Flat vs. Round Showing vs. Telling Ashley Granados & Emily Titus

Flat Flat characters are more of a type than an individual They stay the same throughout the story and do not behave as a normal human being would (growing and developing) Most of the time, background characters are the flat characters of a story Also called 2D characters

Example In The Piano Lesson, Maretha is a flat character. She is not affected by her family's history and does not change with any of the events that occur.

Round Round characters behave more like human beings They are capable of inconsistencies They grow/change as time goes by Usually, the main characters of a story are round characters because the author wants the reader to focus on plot and tone

Example In Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Pip goes from being a naïve child to a strong, mature man. He faces experiences that help him to see the world differently, so he changes. Some characters can go from being flat characters to round characters. In Othello, Emilia is a simple and silent type of character, but when she realizes that her husband is a villain, she changes into a courageous and insightful person.

Showing -Presenting the characters' words and actions without commentary; their feelings are shown without commentary. Example: "I had a test today. I think I failed it. and I think that maybe now they won't use me...I told him I saw an inkblot. He said yes and made me feel good. I thot that was all but when I got up to go he stopped me. He said now sit down Charlie we are not thru yet." -Daniel Keyes, "Flowers for Algernon"

Telling -The author describes and comments on, characters' motives and values and often also passes judgement on characters and events, as a means of shaping the audience's response. Example: "If in some smothering dreams you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est Pro patria mori."

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