1. Characterization through Description Created by Kathryn Reilly The man lurked among the shadows, hat pulled low over his eyes and coat collar turned up. Nearly invisible, he waited.

2. Characterization through Description An author’s description of a character may reveal important aspects of the character. Readers should pay attention to a character’s features and dress. Readers should also pay attention to a character’s mannerisms and emotions. Some characters may carry or be surrounded by special objects, which could also reveal important information.

3. Characterization through Description [The horses] were driven by a tall man, with a long brown beard and a great black hat, which seemed to hide his face from us. I could only see the gleam of a pair of very bright eyes, which seemed red in the lamplight, as he turned to us. He said to the driver, "You are early tonight, my friend." The man stammered in reply, "The English Herr was in a hurry." To which the stranger replied, "That is why, I suppose, you wished him to go on to Bukovina. You cannot deceive me, my friend. I know too much, and my horses are swift." As he spoke he smiled, and the lamplight fell on a hard- looking mouth, with very red lips and sharp-looking teeth, as white as ivory. In this excerpt from Dracula, two men are characterized very differently. The first man seems mysterious and otherworldly; Stoker seems to hint he is a vampire. The second man seems afraid of the first man as he stammers when replying to him. Stoker, Bram. Dracula: A Mystery Story. 1897. Project Gutenberg. Web. 1 February 2012.

4. Characterization through Description Excerpt from Dracula: His face was a strong, a very strong, aquiline, with high bridge of the thin nose and peculiarly arched nostrils, with lofty domed forehead, and hair growing scantily round the temples but profusely elsewhere. His eyebrows were very massive, almost meeting over the nose, and with bushy hair that seemed to curl in its own profusion. The mouth, so far as I could see it under the heavy moustache, was fixed and rather cruel-looking, with peculiarly sharp white teeth. These protruded over the lips, whose remarkable ruddiness showed astonishing vitality in a man of his years. For the rest, his ears were pale, and at the tops extremely pointed. The chin was broad and strong, and the cheeks firm though thin. The general effect was one of extraordinary pallor. This entire paragraph reveals important details about Count Dracula. Two contrasting images of Dracula emerge; Harker notes in some ways he seems old, but in others, very young. Several of the Count’s features unsettle Harker such as his “cruel-looking mouth”, “sharp white teeth”, pointed ears and very pale skin. These descriptions reveal the Count as a sinister, seemingly supernatural character. Stoker, Bram. Dracula: A Mystery Story. 1897. Project Gutenberg. Web. 1 February 2012.

5. Characterization through Description What do the following descriptions suggest about the character? – She curled up in her apartment’s comfiest chair, surrounded by books. With glasses perched on her nose and a tea cup wafting a delicious ginger scent, she opened the new story to page one. – The man lurked among the shadows, hat pulled low over his eyes and coat collar turned up. Nearly invisible, he waited.

6. Characterization through Description – On Friday night she curled up in her apartment’s comfiest chair, surrounded by books. With glasses perched on her nose and a tea cup wafting a delicious ginger scent, she opened the new story to page one. She enjoys reading, likely lives in a city. May be a loner or introvert; stays in on Friday nights instead of going out. – The man lurked among the shadows, hat pulled low over his eyes and coat collar turned up. Nearly invisible, he waited. He seems sinister, blends into his surroundings.

7. Characterization through Description Review Authors reveal important details through a character’s description. Description is the most direct method of characterization. Readers should pay attention to descriptions of a character’s features, dress, mannerisms, emotions and objects.