Character

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Character

• Creating Personalities

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How well do you know these characters?

• Princess Leia
• Sherlock Holmes
• Medusa
• Cinderella
• Brer Rabbit
• Paul Bunyan

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What Is a Character?
A character is a person or an animal in a story,
a play, or another literary work.
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Who Are the Main Characters?

• In many stories, one character is the hero and
  another character is the villain.
• The hero of a story is called a protagonist.
• The villainthe one who tries to keep the hero
  from getting what he or she wantsis called an
  antagonist.

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What Makes the Characters Tick?

• Motivation is the reason a character behaves in a
  certain way. A character may be motivated by
• emotions (fear, envy, love)
• past experiences
• commands given by others

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How Do Writers Reveal Characters?

• Writers reveal a characters personality through
  characterization. Writers may
• use direct characterization and tell readers what
  a character is like
• use indirect characterization and show a
  character in action so that readers can decide
  for themselves what a character is like

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Methods to Reveal Character
A writer can reveal a character in the following
ways 1. stating directly what the character is
like (mean, greedy, kind, generous, and so
on) Mr. Martinez was friendly and good-natured.
2. describing the appearance of the
character Naomi adjusted the straps of her bright
yellow swimsuit so that they would be hidden
beneath her black tank top. She checked that her
shirt was still tucked neatly into her khaki
capri pants and slipped her bare feet into a pair
of flip-flops.
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Methods to Reveal Character
When Lana saw Angie, the new girl, sitting alone
at a lunch table, she carried her tray over to
Angies table, sat down, and started a
conversation. 4. allowing the reader to hear
the character speak Okay, folks . . . lets
start from the top one more time. No one is
leaving here until we get through an entire scene
with no mistakes, Mr. Kilmore stated. The play
opens next week, and I want it to be flawless.
3. showing the character in action
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Methods to Reveal Character
5. revealing the characters thoughts and feelings
Jake was excited about his new karate class. He
wondered how long hed have to wait to learn some
of the advanced moves his instructor had
demonstrated. 6. showing how others react to
the character Tommy grimaced when he saw Cameron
enter the store. Tommy was in a hurry and didnt
want to waste time listening to Cameron brag
about his new car.
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What Have You Learned?
Are the following statements true or false?
True
______ When writers use direct characterization,
they tell readers what a character is
like. ______ Characters are always
people. ______ The hero of a story is called a
protagonist.
False
True
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The End