Identifying Character Traits
Characters do things. They feel things. They hear things. They say things. They think things. They go
places. They can walk, run, leap, and jump. They may sit and rock in a rocking chair. They may just
lie in bed, sleep, and dream. But the important thing is that characters act.
These actions show us what kind of people these characters are: friendly, sad, happy, confused,
angry, or excited.
When we talk about a character, we often describe that character in terms of
character traits, descriptive adjectives like happy or sad that tell us the
What are
specific qualities of the character. They're the same kinds of words that we
character
might use to describe ourselves or others, but we're using them to describe
traits?
fictional characters in something we've read.
The author may tell us these traits directly such as;
“Sarah was sad.”, but more often the author will show us these traits in action.
Our job as readers is to draw a conclusion about the character's traits (to infer
them) from what the character says, thinks, and does. We might infer a
character trait from something a character does only once, or we might draw
our conclusions from a series of things the character says and does.
Techniques
used to
show traits
How do
we find a
character’s
traits?
There are different ways authors show a character’s traits. It would be boring to
simply write, “Susan was angry.” Instead, the author can use different ways to
show the traits such as: dialogue, the character’s behavior, the character’s
interaction with other characters, how the character reacts to another character,
or what a character is thinking.
Use the chart below to keep track of a character in your story. Start with writing the action a
character does using specific details from the story. Then, decide what trait is being shown through
these actions. Finally, how did the author get this across—what specific technique was used?
Sometimes more than one technique is used.
Example:
Character Name___Susan_____________________________________
Character Action
Character Trait
Technique Used
Yelled at Mark because he forgot to do his
Anger
part of the project for social studies
Susan helped Mark complete his part of the Caring
project during lunch
Susan shares how she doesn’t understand
Confused
why people don’t do what they say they are
going to do.
Dialogue & Reaction to
Mark telling her he forgot
Character Interaction
Character Thinking
Character Trait Examples
Learner Profiles
Thinker
Open-minded
Knowledgeable
Balanced
Principled
Communicator
Additional Traits
active
dependable
adventurous
depressed
affectionate
determined
afraid
discouraged
alert
dishonest
ambitious
disrespectful
annoyed
doubtful
anxious
dutiful
apologetic
eager
arrogant
easygoing
attentive
efficient
average
embarrassed
bad
encouraging
blue
energetic
bold
evil
bored
excited
bossy
expert
brave
fair
bright
faithful
brilliant
fearless
busy
fierce
calm
foolish
careful
fortunate
careless
foul
cautious
fresh
charming
friendly
cheerful
frustrated
childish
funny
clever
gentle
clumsy
giving
concerned
glamorous
confident
gloomy
confused
graceful
considerate
grateful
cooperative
greedy
courageous
grouchy
cowardly
grumpy
cruel
guilty
curious
harsh
dangerous
hateful
daring
healthy
dark
helpful
decisive
honest
demanding
hopeful
Caring
Inquirer
hopeless
humorous
ignorant
imaginative
impatient
impolite
inconsiderate
independent
industrious
innocent
intelligent
kindly
lazy
leader
lively
lonely
loving
loyal
lucky
mature
mean
messy
miserable
mysterious
naughty
nervous
nice
noisy
obedient
obnoxious
old
peaceful
picky
pleasant
polite
poor
popular
positive
precise
proper
proud
quick
quiet
rational
Reflective
Risk-Taker
reliable
religious
responsible
restless
rich
rowdy
rude
sad
safe
satisfied
scared
secretive
selfish
serious
sharp
short
shy
silly
skillful
sneaky
sorry
spoiled
strange
strict
stubborn
sweet
talented
tall
thankful
thoughtful
thoughtless
tired
tolerant
trusting
trustworthy
unfriendly
unhappy
upset
useful
warm
weak
wicked
wise
worried