Direct and Indirect Characterization

Goal: Understanding and applying direct and indirect characterization

Agenda:
Read
Reading Progress Form
Theme Paragraph Form
Direct and Indirect Characterization

Reading Progress Update: 
Complete the READING PROGRESS FORM.

Theme Paragraph Form: 

• Use the form below to answer some questions about the paragraph you wrote on Friday.
• These are yes or no questions. You should be saying YES to all of them, but if you need to fix something in your paragraph you can do that quickly.
• THEME PARAGRAPH FORM

Direct and Indirect Characterization: 
Authors use direct and indirect characterization to tell readers about the character's in the book.

Consider your group novel. Where does the author tell you about characters?
This could include information about:
-appearance
-personality
-motivation
-their setting

Writing: 
Open your English Journal
Use this paragraph frame to write about direct and indirect characterization in your group novel.

The author of (book title), (author name), shows that  (character name) is  (character description)  using both direct and indirect characterization. For example on page (#) (the author) writes that (evidence from the text). Which shows that.... This is an example of direct characterization. The reader also knows that (character name) is (character description) because (author) writes...(text evidence)...(page #). In this case the author is using indirect characterization because.... Through this evidence we can see that (character name) is....

Example:

The author of Lord of the Flies, William Golding, shows that Ralph is fair haired, agile and selfish using both direct and indirect characterization. For example on page 7 Golding writes that, "The boy with the fair hair lowered himself down the last few feet of rock..." Which states directly that Ralph has blonde hair and he is able to climb rocks. The reader can see that Ralph is selfish because he leaves Piggy behind when they first arrive on the island. "Ralph disentangled himself cautiously and stole away through the branches. In a few seconds the fat boys grunts were behind him and he was hurrying toward the screen that still lay between him and the lagoon." (9) This is an example of indirect characterization because the reader must interpret Ralph's actions and decide for themselves what leaving Piggy behind says about Ralph. Through direct evidence we know that Ralph has light hair and is athletic, and through indirect evidence we can surmise that he is selfish, or at least uninterested in the struggles of others.