1. Two-Column Notes That Will Come Back to Haunt You! Bwa-Ha-Ha
Characterization
Two-Column Notes That Will Come Back to Haunt You! Bwa-Ha-Ha

2. What Is characterization?
Giving a character a personality either DIRECTLY or INDIRECTLY

3. What is Direct characterization?
SPECIFIC ADJECTIVES IN THE TEXT THAT DESCRIBE A CHARACTER’S PERSONALITY
Examples: loving, selfish, humble, wise, cruel

4. What is Indirect characterization?
DETAILS GIVEN ABOUT A CHARACTER THAT SERVE AS CLUES TO HELP US DRAW CONCLUSIONS ABOUT THE KIND OF PERSONALITY A CHARACTER HAS
THERE ARE FIVE WAYS TO INDIRECTLY CHARACTERIZE A CHARACTER.

5. What are the five methods of indirect characterization?
(1) the character’s BEHAVIOR
example: helping old lady across the road
( (2) the character’s APPEARANCE
example: a character shows up to the prom wearing a bunny outfit
(3) what the character SAYS
example: a character tells his mother, “I hate you!”

6. (cont’d) (4) what OTHERS SAY about the character
example: “He’s the best boss in the whole world!”
(5) the character’s PRIVATE
THOUGHTS
example: in “The Sniper,” we hear the protagonist express his private guilt over the third kill

7. Characterization’s effect on the reader:
How does characterization affect readers as they see a character’s personality develop and change in a story?
(1) Characterization helps us understand why a character does what he does (= what his motivation is)
(2) Characterization influences our opinion about the “kind” of person the character is—is he good or bad, likeable or offensive, etc.