Ms. Justice
English ii
• Direct Characterization tells the audience what the personality
of the character is.
• Example: “The patient boy and quiet girl were both well
mannered and did not disobey their mother.”
• Explanation: The author is directly telling the audience the
personality of these two children. The boy is “patient” and the
girl is “quiet.”
•
shows things that reveal the personality of a character. There are five
different methods of indirect characterization:
Speech- What does the character say? How does the character speak?
Thoughts-What is revealed through the character’s private thoughts and
feelings?
Effect- on others toward the character. What is revealed through the
character’s effect on other people? How do other characters feel or behave in
reaction to the character?
Actions-What does the character do? How does the character behave?
Looks-What does the character look like? How does the character dress?
• experience changes
throughout the plot of a
story. Although the
change may be sudden,
it is expected based on
the story’s events.
• Ex: Ed Helms in “The
Hangover.”
• do not experience basic
character changes
during the course of the
story.
• Ex: Zach Galifinakis in
“The Hangover.”
Ms. Justice- English II
• Disagreements sometimes arise when what we want to do
differs from what others want us to do. Has anyone ever
expected you to do something you really didn’t want to do?
How did you feel before, during, and after it?
• A mental or emotional
conflict that occurs
within the character!
• Think of it as a battle with
yourself!
• A struggle that occurs
between a character
and an outside force.
• Man v. man
• Man v. nature
• Man v. fate
• Man v. society
• Writers make characters
believable by revealing
what motivates them to
act as they do. A
character’s motivation
• is based on his or her needs or
conflicts
• reveals why characters act,
feel, and think as they do
• must usually be inferred from
clues in the story
• To appreciate the details
in this story, you need to
understand its historical
context-the political,
social, cultural, and
economic setting for a
particular idea or event
• There were no “front lines”
in the war, and fighting
took the form of expected
guerrilla skirmishes.
Ms. Justice
English II
• This story is probably based on
the Black Death, which swept
14th century Europe and Asia,
killing as many as two thirds of
the population in less than 20
years.
• Poe calls the plague “the Red
Death” because victims oozed
blood from painful sores.
• In this story a 14th century
prince gives a costume party
(masque) to try to forget the
epidemic around them.
• A narrative that is really a double story. One story takes place
on the surface. Under the surface the story’s characters and
events represent abstract ideas or states of being, things like
love or freedom, evil or goodness, hell or heaven.
• Point of view is the
vantage point from
which a writer narrates
or tells a story
• The all knowing narrator…
• plays no part in the story
• knows and can tell what any character is thinking and feeling
• knows what is happening in all of the story’s settings
• The narrator….
• Plays no part in the story
• Knows and can tell what a single character is thinking and feeling while
other characters are presented externally.
• The narrator
• is a character in the story
• Knows and can tell only what he or she is thinking or feeling
• May be reliable or could be an unreliable narrator
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBb9wFP7uZM
• The difference between:
• what is said & what is meant
•what is said & what actually occurs
•what the meaning is & what is
understood
• Definition:
• When the result of an action is contrary to the desired or expected effect.
• Example:
• The assassination attempt made on President Ronald Reagan by John
Hinckley. The bullets initially missed the President. However, one of the
bullets ricocheted off the bullet proof limousine and struck the President
on the chest.
• Definition:
• When a speaker says one thing but means another OR When the literal
meaning is contrary to its intended meaning
• Example:
• "The day was as normal as a group of seals with wings riding around on
unicycles, assuming that you lived someplace where that was very normal.“
• BEING SARCASTIC
• Definition:
• When the audience or reader knows a fictional character is making a
mistake because the reader/audience has more information than the
character
• Example:
• Any scary movie: the audience always know that the killer is hiding in the
closet
A symbol is a person, place, thing, or event that stands both for
itself and for something beyond itself. Symbols may be
• personal
• public
• literary
Personal symbols have special meaning for an individual.
Public symbols are widely recognized throughout a culture and
sometimes even universally.
Note
Literary symbols are created when writers assign a special,
symbolic meaning to something. They appear in works of fiction,
poetry, and drama.
Color symbolism
• Another important element of plot is the order in which a writer
tells the events.
Order of Events
• Chronological order: The writer tells the events in the order in
which they happened.
• Flashbacks: The writer interrupts the present action with a
scene or scenes from the past.
• Flash-forwards: The writer gives a glimpse into the character’s
future.
• Foreshadowing: The writer hints at something that will happen
later in the plot.
A writer may slow the pace of events to create suspense or
dramatize a moment.
Fast
Then, they saw a circle of gleaming eyes around their camp.
Slow
“There was no suggestion of form in the utter blackness; only could be seen
a pair of eyes gleaming like live coals. Henry indicated with his head a
second pair, and a third. A circle of the gleaming eyes had drawn about
their camp.
from “White Fang” by Jack London
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• Literature involving suspense generally builds tension by
presenting the reader with an uncertain outcome. Often the
choices of the characters may result in life changing or even
life or death outcomes for themselves or others.
Setting draws us into the world of a story. Details of setting tell
us
• where and when events are
happening
• how the situation feels
• who the characters are
• what challenges the characters face
Setting also may reveal a time frame.
era
time of day
season
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Setting can add to a story’s emotional effect—its mood or
atmosphere.
relaxed, carefree
lonely, sad
foreboding,
mysterious
In some stories, the characters’ environment
• provides the main conflict
• directly affects the story’s meaning
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