Character Traits “The Lottery” in the adventurous greedy aggressive unhappy fearful

Characterization What does the character say and do? What does the character think and feel? How does the character look and act? What do the other characters think about the character? How does the character react to others? How does the character make you feel?

Characterization Organizer Character’s Name: ____________________ What does the character say and do? What does the character think and feel? How does the character look and act? What do the other characters think about the character? How does the character make you feel? How does the character react to others? sneaky intelligent

What does this excerpt from “The Lottery” tell the reader about the character of Bobby Martin? “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones; Bobby and Harry Jones and Dickie Delacroix --the villagers pronounced his name “Dellacroy”--eventually made a great pile of stones in one corner of the square and guarded it against the raids of the other boys.” “Bobby Martin ducked under his mother’s grasping hand and ran, laughing, back to the pile of stones. His father spoke up sharply, and Bobby came quickly and took his place between his father and his oldest brother.”

Who is Bobby Martin? “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones; Bobby and Harry Jones and Dickie Delacroix --the villagers pronounced his name “Dellacroy”--eventually made a great pile of stones in one corner of the square and guarded it against the raids of the other boys.” “Bobby Martin ducked under his mother’s grasping hand and ran, laughing, back to the pile of stones. His father spoke up sharply, and Bobby came quickly and took his place between his father and his oldest brother.”

Character Name: Bobby Martin What does the character say and do? What does the character think and feel? How does the character look? What do the other characters think about the character? How does the character make you feel? How does the character react to others? He doesn’t seem to pay much attention to others except his father. He is disrespectful to his mother. stuffed his pockets full of stones, made a pile of stones, ducked under his mother’s hand, obeyed his father, stand by brother No description of what he looks like is given. Based on his actions, he is probably a typical 8-10 boy who likes to play. He seems to feel happy. The other boys follow his lead. Parents call for him four times before obeys. He makes me feel curious and a little annoyed. He seems unruly and hyper.

Character Profile for Bobby Martin Bobby Martin is a playful, somewhat disrespectful boy who has accompanied his parents and older brother to the town square for the annual lottery. Bobby is introduced to the reader when he fills his pockets with round, smooth stones and makes a pile of stones in one corner of the square. Bobby is probably more of a leader than a follower because the other boys follow Bobby’s example by filling their pockets and adding to the pile of stones. By selecting only smooth, round stones, the reader could infer that Bobby may be a little bit picky. Bobby guards his pile of stones; therefore, he apparently values the stones and his work building them into a pile. Bobby Martin respects his father’s authority more than the authority of his mother. He actually ignores his mother’s requests to assemble with the family in the square, but when his father calls, he responds. The character of Bobby Martin could make a reader feel curious, happy, somewhat anxious, and possibly annoyed.

Did You Notice? Adjectives are frequently used to describe character traits. Some characters are static and remain the same throughout a story while others are dynamic and undergo change. An author may tell us the character traits directly, but more often the author will show us these traits indirectly by what the character does like showing us that Bobby Martin does not regard his mother’s directions as much as he does the directions of his father.

How does understanding character traits help the reader understand the story? How does characterization help the writer to set the tone and bring forth the desired mood in the reader? How does the character of Bobby Martin affect the story’s mood?