Characterization The Crucible

Characters  Protagonist: the main character  Antagonist: the character that comes in conflict with the protagonist (does not always have to be bad!)

Types of Characters  Round: shows many different traits throughout the story  Flat: shows only one or two traits throughout the story  Static: a character that does not change by the end of the story  Dynamic: a character that changes, develops, matures by the end of the story

Characterization  Techniques used to reveal the true nature of a character

Direct Description  The narrator or another character comments on one character’s dress, appearance, habits, background, personality, etc.  Tells you directly about somebody.  Bill is lazy.  Bill likes to wear black hoodies and baggie jeans.

Portrayal of Behavior  Indirect  The actions or speech of the character let us draw conclusions about the character.  Bill slammed his head down on the desk and began to snore loudly when the teacher began lecturing.  Bill began to curse the old ladies because they were walking too slowly.

Representation of Internal State  Writer directly reveals a character’s private thoughts or emotions  We will not focus on this during the unit, but you will see this term again later on in the year.

What is this an example of?  [Abigail to the girls] “Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you. And you know I can do it…and I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down!  Portrayal of behavior

What is this an example of?  [Parris]: “It has troubled me that you are now seven month out their house, and in all this time no other family has ever called for your service.”  Direct Description