1. Thursday & Friday September 17th & 18th
Materials Needed:
Notebook
PP Notes on Characterization
Direct/in-direct, round/flat, stock
Create a stock character
Visualization Practice
Identify Stock characters in film
3 column notes – Making Inferences

2. NO NOTES
Characterization
Good fiction tells us about ourselves--what it is like to be a woman who has lived her life in seclusion, or a solider about to die on the battlefield.
We can EMPATHIZE with the characters--that is, to feel what they are feeling.
We experience emotion through the story through the vehicle of the characters.

3. Character Two ways authors reveal a character: Direct Characterization
TAKE NOTES
Character
Two ways authors reveal a character:
Direct Characterization
Indirect Characterization

4. Direct Characterization
TAKE NOTES
Direct Characterization
The author DIRECTLY tells us the traits of that character.
Physical description
Behavior and actions

5. Characterization Example: (about Mrs. Bennet)
NO NOTES
Characterization
Example: (about Mrs. Bennet)
… She was a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper. When she was discontented, she fancied herself nervous. The business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news.
What does Austen tell us DIRECTLY about Mrs. Bennet?

6. Indirect Characterization
TAKE NOTES
Indirect Characterization
The author hints at what the character is like—through their clothing, what they carry with them.
Anything and everything can be indirect—even something as small as their eyes.
Allows the reader room for interpretation about a character.

7. Characterization Example: (about Mrs. Bennet)
NO NOTES
Characterization
Example: (about Mrs. Bennet)
Her mind was less difficult to develop.
What does Austen tell us INDIRECTLY about Mrs. Bennet?

8. TAKE NOTES
Characterization
You can look at a character through BOTH direct and indirect…. (about Mr. Bennet):
“You mistake me, my dear. I have a high respect for your nerves. They are my old friends. I have heard you mention them with consideration these twenty years at least.”
How does this quote INDIRECTLY characterize Mr. Bennet?

9. TAKE NOTES
Characterization
Mr. Bennet was so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humor, reserve, and caprice, that the experience of three-and-twenty years had been insufficient to make his wife understand his character.
How does this DIRECTLY characterize Mr. Bennet and support his earlier quote in regards to his character?

10. TAKE NOTES
Characterization
Example: What can you infer from the characterization of this married couple?
Mrs. Bennet
Mr. Bennet

11. Round vs. Flat Characters
TAKE NOTES
Round vs. Flat Characters
Flat characters = characters that never change
Round characters = that change; they are more complex.

12. TAKE NOTES
Stock Characters
Stock characters are characters that fit our NATURAL ideas about what a character should look/act/be like.
Movies and literature are inundated with stock characters.
Stock characters allow the reader to make predictions without the author having to provide too much background knowledge of the character.

13. Visualizing Stock Characters—what do you see?
TAKE NOTES
Visualizing Stock Characters—what do you see?
1. An English teacher. Describe as they usually appear in films and literature. OR
2. An old man. Describe as they usually appear in films and literature.

14. Stock Characters in Film
NO NOTES
Stock Characters in Film
Watch the trailer of the 80’s pop culture classic The Breakfast Club
Identify 5 stock characters in the film
Watch the trailer a second time and record both physical descriptions and physical actions for each character
Make inferences on characterization based on what you saw and what you know about people

15. Type of Stock Character Physical Descriptions/Actions
TAKE NOTES
3 Column Notes
Type of Stock Character
Physical Descriptions/Actions
Inferences
1. Rebel/Trouble-maker 2. 3. 4. 5.
Disheveled clothes – torn or ripped; smoker
Goes against authority; maybe a troubled home life