1. How does dialogue reveal aspects of a character?
Readers Workshop Mini-Lesson
How does dialogue reveal aspects of a character?

2. Direct Characterization
Sometimes, authors reveal aspects of characters in very obvious ways. We call this direct characterization.
Direct Characterization: the process by which the personality of a fictitious character is revealed by the use of descriptive adjectives, phrases, or labels.
This excerpt from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer shows direct characterization of Tom:
“He was not the model boy of the village. He knew the model boy very well though- and loathed him.”

3. Indirect Characterization through Dialogue
Most of the time, authors reveal aspects of characters in ways that are much less obvious. We call this Indirect Characterization.
Indirect Characterization: the process by which the personality of a fictitious character is revealed through the character's speech, actions, appearance, etc.
Today, we are going to focus on how aspects of a character can be revealed through dialogue.
Dialogue: a conversation between two characters in a novel, drama, etc.

4. Example through Dialogue
This excerpt from the same novel reveals aspects of Tom’s character through dialogue: Tom The new boy “I dare you to step over that, and I’ll lick you till you can’t stand up. Anybody that’ll take a dare will steal sheep.” The new boy stepped over promptly, and said: “Now you said you’d do it, let’s see you do it.” “Don’t crowd me now; you better look out.” “Well you SAID you’d do it- why don’t you do it?”

5. We use this method outside of reading, too
We use this method outside of reading, too. Think about when you watch a movie; you discover aspects of a character through dialogue.
What does the dialogue in this clip reveal about Huck’s character?