English 7CP Mr. Snow

Character: person or animal (or thing) that takes action in a story. Character trait: a quality about a character that can’t be seen. Character traits are revealed through actions, speech & thoughts. CHARACTERS

Characterization: how the author describes his or her character. Direct characterization: author tells you exactly what the character is like. “Luther was the meanest old cuss in five counties.” “Little Posy was barely half the size of the other orphans, but she had strong spirit.” CHARACTERIZATION

Indirect characterization: the author lets you come to your own conclusions about the character using five techniques: Appearance: What does he/she look like? Action: What does he/she do? Speech: What does he/she say and how? Thoughts & feelings: How does he/she feel about certain situations or challenges? Other characters’ reactions: What do others seem to feel or say about him/her? CHARACTERIZATION

Based solely upon what you perceive by her look and expression, characterize the following person. How does she feel? Why? What is her life like? How do you know? What do you think she would be like in public? How about when she’s not in public? How about now? CHARACTERIZE!

Why do characters do what they do or say what they say? Motivation: the force that makes a character act as he/she does. What is your motivation for getting an A ? What is someone’s motivation for recycling instead of just throwing everything away? What is a criminal’s motivation for committing a crime? MOTIVATION

Sometimes we must make inferences to figure out a character’s traits. Inference: educated guess based on good info. INFERENCES

You will do an “I Am” poem. This will serve three purposes: 1.It will help you to analyze yourself for certain character traits that you possess. 2.It will give you a chance to do some creative writing. 3.It will allow me to get to know you better! “I AM” POEM

Yollie’s mother leaves her all alone in a dark room and tiptoes out, giggling. Yollie pranks her mom back by leaving a glass of water next to her mom’s alarm clock, so that it spills when her mom hits the alarm. What can you infer their relationship is like? Bitter and mean Playful and loving Now listen to the story and take note of the different character traits of Yollie and her mother, Mrs. Moreno. “MOTHER AND DAUGHTER” (109)

What are three character traits of Mrs. Moreno? On your notes, write her name. Then, below it, write three words that describe her character (not her physical traits). Circle the words. Then attach a line and another circle to each trait and explain why. Like this: CHARACTERIZATION Mrs. Moreno Word #1Word #3Word #2 Reason #1

What were the words you came up with? Loving? Loyal? Bold? Playful? Aggressive? Hopeful? Naïve? Were these traits characterized directly or indirectly? CHARACTERIZATION

Now that you’ve had a chance to learn how to characterize and use the elements of plot, you are going to write your own narrative story. This will be entirely made up. Focus on a good exposition, plot complications, climax, and denouement. Make sure you have fully developed, well characterized characters (focus on indirect characterization) with motivation behind their actions! NARRATIVE STORY

“The Smallest Dragonboy” tells of a young boy, Keevan, who wants to become a dragonrider. The problem is that he is far smaller than any of the other boys, and his rival, Beterli, makes fun of Keevan’s size. What can we already infer about these two boys, especially given the title? “THE SMALLEST DRAGONBOY” (119)

Keevan is small, but look at page 119: “Keevan was constantly working, twice as hard as any other boy his age, to prove himself…” Keevan is a true hero despite his size, as we will learn later. As we read the story, take Cornell notes on key passages. Also, write page and paragraph #’s that show either Keeven’s DETERMINATION, his BRAVERY and his GOODNESS. You will need these later! “THE SMALLEST DRAGONBOY” (119)

FIN