1. I will identify if a passage uses telling or showing to give a character trait.

2. Why is showing better than telling in a story?

3. Telling vs Showing
“My favorite person in the whole world is my Grandpa Sal. He never yells at me and always smiles,” said the little girl.
Brad started shaking and curled his hands into fists. He gritted his teeth and stared at the boy who took his ball. He let out a violent scream.

4. Direct Characterization- TELLING
direct characterization: the author or narrator makes direct statements about a character’s traits. The author tells us about the character’s personality to our face.
Example:
“Bill was short and fat, and his bald spot was widening with every passing year.”
“‘Jane is a cruel person,’ she said.’”

5. Indirect Characterization- SHOWING
Indirect characterization: the author or narrator reveals a character’s traits through his or her actions and speech.
“I yawned, trying to keep my eyes open in the meeting. I reached for my coffee cup and was disappointed to realize it was empty.”
“As Jane walked past the box labeled ‘Free Puppies,’ she furtively glanced around her, then gave the box a swift kick.”

6. Indirect characterization gives clues about the characters.
There is no mystery with direct characterization.

7. Indirect Characterization
Words - What does the character say? How does the character speak?
“Hey, we can have lots of fun at camp this summer! We can try fishing!!!”
ACTIONS - What does the character do? How does the character behave?
The girl rode the lawnmower through the house and into the garage.
THOUGHTS - What is revealed through the character’s private thoughts and feelings?
I wish it would stop raining. Why can’t I play in the rain?
Other people’s opinions - What is revealed through the character’s effect on other people? How do other characters feel or behave in reaction to the character?
My sister glared at me as I quickly ate her dessert.

8. Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age. He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley’s, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was. Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose. The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning.

9. Example A "So Support Group blew, and after a few weeks, I grew to be rather kicking-and-screaming about the whole affair...” Example B " Me:'I refuse to attend Support Group'... Mom:' You're going to Support Group.' Me:'UGGGGGGGGGG'"

10. Julie held up six different outfits in front of the mirror and pondered which would go best with her navy blue shoes, pastel eye shadow and the diamond earrings she’d already procured from her overflowing vanity. After ninety minutes of mixing and matching, and cell-phoning her sister three times for advice, Julie finally made up her mind. She’d give the navy blue skirt and white sweater a try, hoping Trent would love it.

11. Freewrite
Provide both a direct and indirect characterization of yourself or a fictional character from a book/video. Each should be 3-4 sentences. Be prepared to explain why your responses are direct or indirect.