Transcript Monday, August 18th, 2008

Thursday & Friday
September 17th & 18th
Materials Needed:
 PP Notes on Characterization
 Direct/in-direct, round/flat, stock
 Create a stock character

Visualization Practice
 Identify Stock characters in film

3 column notes – Making Inferences
Notebook
Characterization
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 Good fiction tells us about ourselves--what it
is like to be a woman who has lived her life in
seclusion, or a solider about to die on the
battlefield.
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
We can EMPATHIZE with the characters--that
is, to feel what they are feeling.
We experience emotion through the story
through the vehicle of the characters.
Character
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 Two ways authors reveal a character:
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Direct Characterization
Indirect Characterization
Direct Characterization
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 The author DIRECTLY tells us the traits of
that character.
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Physical description
Behavior and actions
Characterization
 Example: (about Mrs. Bennet)
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… She was a woman of mean understanding,
little information, and uncertain temper. When
she was discontented, she fancied herself
nervous. The business of her life was to get
her daughters married; its solace was visiting
and news.
What does Austen tell us DIRECTLY about
Mrs. Bennet?
Indirect Characterization
 The author hints at what the character is
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like—through their clothing, what they carry
with them.
 Anything and everything can be indirect—
even something as small as their eyes.
 Allows the reader room for interpretation
about a character.
Characterization
 Example: (about Mrs. Bennet)
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Her mind was less difficult to develop.
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What does Austen tell us INDIRECTLY about
Mrs. Bennet?
Characterization
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 You can look at a character through BOTH
direct and indirect…. (about Mr. Bennet):
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“You mistake me, my dear. I have a high
respect for your nerves. They are my old
friends. I have heard you mention them with
consideration these twenty years at least.”
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How does this quote INDIRECTLY
characterize Mr. Bennet?
Characterization
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 Mr. Bennet was so odd a mixture of quick parts,
sarcastic humor, reserve, and caprice, that the
experience of three-and-twenty years had been
insufficient to make his wife understand his
character.
 How does this DIRECTLY characterize Mr. Bennet
and support his earlier quote in regards to his
character?
Characterization
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 Example: What can you infer from the
characterization of this married couple?
Mrs. Bennet
Mr. Bennet
Round vs. Flat Characters
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 Flat characters = characters that never
change
 Round characters = that change; they are
more complex.
Stock Characters
 Stock characters are characters that fit our
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NATURAL ideas about what a character should
look/act/be like.
 Movies and literature are inundated with stock
characters.
 Stock characters allow the reader to make
predictions without the author having to provide too
much background knowledge of the character.
Visualizing Stock Characters—what do you see?
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 1. An English teacher. Describe as they
usually appear in films and literature.
OR
 2. An old man. Describe as they usually
appear in films and literature.
Stock Characters in Film
 Watch the trailer of the 80’s pop culture
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classic The Breakfast Club
 Identify 5 stock characters in the film
 Watch the trailer a second time and record
both physical descriptions and physical
actions for each character
 Make inferences on characterization based
on what you saw and what you know about
people
3 Column Notes
Type of Stock
Character
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1. Rebel/Trouble-maker
2.
3.
4.
5.
Physical
Descriptions/Actions
Disheveled clothes – torn or
ripped; smoker
Inferences
Goes against authority;
maybe a troubled home
life