Bellringer Nov. 13/14
Which saying do you agree with more and why?
1. “Being nice to someone you don’t like isn’t being twofaced; it’s being mature.”
OR
2. “When people are two-faced the only thing you’ll know
for certain is that you can’t trust either of them”
SAVE your discussion while you respond in writing.
We will share with each other momentarily.
“The Possibility of Evil”
By Shirley Jackson
71-year-old Adela Strangeworth writes anonymous letters to
select townspeople, alerting them to the possibility of
suspected, but unproven, evil in their lives. Eventually, Miss
Strangeworth’s destructive meddling is found out, with
painful consequences.
--McDougal Littell Literature textbook
Summary
How does Shirley Jackson use characterization and word
choice to illustrate the difference between perception and
reality in “The Possibility of Evil”?
LEQ 1: Characterization
Four ways to learn about a character:
• Direct comments
• Physical description
• Speech, actions, or thoughts of character
• How others react to character
Types of characters:
• protagonist vs. antagonist
• dynamic vs. static
• major vs. minor
• foil
Character Refresher
Students need to ask WHY a character behaves in a certain
way:
• Find stated reasons
• Look for clues:
• background – age, description, home, etc.
• speech, thought, actions, revealing expressions & gestures
• key events – how the character interacts
• Consider human nature – emotions shared by all,
changes, common reactions (stress, fear, etc.)
• Infer the motives
Character Motivation
(reason behind a character’s behavior)
• Authors will repeat specific descriptions, phrases, or
words to emphasize, or draw attention, to an idea or a
symbol.
• (Example from “Fifteen” – “I was fifteen”)
• Authors will also use unusual descriptions or words to
express something. They do this to draw your attention to
it and to create an effect which will support their theme.
• (Example from “Fifteen” – his “companion” becomes another
man’s “machine”)
WORD CHOICE
• How good are you at judging people?
• What criteria do you use for judging others?
• Are first impressions accurate?
• How do you define evil?
Discussion Qs
PALS reading
• You will be using PALS step 3 to read the text today.
Please follow the script.
• You will need to WRITE down your 10 word summaries
until further notice.
Put both your names on the ticket out.
3 – Three adjectives which describe Adela
2 - Two actions that Adela does
1 – One character trait that you infer about Adela
Ticket out 11/13-11/14