The process by which an author introduces and describes the characters in a story.

Authors use many methods to tell you about a character.  An author may develop a character by telling the reader directly by giving a physical description. OR  by using the thoughts or feelings of the character.  The author may also give information about a character by what the character says or by their actions.  In addition, the author may tell you about the character by how others respond to or treat them.

 Protagonist *central character *action centers around this character *character attempts to accomplish a task *described in detail *usually grows and changes throughout a story

 Antagonist *character or force that holds the action back *tries to oppose the protagonist

 Place might include such things as a city, state, country, castle, cottage, playground, ship or mountain.  Environment might include details that describe the weather, the noise level or darkness.  Time might include clues that let us know it is the afternoon, evening, the future, colonial times or clock time

Foreshadowing: When an author mentions or hints at something that will happen later in the story. Break the word apart: Fore means ahead A shadow is a glimpse of something without details.

Flashback: When the author refers back to something that has already taken place. Break the word apart: Flash- a quick glimpse Back- a look at something that has already happened

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived with her mother. One day, her mother asked her to take some food to her old and lonely grandmother. “Don’t stop along the way. Go straight to your grandmother’s house and back. Do not talk to any strangers and watch out for the wolf in the woods!” Foreshadowing-a hint at what may come next

While she was walking through the woods, a wolf walked past her. “I bet I can convince her to take the long way so that I can get to her grandmother’s house first. Then I can have a feast of both the grandmother and the child.” he thought. The wolf told the little girl about the short cut and it wasn’t until she was well on her way that she remembered her mother’s words “Don’t talk to strangers and watch out for the wolf in the woods.” Flashback-a look back in the story

In literature, point of view is the vantage point from which a story is told. If a story is written in the first person point of view, a character in the story is the narrator “I myself had two separate encounters with witches before I was eight years old. From the first I escaped unharmed, but on the second occasion I was not so lucky.” The main character in this story is an orphaned boy who lives with his grandmother. The boy is telling the story. You know this because the author uses pronouns like I and me.

If a story is written in the third person point of view, the story is told from the eyes of someone else. “Bezzus felt that the biggest problem with four-year-old Ramona was that she was just plain exasperating. If Ramona drank lemonade through a straw, she blew into the straw as hard as she could to see what would happen. If she played with finger paints in the front yard, she wiped her hands on the neighbor’s cat.” The author is telling a story about two characters named Beezus and Ramona. As the author tells the story, she uses pronouns such as she and her.

The plots of most stories center around conflict. A conflict is a struggle between opposing forces. There are two main kinds of conflict in stories : internal and external. Conflict adds excitement and suspense to a story. The conflict usually becomes clear at the beginning of the story. As the plot unfolds, the reader starts to wonder what will happen next and how the characters will handle the situation.

 A woman is tempted to steal money from her employer in order to feed her family.  A teenager is torn between ditching school with her friends or staying to take a test in a class she is failing. An internal conflict that involves the struggle between the character and his/her conscience. Examples:

 A family is stranded in a snowstorm.  A man is stalked by a wild animal in the forest.  A farmer has his crops eaten by locusts. An external conflict that involves a struggle between the character and the elements of nature that are beyond his/her control. Examples:

 A husband and wife disagree about how their money should be spent.  Two little boys get into a fistfight.  A boss fires an employee. An external conflict that involves a struggle, mental or physical, between two characters or groups in a story. Example:

 A teenager breaks the curfew set by his parents.  A family hides a Jewish child even though it is illegal.  A white man helps a slave escape to Canada. An external conflict that involves the struggle between a character and the rules or laws that govern the society in which he/she lives. Example: