1. Characterization
English 8, Semester 1

2. Characterization How a writer reveals a character’s traits
the character’s appearance
the character’s thoughts, speech, and actions
what others say about the characters
direct statements made by the narrator

3. Major Characters
Characters that play a large role:

4. Minor Characters
Characters that play a small role:

5. Dynamic Characters
Characters that undergo internal changes as the plot unfolds
Changes can be in thoughts, values, morals, motivations, etc.

6. Static Characters Characters that remain the same throughout the story
Static characters can change physically, but remain static characters if there are no internal changes (in thoughts, morals, values, motivations, etc.)

8. Examples of Static/Dynamic Characters

9. Stereotypes
A character who represents a recognizable group, such as “cat lady” or “popular girl”
These characters are overly simplified to exaggerate a trait

10. Protagonist
The main character in a story

11. Antagonist
The opposing force the protagonist struggles with