Characterization and Point of View

1. Characterization and Point of View

2. Think about a movie or play, and what it takes to transform an actor into the character they’re playing… • Clothesand makeup • The way they talk, accents, their voice • Gestures, the way they walk, facial expressions This is all carefully chosen by the director or the actor to help them become the character

3. Character traits- qualities shown by characters, what they’re like • Can be directly described, but more often indirectly shown, you have to infer, or make an educated guess • Methods include: - physical appearance; speech, thoughts and actions; how they relate to other characters • Tool= character web

4. CharacterMotivation- reasons behind his or her actions • Can be direct, or indirect • Look for details, including: narrator’s direct comments about character’s motivation; character’s actions, thoughts, feelings, values, interactions with other characters; what you know about how humans act

5. Point of View- perspective from which story is told • 1st person: narrator is in the story, telling it, uses I, me, presents his own thoughts/ feelings, doesn’t know what other characters are thinking • 3rd person: narrator is outside the story, is omniscient if he knows the thoughts/feelings of all characters, is limited if he focuses on the thoughts/ feelings of one character

6. Impact on reader • 1st person: feels like the narrator is talking to you, can’t always trust their interpretation of events (Rainsford), your understanding of characters/ events limited to what’s around narrator • 3rd person: might feel less personally connected to the story, more likely to learn about characters/events and what multiple characters are thinking

7. Point of view affects interpretation!