Methods of Characterization

Methods of Characterization Authors give their readers pieces of puzzles to solve their character’s identity

What is characterization? • It’s the art of creating and describing characters in literature.

Methods of Characterization There are four ways an author lets the reader know what a character in a piece of literature is like. • speech and behavior • inner thoughts and feelings • physical traits and characteristics • other’s opinions and reactions

Speech and Behavior The character is revealed through his or her own speech and actions. Examples: • Amy reacted quickly and jumped into the river to save her little brother. • Biff grabbed the man and yelled, “give me your money!”

Inner Thoughts and Feelings The character is revealed through private thoughts. Examples: • Allison knew she should have given money to the homeless man, and felt very bad about it. • Kim felt impatient with her sister for being late.

Physical Traits and Characteristics The writer describes how the character looks, dresses, and appears. Examples: • He was a tall boy with blonde hair and brown eyes. • The woman was wearing a beautiful blue gown with a pearl necklace. • His eyes were as cold as stone.

Other’s Opinion and Reactions The writer reveals what other characters in the story say or think about the character. Examples: • “The new girl in school seems very nice,” said Jessica happily. • “Nathan is awesome at soccer,” remarked the fan, “he made two goals during the game.”

Direct vs Indirect Characterization • If the author tells us point blank that “Bill was short and fat, and his bald spot was widening with every passing year,” that is termed Directcharacterization. We are told directly about that character.

But, if the author says, “Bill sighed as he looked at the offer of a gym membership. He really should join. But just thinking about it made beads of sweat collect at the top of his bald spot,” we can infer that he is having a trouble exercising . That’s indirectlyshown to us through his behavior—it is implied.

Flat vs Round Characters If a character isn’t very well developed, we say they are a “flat” character. If they come across as believable, and we know their thoughts and motivations, we say they are “round” characters

Static vs Dynamic A character who never changes through the course of a story is “Static.” One who changes in their behavior, or learns from their mistakes, is said to be “Dynamic.”

Direct or Indirect? Cathy was chewing a piece of meat, chewing with her front teeth. Samuel had never seen anyone chew that way before. And when she had swallowed, her little tongue flicked around her lips. Samuel’s mind repeated, “Something—something—can’t find what it is. Something wrong,” and the silence hung on the table. (East of Eden by John Steinbeck)

Direct or Indirect? “First of all,” he said, “if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view […] until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee)

Direct or Indirect? 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. (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling)

Direct or Indirect? Besides that, he wore glasses. He was nearly blind in his left eye, and said left eyes were the tribal curse of the Finches. Whenever he wanted to see something well, he turned his head and looked from his right eye. (To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee)

Checking for Understanding Identify the correct method of characterization and write it in the blank. • I suddenly had this crazy feeling like I wanted to bolt from the car and run through the fields until I couldn’t run anymore. What method for Paul? inner thoughts and feelings • Erik was sitting in one of the chairs. He waved casually to Mom. He ignored Me. What method for Erik? speech and behavior

“Trying to get in to see Old Charley Burn.” He looked at me. “He’s a real character. You’ll have to meet him. Spends half his life at the stock car races. He’s crazy about stock-car racing.” What method for Old Charlie Burns? other’s opinions and reactions 4. I thought to myself, OK, here we are. How long did it take Dad to get to his favorite topic, the Erik Fisher Football Dream? What method for Paul? inner thoughts and Feelings He didn’t look to be much older than Erik. He had on knee-high black-and-yellow boots, a pair of cutoff shorts, and a white shirt that had TANGERINE VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT-WAYNE written over the breast pocket. What method for Wayne? physical traits and characteristics

Methods of Characterization