Entry Task: What would you do in the following scenario: You are in line for a roller coaster ride by yourself, as your friends were all too scared to ride, and went on the tilt-a-whirl instead. A seat opens up on the coaster beside a teenager with sloppy, tattered clothing and tattoos covering his/her body. Do you take the seat, or wait to ride the coaster with a teen behind you in line who is clean-shaven, and looks rather “clean cut”?

LT: I will look for direct and indirect characterization while reading The Outsiders.

 What might we infer (conclude from evidence and reasoning rather than from explicit statements) about the following description? “a teenager with sloppy, tattered clothing and tattoos covering his/her body”  Glue the Characterization Notes into your journal as we review some examples.

Direct Characterization: the author or narrator makes direct statements about a character’s traits. The author tells us about the character’s personality to our face.  TELLING  The text tells us something specific about the character. Example:  “The patient boy and quiet girl were both well mannered and did not disobey their mother.” Explanation: The author is directly telling the audience the personality of these two children. The boy is “patient” and the girl is “quiet.”

Indirect characterization: the author or narrator reveals a character’s traits through his or her actions and speech.  SHOWING  You must infer from the text and provide reasoning Examples:  When Jane walked in the room, nobody could help but look at her stunning, gorgeous face. She commanded attention wherever she went due to her good looks.  We can infer Jane is beautiful.  Jim was very unlike any other businessman. He made sure that all his clients got what they had paid for.  We can infer Jim is honest and hardworking.

 Speech  Thoughts  Effect on others  Actions  Looks

 SPEECH - What does the character say? How does the character speak?  THOUGHTS - What is revealed through the character’s private thoughts and feelings?  EFFECTS - What is revealed through the character’s effect on other people? How do other characters feel or behave in reaction to the character?  ACTIONS - What does the character do? How does the character behave?  LOOKS - What does the character look like? How does the character dress?

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CREATE A CHARACTERIZATION CHART CHAPTER 1 PonyboyGroup Character With this chart, we are focusing on examples of INDIRECT Characterization – the more common type as compared to Direct Characterization S peech T houghts E ffect A ctions L ooks