NGSSS

Characters l A.7.2.1.2: The student will locale and analyze elements of characlerization

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In this lesson, you will learn about characters. A character is a person, animal, or imaginary being in a story or other piece of narrative writing.

Just like people in real life, characters have traits. Traits are personality characteristics that make a person unique. For example, a character might be sincere, determined, or impatient. sometimes, the writer states a character's traits directly by telling the reader what the character is like. But most of the time, the writer provides details that let the reader figure out a character's traits.

When you read, you learn about characters the same way you learn about people in real life-by paying attention to what they say, think, feel, and do. To learn about characters, pay attention to what they say and what others say about them. Think about the reasons, or motivations, for their actions. Ask yourself how the characters handle conflicts, or problems. Notice the characters' points of view, or attitudes-that is, how they think or feel about events or circumstances. Study their relationships with other characters. How do they treat others? How do others feel about them?

Keep in mind that characters often change throughout a story. For example, a character may grow more mature because of the problems that he or she deals with in the course of a story.

A good writer makes the characters in a story seem almost real. Use this web to help you analyze and understand characters in the stories you read.

Motivations

Traits Conflicts

Character

Points of View changes

Relationships

NGSSS lA.7.2.l.2

Read this e-mail from Selena to her friend Sarah. Look for details in the message to answer the question below.

Dear Sarah ,

Today in computer lab, I overheard Juli a and Rashanda goss iping about me. They were saying things that only you and] know about-and ] think you know what ] mean! At rirst I was really shocked, and then] was just rurious. ] still don't exactly understand how you could have shared my secret with them. But I had a long discussion with Mom this arternoon, and I think I understand a lillie better now. J apologize for not hanging out with you as much anymore and also for paying more attention to my friends rrom camp. Would you like to come over to my house on Friday night? J think we will discover that we have a lot to talk about.

Selena

How has Selena's attitude changed since computer lab?

~ How did Selena feel in computer lab? How do you know? Selena says that she was shocked and rurious at the Lime.

~ Why did Selena reel this way? She knew that her friend had betrayed her secret.

~ What made Selena's allitude change? She had a long talk with her mother, which helped her understand the situation better.

~ How does Selena feel at the end or the e-m ail? How do you know? She feels more unders tand ing about the situation and sorry ror neglecting her friend. You can tell because she apologizes and invites her rriend over to talk.

ANSWER: Selena reels more understanding than she did during computer lab. She also feels sorry for neglec ting her rriend.

Why does Selena invite Sarah over to her house?

NGSSS LA.7.2.1.2

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Think About It What problems does the city slicker have? What factors cause him to make a wish?

Hint Use details from the story, along with what you already know, to understand the city slicker's motivation.

CORRECT ANSWER

SUPPORTING DETAILS

Read the tall tale. Use the Think About It to guide your reading. Then answer the question. Use the Hint to help you.

The Tale of the Jackalope

1 A city slicker was st randed on the pla ins after his ca r broke down. As evening fell , he watched as deer and antelope played and jackrabbits leaped across the prairie. Tired , thirsty, and scared, he envied these wild animals.

2 "H only I could have the antlers of a five-point buck, the gracefu lness of an antelope, and the speed of a jackrabbit! "

3 In a fl ash , where the man had stood, there now sat a ridiculous-looking animal. It had the body of a rabbit, the an tlers of a buck, and the graceful movement of an antelope. The stunned animal hopped away into a canyo n. It is occasionally spo tted by other folks lost on the plains.

Why does the city slicker wish to be different? A He wants the ability to escape from the frightening animals.

B He wants the animals' abil ity to su rvive on the plains.

C He is angry with himself for not hav ing a ce ll phone.

D He wants to become a legend of the plains.

Answer choice B is correcl.

The city slicker is stranded , tired, thirsty, and scared. In contrast , the deer, antelope , and jackrabbits seem to be coping well and having a good time. The man's wish reflec ts hi s desire to feel more at ease in his situation.

INCORRECT ANSWERS A is not correc t because the man admires, rather than fea rs, the an imals.

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C is no t correct because no detai l clues in the tale suggest that the city sli cker is angry.

D is no t correct because no detail clues in the tale suggest that the man wants to become a legend.

NGSSS LA.7.2.1.2

Read the passage. Use each Think About It to guide your reading.

Think About It The Substitute What does Maya 1 When Maya walked into Spanish class on Thursday, the room encounter in the was in an uproar. Although the students usually took their sea ts

classroom? immediately and opened their books quietly, today they were gathering in groups, chatting loudly, and laughing.

2 Maya saw the reason at once: instead of Ms. Vasquez, at the front of the class stood a rather short, older gentleman , glasses perched crookedly on his nose, making downward motions with his outstretched arms. No one was paying him the slightest attention.

What does Maya know 3 Doing a double- take, Maya recognized the man . He was about Mr. Marrero? How Mr. Marrero, a retired man who lived down the street fro m her. She does she seem to feel had gone with her family to pay her respects at his home after his wife

about him? passed away last yea r, and she remembered listening to him tell stories about his travels; in fact, he had told an amaz ing story about surviving an emergency water landing aboard an airplane. Maya wondered when he had become a substitute teacher.

4 Maya was temporarily dis tracted by jason, who sat behind her.

5 "Hey, Maya, did you watch Escaped last night? Wasn't it awesome?"

How does Maya feel 6 "Yea-ah ," sa id Maya, taken off-guard; jason never paid any attention about Jason? How do to her, although she had been aware of him all semester. you know? 7 While Maya bit her lip, struggling to think of a way to keep up

a conve rsation with j ason, she noticed that Mr. Marrero seemed to have given up trying to catch the class's attention. Ms. Vasquez would usuall y nick the lights on and off when the class got rowdy. Without thinking, Maya reached up and nicked it on and off twice. Everyone g stopped talking and turned to look at her. §

How is Maya feeling in u

8 She blushed and smiled weakly, not used to being the center of "-"5

paragraph 8? Why does attention. "Hi , Mr. Marrero-remember me?" = .~

she feel this way? 9 Mr. Marrero smoothed his rumpled shirt, straightened his glasses, "" c .>.. and squin ted at Maya. "-

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10 "Oh yes, you're my neighbor, Maya. Good to see you! " ~ ;;

How does Maya help 11 Maya knew she had only seconds before the class erupted into ·u 0 ~

Mr. Marrero? Why do chaos aga in . "Mr. Marrero, will you tell us that story yo u lold me about ~

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you think she does this? the time you were on ajet that crash-landed in the Caribbean?" E ~

:; Thirty mouths gaped open , and six ty eyes, now interested , looked

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NGSSS LA.7.2 .1.2 Florida

Hints

Reread paragraph 3. What do you learn there about Mr. Marrero?

In paragraphs 6 and 7, how does the author describe Maya's feelings and actions toward Jason?

What does Maya do in paragraphs 7- 11? Why does Maya risk embarrassment in this situation?

~I2AIR SfiARE Witlt your partner, sl,are and discuss your answers alld supporting details.

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Use the Hints to answer the questions below. Circle the correct answers and provide supporting details from the passage.

1 Deta ils in paragraph 3 reveal that Mr. Marrero is A a substitute teacher.

B an older gent leman.

e an airplane pi lot. D Maya's neighbor.

Supporting Deta il s: _________________ _

2 According to the story, how does Maya feel when Jason ta lks to her?

A She is irritated with him because he always disrupts the class. B She is interested in talking to him but doesn't know what to say. e She launches into a conversation with him wholeheartedly.

D She wants to talk to him but can't because it would be wrong.

Supporting Details: _________________ _

3 Which sentence best describes Maya's attitude at the end of the story? A Maya sees her chance to be the center of attention by using her

friendship with Mr. Marrero.

B Maya wants to ta lk to Jason, but she is afraid Mr. Marrero will scold her.

e Although she feels shy about it, Maya feels that she has to do something to rescue Mr. Marrero.

D Maya feels guilty that she did nothing to assist Mr. Marrero when he needed help.

Supporting Details: ________________ _

NGSSS LA.7.2.1.2

III III

Read the passage "Nika's Memoir" before answering Numbers 1 through 5.

Nika's Memoir Rene-Robert Caveliel; Sieur de La Salle, was a seventeentil-century French explorer who drealllt of lengtilen ing

the reach of New France frolll Canada to tile I1lOutll of tile Mississippi River. Throughoutlllost of ilis career, ile was accolllpanied by a Native Alllerican mall, a Silawllee nallled Nika, W/zOIll La Salle bOllght fro 111 tile Iroqllois. Nika started out as a slave, blltl,e becallle La Salle's cOlllpallioll. Tile following fictional mellloir illlagilles Nika's impressions of La Salle's expeditions on tile Mississippi River.

May 1687-For 17 years, I have walked beside this man, who is gripped by an obsession like no one I have ever known. In our ea rly days of exploration, he was determined to follow the waters west, to find a way through the vast wilderness of land to a place ca lled China.

NGSSS LA.7.2.1.2

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This first trip started out well. We walked ahead of the other expedition members, clearing a trail through the woods. He taught me his language, and I taught him mine. When we came to the Ohio River, we thought the difficult part of our journey was over and we would float on canoes to the western sea. But the river was too sha !low even for our light boats.

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The other men grew angry with La Salle, but he fa iled to see where their anger was leading them. One night, they stole away, taking our supplies with them. When La Salle had bought me from the Iroquois, I was indebted to him for saving me from an uncertain fate. But now he needed me, for I helped him survive the 1,000-mile walk through the wintry north, to the city of Montreal.

On his return, La Salle, with his single-minded intensity, began at once to raise money for the next expedition. Other explorers had discovered that the Mississippi River flowed south, not west. He soon devised a plan that would expand New France 1,000 miles west of the great river and 1,000 miles south. Furs from the north, crops from the western plains, and gold and jewels that must lie to the south would a II travel freely along the Mississippi River and across the Atlantic. All La Salle needed was the permission of the French chief, King Louis XIV, to build forts along the river.

He went to France to sell this grand plan to the king. The king was not as excited as La Sa lie had hoped. He worried that more exploration would lead to more colonies, and colonies were a lot of trouble. He gave La Salle just five years to build trading posts and forts along the MiSSissippi.

For four yea rs, La Salle struggled to complete his mission, but we had gone no farther than the Illinois River. His determination to reach his goals

] exceeded his ability to lead men, who found him E cold and unsympathetic. Time after time, his men 15. abandoned him. He also had trouble w ith the g local tribes. He eventually rea lized that his only

'~ hope was to unite the scattered tribes who lived = '15: around the Great Lakes against a common enemy, 3 the Iroquois. So single-minded was he in this goal ~ that he used trickery to unite the tribes. He ·E claimed to be the reincarnation of a grea t Miami ~ chief. I was both horrified and impressed; his E deception worked. ~ '8 At last, the five-year permit from the king

.~ running out, we entered the Mississippi River :r where the Illinois joins it. From there, we swiftly

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progressed to the Gulf of Mexico. He named the land at the mouth of the river Louisiana, after King Louis. This king, however, was not impressed. He had decided that the risk of angering Spain by establishing a French presence on the Gulf of Mexico was more trouble than he needed.

Again, La Salle, with me, traveled to the king's court. La Salle was more obsessed with expanding France's empire than was France's own king. La Salle persuaded King Louis that he could raise an enormous army of native warriors to challenge Spain in the south. All he asked of the king was a little money, a ship, and a few French soldiers.

This was a bold play for the king's support­La Salle could never raise such a large army from the native nations. But the king, now blinded by greed and the desire to outdo Spain, agreed to it.

All of that has led us to our present situation. We sailed from Europe, planning to head stra ight to the Mississippi from the Gulf of Mexico. But we have overshot the river's mouth. Instead, we have made a fort at Matagorda. It is a miserable, mosquito-infested swamp. Hostile tribes attack us. No less hostile are our own men, who rage against La Salle, as they have so often in the past. We set out tomorrow on a 3,000-mile hike to Canada for help. It seems impossible, but so have most of our expeditions.

Not long after the events Nika describes, 1111 angry group of La Salle's men 11Iurdered Nika and La Salle's nephew. The next day, they also killed La Salle. A little over a hundred years later, in 1803, the French emperor Napoleon sold the vast Louisiana Territory to tile United States, doubling tile size of the yOllng coul1try.

NGSSS lA.7.2 .1.2

o Which word best describes the attitude tha t many of La Salle's men developed toward their leader?

A. angry

B. loyal

e. humble

D. suspicious

., During their first expedition together, how does Nika 's relationship with La Salle change?

F. Nika loses all respect for La Salle when his men desert him.

G. Nika started out as a slave, but he becomes an essential partner.

H. La Salle trea ts Nika badly, but later he rewards him with a trip to France.

I. Nika leaves La Salle when it becomes clear that they will never get to China.

., Which sentence best describes La Salle's atti tude in Nika's memoir?

A. La Salle ca res mostly about his quest to expand France's territory.

B. La Salle a lways puts the needs of his men before his own goals.

e. La Salle believes tha t fairness to people is of the grea test importance.

D. La Salle often undertakes new projects, never focusing on a single goal.

NGSSS LA.7.2.1.2

• King Louis XIV even tually agrees to support La Salle's fin a I exped i tion beca use

F. he wan ts to spread religion throughout North America.

G. he wan ts La Salle to leave France and never come back.

H. he is eager to start a new French colony on the Gulf of Mexico.

1. he desires to have more wealth and territory than Spain posesses .

., Which sentence best refl ects Nika's attitude throughout the memoir?

A. He thoroughly admires La Sa lle and can't seem to see his flaws.

B. He feels trapped and looks for every opportunity to abandon La Sa ll e.

e. He knows La Salle's flaws but can ' t help but admire the man's determination.

D. He tries to hide his disgust for La Salle since he is completely under his power .

Answer Form

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