Lesson Title: Introduction to Characterization

Objectives

• The student will be able to:• Analyze the methods authors use to develop and reveal

character.• Determine character traits from indirect characterization.

Anticipatory Set

• List some characters that you have encountered in fiction whose traits reminded you of real people that you know.

Character – Revealing Human Nature

• Creating characters—telling what human beings are like—is the whole point of writing stories. It is interesting because it tells about people and how we behave.

Characters• Now you have named some characters

that you have encountered in fiction whose traits reminded you of real people that you know. How do writers create their characters?

Characterization

Characterization is the process of revealing the personality of a character in a story.

2 Categories of CharacterizationIndirect Characterization

Direct Characterization

Indirect Characterization

With this type of characterization, character is revealed by:

1. Character’s Speech a. first-person narration – speak directly to reader (“I”) b. dialogue – conversation between characters. c. dramatic monologue – type of poem, speaker

addresses one or more silent listeners. d. soliloquy – usually done in a play; it is a self-

revealing speech

Direct Characterization

With this type, the author tells the reader directly what a character is like or what a person’s motives are.

Thank You M’am by

Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes1902-1967

Hughes traveled all over the world, but he is chiefly associated with Harlem, in New York City, where he participated in the great flowering of African-American art and writing known as the Harlem Renaissance. His most creative work was done at his typewriter near a third-floor rear-apartment window overlooking a Harlem backyard. He wrote stories, but is best known as a poet.

Hughes preferred to let ordinary people speak for themselves. His poems are often written in dialect, and many include slang—his speakers say what is on their minds, and they say it in the language they use every day.

• This story is about a boy who tries to steal from someone to get what he wants and ends up learning something in the process.

• Why are people so tempted to steal? Why can some resist the urge, while others give into the temptation even while knowing that they will probably be caught and punished?

SummarySummarize the plot of “Thank You M’am”

How do we meet Roger and Mrs. Jones?

What does Mrs. Jones do to Roger?

• Why did she share her supper with him after he tried to rob her?

• What happens to Roger at the end of the end of the story?

• Roger was right in the middle of trying to find a way to say thank you to Mrs. Jones when she closed the door in his face. What does this tell you about her personality?

CharacterizationCharacterization is how a writer gives insight into a

character’s personality. Judging from the dialogue of the story, the setting, and your inferences how would you describe the personalities of:

Roger

Mrs. Jones

Could you do the same thing as Mrs. Jones if someone stole something from you? Explain.

Characters in stories show different aspects of human nature. Do you know of anyone like Mrs. Jones???