Literary Terms

Melissa Greene

English 9

“Marigolds” Eugenia W. Collier

Characterization• The process of revealing the

personality of a character in a story• The most obvious method of

characterization is the character’s SPEECH

• Here are two of four ways writers use speech to reveal character.– First person narration– Dialogue– Dramatic monologue (cover later)– Soliloquy (cover later)

First Person Narration

• Character tells own story

• Speaks directly to the reader

• Present facts

• Describe events and/or backgrounds

• Also tell us what they think and how they feel (very revealing)

Dialogue

• Reading what character’s say to each other is like listening in on a conversation.

• We learn about the character not only by what they say, but by how they respond to each other.

Other Clues to Character• Appearance

– Ex: “The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shriveled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made is eyes red, his thin lips blue…”

– Clearly Dickens wants us to think of Scrooge as a character whose cold heart is reflected in his whole appearance.

– The kinds of clothes a character wears can give us clues, too.

• Ex: Readers will respond one way to a character in a pinstriped suit, but another to a character in oil-stained, faded blue jeans

Other Clues (cont’)• In fiction, a writer can even take us into

the character’s minds to reveal their private thoughts.– We might learn how one character

secretly feels.

• We can also learn about characters by watching how other character in the story feel about them.– We might learn that a salesman is a good

guy in the eyes of his customers, but a cranky and selfish ogre in the eyes of his family.

Other Clues to Character (cont’)

• One of the most important ways that we learn about characters is from their actions.– Ex: When we first meet Scrooge on

Christmas Eve, he is working on his accounts – an action that instantly reveals his obsession with money.

Review1. What is the process of “revealing a

character’s personality” called?2. What is the most obvious way an author

reveals characterization?3. What are two ways an author uses

speech to reveal character?4. Who tells the story in 1st Person

Narration? How will you know?5. Besides speech, name 4 other ways an

author reveals information about a character.

1. Characterization

2. Through speech

3. First Person Narration and Dialogue

4. One of the characters in the story; he/she uses words like “I,” “we,” and “us.”

5. Appearance, private thoughts, how other characters in the story feel, actions

Direct Characterization

• The writer tells us directly what a character is like or what a person’s motives are.– Dickens tells us directly what kind of

person Scrooge is:

“Oh, but he was a tightfisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge… a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!

Motivation

• Why a character does what he/she does?– Ex: A football player studies hard and

earns good grades the first semester, but he second semester he blows off school and earns D’s and F’s.What is his motivation for doing well in school?

Indirect Characterization

• A writer shows us or provides hints about a character but allows us to interpret for ourselves the kind of person we are meeting.