Chomping at the bit for Character and Character Interaction

An exhaustively researched report by Ms. May

Review…

The thing that sets the main character’s story in motion is the conflict.

The main character is called the protagonist while the character or force that the protagonist fights against is called the antagonist.

The two broad types of conflict are external and internal conflict.

There is only one main conflict, but writers often include complications which adds depth to the plot.

The question is…

“How does a writer build a character out of words—someone who will seem to become flesh and blood and rise off the page?” (Leggett).

Your thoughts?

What Makes a Character?

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

OF CHARACTER

OTHERS REACTIONS TO

CHARACTER

SETTING & BELONGINGS

ACTIONS & MANERISMS OF

CHARACTER

SPEECH & DIALECT OF CHARACTER

TONE OF WRITER OR SPEAKER

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SO

Direct vs. Indirect Characterization

Direct Characterization: the author directly tells the audience what the character is like.

Indirect Characterization: the writer shows us a character but allows us to interpret for ourselves the kind of person the character is.– Indirect characterization forces the reader to

make inferences about a character based on the incomplete information the writer gives…

Inferences about Character…

Use what you see or read… (your observation)

With what you know… (your background knowledge)

INFERENCEOR

EDUCATED GUESS

INDIRECT CHARACTERIZATION

P—Physical Appearance

How a character looks and dresses. Judge a book by its cover? We do this everyday without even meaning

to…We make assumptions about people depending on how they dress or look…

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

OF CHARACTER

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A—Actions

One of the most important ways that we learn about characters is from their actions, from what we see them doing.

ACTIONS & MANERISMS OF

CHARACTER

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S—Speech

“The most obvious method of characterization is the character’s speech” (Leggett).

Think of how you can recognize your friends from what they say and how they say it.

Speech includes both what a characters says and what they think.

SPEECH & DIALECT OF CHARACTER

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Five Ways Writers Use Speech to Reveal Character

Dialect Dialogue Interior Monologue Dramatic Monologue Soliloquy

Dialect

Dialect—is the speech of a particular region or group as it differs from standard speech.

Another name for dialect is accent. – Dialect can tell us where a character is from.

Dialogue

Dialogue is the conversation that occurs between different characters.

Reading the characters’ dialogue in a story is like listening in on a conversation. – We can learn about characters by what they say

to one another and how they say it.

Interior Monologue

Interior Monologue occurs in the omniscient point of view (first or third person).

An interior monologue is when the author shows the inner thoughts of a character.

This monologue is not spoken out loud. Oftentimes within the text, the thoughts of the

character are not in quotation marks and are sometimes italicized.

Dramatic Monologue

Dramatic monologues are a type of poem or speech wherein the speaker addresses one or more silent listeners, often discussing a problem or situation.

This is akin to speaking out loud to something or someone who doesn’t answer…

What else besides a problem or situation can we learn from a dramatic monologue?

– Can also teach us about speaker’s values and relationship with listener (s).

Soliloquy

Soliloquies are self-revealing speeches delivered by a character alone onstage, addressing himself or herself (Leggett).

This is akin to speaking out loud to just yourself…

T—Tone

Just as the reader can tell a lot about a character from observing the way that others react to them, the reader can also tell a lot from how the writer thinks about them…

This can be analyzed through tone which is the way an author or speaker feels towards what they are writing about…

WRITER’S TONE OR ATTITUDE

TOWARDS CHARACTER

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S—Setting & Belongings

Setting is Where and When a character comes from and it can tell a lot about him or her…

We can also tell a lot about them from their belongings because it tells the reader what they value…

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SETTING & BELONGINGS

O—Other Characters

We can learn about characters by watching how other characters in the story feel about them—how they react to them, what they say about them, and how they treat them.

OTHERS REACTIONS TO

CHARACTER

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Types of Characters

A character can either be a minor or a major character

The reason why we as readers try to dissect and characterize individuals from movies and books, is to figure out a character’s motivation—the explanation for why they do the things they do

Major Characters

Protagonist: the central character of a drama, novel, short story, or narrative poem.

Antagonist: The character or force that blocks the protagonist from solving the main conflict. The Antagonist is the adversary of the protagonist.

Round Characters: A character who is characterized by a complex three-dimensional combination of personality traits– We see good and bad parts…they seem real to the

reader

Minor Characters

Flat Characters: A character who is characterized by only one or two important personality traits.– Stock Character—a flat character in a standard role

with standard traits; e.g., the wicked stepmother.

Foil Character—a character, usually minor, designed to highlight qualities of a major character.

Static or Dynamic?

Dynamic Characters a character who changes in response to the experiences and trials he or she faces within the story. – Often Dynamic Characters experience an Epiphany

which is a sudden unfolding in which a character proceeds from ignorance and innocence to knowledge and experience.

Static Characters a character who does not change or evolve throughout the text; they are the same at the end of the story as the beginning.