Two-Column Notes That Will Come Back to Haunt You! Bwa-Ha-Ha Characterization Two-Column Notes That Will Come Back to Haunt You! Bwa-Ha-Ha

What Is characterization? Giving a character a personality either DIRECTLY or INDIRECTLY

What is Direct characterization? SPECIFIC ADJECTIVES IN THE TEXT THAT DESCRIBE A CHARACTER’S PERSONALITY Examples: loving, selfish, humble, wise, cruel

What is Indirect characterization? DETAILS GIVEN ABOUT A CHARACTER THAT SERVE AS CLUES TO HELP US DRAW CONCLUSIONS ABOUT THE KIND OF PERSONALITY A CHARACTER HAS THERE ARE FIVE WAYS TO INDIRECTLY CHARACTERIZE A CHARACTER.

What are the five methods of indirect characterization? (1) the character’s BEHAVIOR example: helping old lady across the road ( (2) the character’s APPEARANCE example: a character shows up to the prom wearing a bunny outfit (3) what the character SAYS example: a character tells his mother, “I hate you!”

(cont’d) (4) what OTHERS SAY about the character example: “He’s the best boss in the whole world!” (5) the character’s PRIVATE THOUGHTS example: in “The Sniper,” we hear the protagonist express his private guilt over the third kill

Characterization’s effect on the reader: How does characterization affect readers as they see a character’s personality develop and change in a story? (1) Characterization helps us understand why a character does what he does (= what his motivation is) (2) Characterization influences our opinion about the “kind” of person the character is—is he good or bad, likeable or offensive, etc.