Transcript Characterization

Characterization
How do we know things
about people?

Sometimes they tell us directly.
 I am very interested in history.
 I love to read.
 I am easily embarrassed.

Sometimes we learn things about people
by observing them, listening to them,
and listening to what others have to say
about them.
What is Characterization?
Characterization is the method an
author uses to tell the reader about
the characters.
 Can be either direct or indirect.

Direct Characterization


Sometimes an author makes direct
statements about a character's
personality and tells us what the
character is like.
This is called direct characterization.
Lanie was a very impatient girl. She didn't want to wait
for her sister to finish her phone call. Her call had to be
made right away.
Sisters
Direct Characterization
Jack had been in basic training in Florida and Dottie was
there on vacation with her parents. They’d met on the
beach and struck up a conversation. Dottie was the talker;
the outgoing one– the extrovert. Jack was too shy around
girls to say much at all.
Furlough—1944 by Harry Mazer
Matilda
Indirect Characterization

When an author shows things that
reveal a character's personality.
 Character's physical description
 Character's thoughts/feelings
 Character's actions
 Other character's thoughts about the
character
Indirect Characterization

Character's physical description
 What the character looks like
 How the character dresses
Mrs. Thomas has green eyes and light brown colored
hair.
Miss Kinney was young and blond and bouncy and had
a boyfriend who picked her up after school in a blue
Camaro.
Here There Be Tygers by Stephen King
Character's Physical
Description
I stared at his face because it was so devastatingly, so
inhumanely, beautiful. I noticed that his eyes were
coal black. His skin was pale and his copper hair shone
like flecks of gold.- Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Character's Thoughts and
Feelings

The author tells you the character's
thoughts and feelings to let you know
about their personality.
Moonbeam closed his eyes and pretended to
sleep the rest of the way to Bamfield. He
couldn’t believe what he’d gotten himself into.
How had this happened? He’d never held a gun
in his life, much less gone hunting for animals.
Moonbeam Dawson and the Killer Bear
by Jean Okimoto
Character's Thoughts and
Feelings
I can hoop. Case closed. You can take my game
to the bank and wait around for the interest.
Basketball for me is like the only time I'm
being for real.
Slam by Walter Dean Myers
Jan's Voices
Vampire Diaries- Elena
Character's Actions


What the character does/says.
How the character behaves.
The boy held his breath; he wondered whether
his father would hear his heart beating...
Through a crack in the counter he could see his
father where he stood, one hand held to his
high stiff collar...
I Spy by Graham Greene
The Grinch
Other Character's Thoughts
about the Character
How the character affects those
around him or her.
 How the other characters feel or
behave in reaction to the character.

 Forbes said, “Mrs. Thomas is such an
awesome person. She is so smart.”
Other Character's
Thoughts about a Character
“That's Edward. He's gorgeous, of course. But
don't waste your time on him. He doesn't
date. Apparently none of the girls here are
good enough for him. Whatever.”
Jessica Stanley, Twilight
Introducing Regina George