CHARACTERS &
CHARACTERIZATION
English 7CP
Mr. Snow
CHARACTERS
Character: person or animal (or thing) that
takes action in a story.
Character trait: a quality about a character
that can’t be seen.
Character traits are revealed through actions,
speech & thoughts.
CHARACTERIZATION
Characterization: how the author describes his or her
character.
Direct characterization: author tells you exactly what
the character is like.
“Luther was the meanest old cuss in five counties.”
“Little Posy was barely half the size of the other orphans, but
she had strong spirit.”
CHARACTERIZATION
Indirect characterization: the author lets you
come to your own conclusions about the
character using five techniques:
Appearance: What does he/she look like?
Action: What does he/she do?
Speech: What does he/she say and how?
Thoughts & feelings: How does he/she feel
about certain situations or challenges?
Other characters’ reactions: What do others
seem to feel or say about him/her?
CHARACTERIZE!
Based solely upon what you perceive by
her look and expression, characterize the
following person.
How does she feel?
Why?
What is her life like?
How do you know?
What do you think she
would be like in public?
How about when she’s
not in public?
How about now?
MOTIVATION
Why do characters do what they do or say what
they say?
Motivation: the force that makes a character
act as he/she does.
What is your motivation for getting an A ?
What is someone’s motivation for recycling instead
of just throwing everything away?
What is a criminal’s motivation for committing a
crime?
INFERENCES
Sometimes we must make inferences to figure out
a character’s traits.
Inference: educated guess based on good info.
“I AM” POEM
You will do an “I Am” poem.
This will serve three purposes:
1. It will help you to analyze yourself for certain
character traits that you possess.
2. It will give you a chance to do some creative
writing.
3. It will allow me to get to know you better!
“MOTHER AND
DAUGHTER” (109)
Yollie’s mother leaves her all alone in a dark room and tiptoes out,
giggling. Yollie pranks her mom back by leaving a glass of water
next to her mom’s alarm clock, so that it spills when her mom hits
the alarm.
What can you infer their relationship is like?
Bitter and mean
Playful and loving
Now listen to the story and take note of the different
character traits of Yollie and her mother, Mrs. Moreno.
CHARACTERIZATION
What are three character traits of Mrs. Moreno?
On your notes, write her name.
Then, below it, write three words that describe her character (not her
physical traits). Circle the words.
Then attach a line and another circle to each trait and explain why. Like
this:
Mrs. Moreno
Word #1
Reason #1
Word #2
Reason #1
Word #3
Reason #1
CHARACTERIZATION
What were the words you came up with?
Loving?
Loyal?
Bold?
Playful?
Aggressive?
Hopeful?
Naïve?
Were these traits characterized directly or indirectly?
NARRATIVE STORY
Now that you’ve had a chance to learn how to
characterize and use the elements of plot, you are
going to write your own narrative story.
This will be entirely made up.
Focus on a good exposition, plot complications,
climax, and denouement.
Make sure you have fully developed, well characterized
characters (focus on indirect characterization) with
motivation behind their actions!
“THE SMALLEST
DRAGONBOY” (119)
“The Smallest Dragonboy” tells of a young boy, Keevan,
who wants to become a dragonrider.
The problem is that he is far smaller than any of the
other boys, and his rival, Beterli, makes fun of Keevan’s
size.
What can we already infer about these two boys, especially
given the title?
“THE SMALLEST
DRAGONBOY” (119)
Keevan is small, but look at page 119: “Keevan was
constantly working, twice as hard as any other boy his
age, to prove himself…”
Keevan is a true hero despite his size, as we will learn later.
As we read the story, take Cornell notes on key passages.
Also, write page and paragraph #’s that show either
Keeven’s DETERMINATION, his BRAVERY and
his GOODNESS.
You will need these later!
FIN