Transcript Character Types - Mrs. Matthews

Character Types
Introduction
• This lesson is about the different types of
characters found in literature. The
different types I will cover in this lesson
are the protagonist, antagonist, round,
flat, static, and dynamic characters. I will
explain what each of these entail so that
you can identify types of characters in
stories that you read.
Protagonist/Antagonist
• It is easiest to think of the
protagonist and antagonist
characters as the "good guy" and
the "bad guy" respectively. In
order to understand protagonist
and antagonist, you can think of
the protagonist as the hero and
the antagonist as the villain. To
remember which is which,
remember that the prefix pro
means good, or positive, and the
prefix ant means bad, or negative.
Now let's discuss the real
meanings of protagonist and
antagonist more in depth and
more literary correct.
Protagonist
• The protagonist is the central character of a
story. The protagonist can be male or female,
and is written as being "good" most of the time,
but in some instances can be "bad." The plot of
the story is often written in the protagonist's
point of view. Consider the story The Three
Little Pigs. In the original story, the three pigs
are the protagonists and the wolf is the
antagonist. A new book titled The Real Story of
The Three Little Pigs is written in the wolf's point
of view and he becomes the protagonist and the
pigs are the antagonists.
Antagonist
• The character that causes or leads the
conflict against the protagonist is called
the antagonist. The antagonist is not
always human, but can be a group or
force as well. The antagonist is the mirror
of the protagonist. Whatever the
protagonist does that is good, the
antagonist will work to counteract. Usually
the antagonist attempts to disguise
him/her/itself. This usually creates the
suspense in a story.
Protagonist/Antagonist
• The protagonist and antagonist are distinctly
different, and in most cases, complete
opposites. They can both be very complex
though. Just because the protagonist is the
central character in the story does not mean
that he/she/it is any more complex than the
antagonist. When trying to identify the
protagonist and antagonist in a story, think
about which character is central to the story
and which character (or what force) is acting
against that central character. Usually you can
consider which character is good and which is
bad. In most instances, the good character is
the protagonist and the bad, or opposing
character, is the antagonist.
Round/Flat
• Let's begin by thinking about round and flat
characterization like a painting. If you're an
artist, you must decide how much detail to put
into a painting. Do you want many lines and
many colors, or just an outline and only black
and white? As an author, you must decide how
much detail to include about each character.
Which characters are most important; how will
giving detail, or not giving detail, affect the
story?
Round
• Characters that are described in depth,
with many details, are well-rounded
characters. They are called round
characters. If you're reading a story and
you feel like you know a character
extremely well, then most likely the
character is round. The main character in
a story is almost always round, but there
are exceptions.
Flat
• Characters that are not described well, that
you're not given much information about, are
flat characters. Consider a drawing: a three
dimensional drawing gives more detail than a
one dimensional drawing. If you draw a flat
picture of a house, for example, you can only
see one side of it. You cannot see three of the
four sides. This is how a flat character is; you
can only see a few characteristics of the
character. There are many things you cannot
"see", or many details you are not given by the
author.
Round/Flat
• As a reader, judge whether or not the
character is round or flat by trying to write
down characteristics of the character.
Answer the question: What do you know
about the character? If your list is long,
with many characteristics, then the
character is round. If your list is short, or
there's not many characteristics at all,
then the character is flat.
Static/Dynamic
• The key word when dealing with the difference between
static and dynamic characters is "change." The type of
change, though, is specific. We are only concerned with
internal changes; changes which occur within the
character. These would include a major change in their
personality, or a change in their outlook on life. Another
important change that a character may undergo is a
change in values, or it could be an overall change in the
nature of the character. Do not focus on changes that
happen TO a character, but rather, changes that happen
WITHIN a character. Think about it this way: Does the
event affect the character by changing the character
internally?
Static
• In order for a character to be considered a
static character, the character must
remain basically the same throughout the
entire story. The character does not
undergo any internal changes. Think of
static characterization like plastic surgery.
The character may change in looks, but
unless their personality is affected, the
character is static.
Dynamic
• A dynamic character is a character that
undergoes an internal change sometime
between the beginning and end of the story.
The change in the character is usually crucial to
the story itself. Say a main character goes
through a life-altering experience, such as a race
car driver getting into an accident. If the driver's
personality changes and he is no longer willing
to take on the risk of driving a race car, the
character would be dynamic.
Static/Dynamic
• In order to distinguish static characters from
dynamic characters, write down a description of
the inner character at the beginning of the story,
in other words, what do you initially learn about
the character's personality? Answer these three
questions: How does the character feel about
his/her/itself? How does the character act
towards others? What is the characters goal? Do
the same thing and answer the same questions
at the end of the story. Usually, if you're dealing
with a dynamic character, you will be able to
notice a difference between your personality
descriptions as well as between the answers to
the three questions. If there is no major
difference, the character is static.
Character Types Assignment
• Visit Project Gutenberg and read one of
the stories out of The Blue Fairy Book by
Andrew Lang.
• Visit ReadWriteThink to create a character
map for all the characters in the story you
chose to read. You can use these
character maps to help you determine
what type of character each of them are.
Character Types Assignment
• Now fill out this worksheet on how and
why the characters changed throughout
the story you read.