Character

Creating Characters

Character Development

Speech

Appearance

Private Thoughts

How Other Characters Feel

Actions

Direct and Indirect Characterization

Practice

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Creating characters—telling what human beings are like—is the whole point of writing stories.

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Creating Characters

Writers build characters by revealing

speech appearance private thoughts

others’ reactions actions

Character Development

Which methods of character development are being used?

What do you think of the man based on this excerpt?

Character Development

Quick Check

“Keep still, you little devil, or I’ll cut your throat!”

A fearful man, all in coarse grey, with a great iron on his leg. A man with no hat, and with broken shoes, and with an old rag tied round his head. A man who had been soaked in water, and smothered in mud, and lamed by stones, and cut by flints . . . ; who limped, and shivered, and glared and growled; and whose teeth chattered in his head as he seized me by the chin.

from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens [End of Section]

First-person narrators reveal their personal traits as they

• tell us what they think and feel

Be aware that some first-person narrators mislead or lie to the audience.

• tell their own stories (using pronouns like I, me, and we)

SoliloquyDramatic Monologue

Speech

• what characters say and don’t say

Dialogue can reveal a lot about characters and their relationships with each other. Pay attention to

• how characters respond to each other

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Speech

Pay attention to language the writer uses to describe the characters’ looks, clothes, and demeanor.

• Does the description give you a positive or negative impression of the character?

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Appearance

• Which words contribute to this impression?

The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shriveled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue. . . .

from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Writers can take us into the characters’ minds to reveal their thoughts and feelings.

As you read, note whether the characters’ thoughts and feelings match their speech and actions.

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Private Thoughts

Watch how other characters in the story react to the character. Note

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• how the others feel about the character

• what the others say about the character

How Other Characters Feel

What characters do and how they treat each other often reveal the most about them.

Observe characters’ actions to determine

• what their personality is like

• what motivates them

• how they deal with conflict

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Actions

Direct Characterization—Writers tell us directly what characters are like or what their motives are.

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

from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Indirect Characterization—Writers show us characters (through speech, appearance, private thoughts, other characters’ reactions, and actions) but allow us to decide what characters are like.

Direct and Indirect Characterization

Quick CheckMy sister, Mrs. Joe, with black hair and eyes, had such a prevailing redness of skin that I sometimes used to wonder whether it was possible she washed herself with a nutmeg-grater instead of soap. She was tall and bony, and almost always wore a coarse apron, fastened over her figure behind with two loops, and having a square impregnable bib in front, that was stuck full of pins and needles.

from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Is this an example of direct or indirect characterization?

What kind of person do you think this character is?

Direct and Indirect Characterization

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Who is the most unforgettable character you’ve ever met in a story? Write a few sentences about why you find the character so memorable. Before you begin, jot down your ideas on a chart like this one.

Practice

Most memorable character

Most outstanding character

Character’s appearance

Important statements

Important thoughts

Important actions

Reactions of other characters[End of Section]

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