Exploring Characterization in Writing

1. Let’s have a look!

2. Characterization Characterization is the process by which the writer reveals the personality of a character. It is the way the writer allows you to know the character.

3. Types of characterization Direct: tells the audience/reader what the personality of the character is. Indirect: shows things that reveal the personality of a character.

4. The writer directly tells the reader the personality traits of a character. • These character traits are defined through the use of adjectives. Direct Characterization

5. Let’s view the clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqzGMKXZ2MI

6. Examples …And somehow you felt you really couldn’t talk to Bogart, he looked so bored and superior. His eyes were small and sleepy. His face was fat and his hair was gleaming black. His arms were plump. Yet he was not a funny man. He did everything with captivating languor. Even when he licked his thumb to deal out cards there was grace in it. *languor- to lack energy, sluggish

7. Pair Work Richard, my younger brother, was very fond of his pet puppy, Fluff. My uncle had brought it as a present for Richard on his tenth birthday. Fluff was truly a beautiful pup. His deep brown eyes and long fluffy hair won the hearts of everyone, especially Richard. When Fluff bit pieces of Dad’s new leather shoes and crushed my mother’s most cherished flower plants Richard only smiled. Fluff had dug holes in the lawn and had torn the pages from my notebook. But none of these mischievous deeds were taken seriously by Richard.

8. Insert suitable adjectives to the following paragraph to describe the character. Nervous Norman Mr. Elmo Norman, my elementary school principal, was the most _______man I have ever met. He was a_______, ________man, always _______. In fact, he didn't just wear his clothes--he hid inside them. His uniform consisted of a _______pressed pin-striped suit, a ______, _____ tie over a starched ______ shirt. His receding gray hair was always neatly trimmed, and his ______, _______ head always darted about like a radar blip on his neck. He paced the school hallways in a _______ motion of _______, ________, and _________.

9. Your turn Fenton was a ______child.  His eyes were ______ and close set, which gave him a _______ appearance . It is for this reason he got the nick name ‘guinea pig’.  Fenton’s ears were pointed and his lips thin.  But the most startling thing about the boy was his ______hair, which seemed totally misplaced on his small head. Nevertheless, Fenton was the most _________, ___________, and _________ person. It was advised though that you don’t get him upset because he becomes _________.

10. The Big Fight The Bully