attention to the motivation behind actions) Jeffery shoved the old man down and stole his wallet. He laughed as he counted out the cash, strolling towards the store. Andre dashed up behind the woman and grabbed her purse. After running away and frantically finding the cash, he dashed to the store.

5. Looks (Physical Description) Identifies anything physical about the character. Includes height, skin, hair and eye color, short/tall, skinny/fat, wear glasses?, how he/she walks/stands, anything physical about the character. The soldier’s polished buttons matched his gleaming eyes. Not a hair was out of place. Jo’s long, grey hair was tangled and smelled of stale cigarette smoke. Crumbs were scattered across her large lap.

Other Important Terms Narrator: The “voice” telling the story; (also called persona when the narrator is first-person) Do not assume it is the author. Even in a memoir, the author develops a voice/persona specific to this story. First Person – from the perspective of “I” Third Person – “He/She” – there is no “I” involved

Narrator Degree of Omniscience Full – knows everything. Reports inner thoughts, as well as actions, events, and dialogue from all characters Limited– has partial knowledge, usually focused on one character. Gives insight into the main character’s mind, but does not equally reveal other characters None – has no knowledge of inner workings of characters.

Narrator Narrator reliability – Reliable (we can trust the narrator, telling the truth, nothing to gain) Unreliable (we realize that the narrator isn’t always telling the complete truth)