A new student has moved to town and is attending your
school. Your friend thinks he/she is cute and wants you
to find out more about him/her. How would you go
about achieving your goal?
The way an author brings a character to life for the reader.
Direct Characterization
Telling you about the
character’s personality.
He was tall with brown hair.
Indirect Characterization
Revealing personality
characteristics without explicitly
stating it.
When the shy girl dropped her
books in the middle of the hall, he
picked them up with a smile.
•
•
•
•
What the character thinks
What the character says
What the character does
What other characters say or think about
the character.
• “That new kid is nothing but a dumb jock,”
said Leslie.
• He was the kind of person who wouldn’t hurt
a fly.
• After the two cars wrecked, he stepped out
and unleashed a string of curses a mile long.
• When the teacher asked for volunteers, he
tried to make himself as small as possible.
A STATIC CHARACTER is one who stays basically the same from beginning to end.
A DYNAMIC CHARACTER is one who undergoes an internal change/growth by
the end of the story.
The reader would know only a few minor details about a FLAT CHARACTER.
The reader would know a great deal about the background, motivations, and
desires of a ROUND CHARACTER.
Ponyboy in The Outsiders
static
dynamic
flat
round
Dallas in The Outsiders
static
dynamic
flat
round
Two-bit in The Outsiders
static
dynamic
flat
round
Ebenezer Scrooge in A
Christmas Carol
static
dynamic
flat
round
static
dynamic
flat
round
Lord Capulet and Lord
Montague in Romeo and Juliet
Can you think of some movies or TV shows
that deal with problems between parents and
teenagers?
Have you ever known a family grudge to carry
over from childhood into adulthood?
“A Visit to Grandmother”
• Emotional Response
• What do you learn about Charles and GL and
their personalities? Which method of
characterization does the author use for your
examples?
• With which character do you sympathize?
• Do you agree with the way Mama raised her
children?