Chomping at the bit for Character and Character Interaction

1. Chomping at the bit for Character and Character Interaction An exhaustively researched report by Ms. May

2. Review… • The thing that sets the main character’s story in motion is the conflict. • The main character is called the protagonist while the character or force that the protagonist fights against is called the antagonist. • The two broad types of conflict are external and internal conflict. • There is only one main conflict, but writers often include complications which adds depth to the plot.

3. The question is… • “How does a writer build a character out of words—someone who will seem to become flesh and blood and rise off the page?” (Leggett). • Your thoughts?

4. What Makes a Character? P A S T S O PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTER ACTIONS & MANERISMS OF CHARACTER SPEECH & DIALECT OF CHARACTER TONE OF WRITER OR SPEAKER SETTING & BELONGINGS OTHERS REACTIONS TO CHARACTER

5. Direct vs. Indirect Characterization • Direct Characterization: the author directly tells the audience what the character is like. • Indirect Characterization: the writer shows us a character but allows us to interpret for ourselves the kind of person the character is. • Indirect characterization forces the reader to make inferences about a character based on the incomplete information the writer gives…

6. INDIRECT CHARACTERIZATION Inferences about Character… • Use what you see or read… (your observation) • With what you know… (your background knowledge) INFERENCE OR EDUCATED GUESS

7. P—Physical Appearance • How a character looks and dresses. • Judge a book by its cover? • We do this everyday without even meaning to…We make assumptions about people depending on how they dress or look… P A S T S O PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTER

8. A—Actions • One of the most important ways that we learn about characters is from their actions, from what we see them doing. P A S T S O ACTIONS & MANERISMS OF CHARACTER

9. S—Speech • “The most obvious method of characterization is the character’s speech” (Leggett). • Think of how you can recognize your friends from what they say and how they say it. • Speech includes both what a characters says and what they think. P A S T S O SPEECH & DIALECT OF CHARACTER

10. Five Ways Writers Use Speech to Reveal Character • Dialect • Dialogue • Interior Monologue • Dramatic Monologue • Soliloquy

11. Dialect • Dialect—is the speech of a particular region or group as it differs from standard speech. • Another name for dialect is accent. • Dialect can tell us where a character is from.

12. Dialogue • Dialogue is the conversation that occurs between different characters. • Reading the characters’ dialogue in a story is like listening in on a conversation. • We can learn about characters by what they say to one another and how they say it.

13. Interior Monologue • Interior Monologue occurs in the omniscient point of view (first or third person). • An interior monologue is when the author shows the inner thoughts of a character. • This monologue is not spoken out loud. • Oftentimes within the text, the thoughts of the character are not in quotation marks and are sometimes italicized.

14. Dramatic Monologue • Dramatic monologues are a type of poem or speech wherein the speaker addresses one or more silent listeners, often discussing a problem or situation. • This is akin to speaking out loud to something or someone who doesn’t answer… • What else besides a problem or situation can we learn from a dramatic monologue? • Can also teach us about speaker’s values and relationship with listener (s).

15. Soliloquy • Soliloquies are self-revealing speeches delivered by a character alone onstage, addressing himself or herself (Leggett). • This is akin to speaking out loud to just yourself…

16. T—Tone • Just as the reader can tell a lot about a character from observing the way that others react to them, the reader can also tell a lot from how the writer thinks about them… • This can be analyzed through tone which is the way an author or speaker feels towards what they are writing about… P A S T S O WRITER’S TONE OR ATTITUDE TOWARDS CHARACTER

17. S—Setting & Belongings • Setting is Where and When a character comes from and it can tell a lot about him or her… • We can also tell a lot about them from their belongings because it tells the reader what they value… P A S T S O SETTING & BELONGINGS

18. O—Other Characters • We can learn about characters by watching how other characters in the story feel about them—how they react to them, what they say about them, and how they treat them. P A S T S O OTHERS REACTIONS TO CHARACTER

19. Types of Characters • A character can either be a minor or a major character • The reason why we as readers try to dissect and characterize individuals from movies and books, is to figure out a character’s motivation—the explanation for why they do the things they do

20. Major Characters • Protagonist: the central character of a drama, novel, short story, or narrative poem. • Antagonist: The character or force that blocks the protagonist from solving the main conflict. The Antagonist is the adversary of the protagonist. • Round Characters: A character who is characterized by a complex three-dimensional combination of personality traits • We see good and bad parts…they seem real to the reader

21. Minor Characters • Flat Characters: A character who is characterized by only one or two important personality traits. • Stock Character—a flat character in a standard role with standard traits; e.g., the wicked stepmother. • Foil Character—a character, usually minor, designed to highlight qualities of a major character.

22. Static or Dynamic? • Dynamic Characters a character who changes in response to the experiences and trials he or she faces within the story. • Often Dynamic Characters experience an Epiphany which is a sudden unfolding in which a character proceeds from ignorance and innocence to knowledge and experience. • Static Characters a character who does not change or evolve throughout the text; they are the same at the end of the story as the beginning.