Pages in text book CHARACTER
Creating characters- telling what human beings are like- is the whole point of writing stories. A story is interesting to us as readers largely because of what it tells us about people and how we behave.
Someone once said all you need to tell a story is: -A character -An adjective -And a series of choices they have to make
INTERPRETING CHARACTERS’ WORDS -The most obvious method of characterization is speech. -Think of how you can recognize your friends from what they say and how they say it.
When characters tell their own stories they use : First Person They present the facts- describing events in the story and perhaps even their backgrounds- but they also tell us what they think and feel. As they talk, they reveal their portrait traits.
I couldn’t believe what she said. She told me she was going to come over and help me with the project for school, but instead she went to hang out with her stupid boyfriend. I cannot believe she would ditch me like that. Some friend she is.
Reading the characters “dialogue” in a story is like listening in on a conversation. We can learn about the characters not only by what they say about themselves, but how they respond to one another.
“I told you I made plans with Jeff,” Alli said. “Well you must not have told me when I was listening,” I said. “You should pay more attention sometimes!” “Well, excuse me! I need your help to get this project finished!”
In a dramatic dialogue, a type of poem, a speaker addresses one or more listeners, often discussing one specific problem or situation. As words come tumbling out, however, the speaker tells us a great deal about his or her life and values. We also learn about the speaker’s relationship with the listener(s).
In a play this kind of self-revealing speech is called a soliloquy. It is delivered by a character alone onstage, addressing him/herself.
Writers also use appearance to create character. We can tell so much about Scrooge, for example, from the way Charles Dickens describes his features: OTHER CLUES TO CHARACTERS
The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shriveled his cheek, stiffened his gait, made his eyes red, his thin lips blue…
The kind of clothes a character wears can give us hints too. As readers we will respond one way to a character wearing pinstriped suit an another way to a character wearing faded jeans...
In fiction, a writer can even take us into the character’s minds to reveal their private thoughts We might learn for example, how one character secretly feels when he sees the bully picking on the smallest kid, or another character watching her grandmother’s coffin being laid in the ground.
We can learn about characters by watching how other characters in the story feel about them. We might learn that a sales man is a good guy in the eyes of his customers and a generous tipper in the eyes of the local waiter, but he is actually cranky and selfish in the eyes of his family
One of the most important ways that we learn about characters is from their actions from what we see them doing. For instance, when we first meet Scrooge he is working on his accounts, which tells us he is obsessed with money.
Some writers also use direct characterization to tell us about the people who inhabit their fictional worlds. This means that a writer tells us directly what a character is like or what a person’s motives are.
Most modern writers do not rely on direct statements about their characters. They usually use other methods which are called indirect characterization. This means that a writer shows us a character but allows us to interpret ourselves what kind of person we are meeting.
Who is the most unforgettable character you’ve ever met in a story? What is their most outstanding character trait? What do they look like? What important things do they say? What important thoughts do you hear as a reader? What important actions does the character do? What are some of the reactions of other characters? PRACTICE!