CHARACTERIZATION

By: Alisha Kies, Amy Flageolle, Megan Fisher

and Deborah Racicot

DEFINITION:

The presentation of a fictional personage.

There are two ways to do this; direct and indirect.

Direct characterization occurs when a narrator

directly tells us what a character is like.

Indirect characterization occurs when a character’s

traits are revealed implicitly through his or her

actions, speech, behavior, thoughts and actions.

Twyla from Recitatif

Penny and Primrose

from The Thing in the

Forrest

Sister from Why I live

at the P.O.

Roberta from Recitatif

Stella-Rondo, Mama,

Papa Daddy, Uncle

Rondo, and Shirley T

from Why I live at the

P.O.

DIRECT VS. INDIRECT

Examples of Direct Characters Examples of Indirect Characters

Characters from Why I live at the P.O.

By Eudora Welty

SISTER

Flat, Static Character.

She doesn’t grow or change

through the story.

Unreliable narrator-her prior

judgment of each character

is revealed in how she

presents them.

She also speaks differently,

like she’s talking aside to you

as if you’re there.

Unable to Accept

Reality

Eggs on the sibling

rivalry between Sister

and Stella-Rondo.

Believes whatever she

is told instead of finding

out the truth for herself.

MAMA

“Steals” Mr. Whitaker

from Sister.

Runs back home from

her unhappy marriage.

The favorite daughter,

and younger than Sister

by 12 months.

STELLA-RONDO

UNCLE RONDO

Mentally unstable.

Very mean-spirited,

vengeful.

Throws firecrackers into

Sister’s room early in the

morning.

Wears Stella-Rondo’s

nightgown around.

Patriarch of the family.

Got Sister her job

through his

“connections”.

Has been growing his

beard since he was a

teenager.

PAPA DADDY

CHARACTERS FROMRECITATIF

BY TONI MORRISON

She narrates the story.

She grows and

changes through the

story.

When the story begins,

she is 8 years old.

TWYLA: THE BEGINNING

Working at Howard

Johnson’s as a waitress.

Recognizes Roberta

and is glad to see her.

Doesn’t understand

why she’s being

snubbed.

TWYLA: IN THE MIDDLE

TWYLA AS A MOM

Married to a fireman.

Has one son.

Loves her stable,

comfortable, family life.

Protests against

Roberta’s protest.

Is mad that Roberta is

protesting integration. Takes it

personally.

Thinks they can’t disagree and

still be friends.

Gets personal with her protest

signs.

Doesn’t mind that her son will

be bussed, she says “I mean, I

didn’t know!”

TWYLA DURING THE PROTEST

Decides to run out and

get a Christmas Tree at

the last minute.

Runs into Roberta;

doesn’t want to talk to

her, but does accept her

apology.

TWYLA; THE LAST TIME

She is 8 years old

when we meet her at St.

Bonny’s.

She is there before

Twyla.

They become

inseparable.

ROBERTA IN THE BEGINNING

ROBERTA AT THE HOJO

Comes in on the

Greyhound, on her way to

see Jimi Hendrix.

She is a customer at the

restaurant and Twyla

serves her.

She is dismissive of

Twyla.

Married to a rich

widower, has 4 step-

children.

Shopping at the high

end grocery store.

She approaches Twyla

and asks her to go to

coffee.

ROBERTA

ROBERTA DURING THE PROTEST

Protesting her son’s school being integrated.

Tells Twyla not to take it personally.

Tells Twyla that you’re the same person who kicked a black lady while she was on the ground and you call me a bigot.

ROBERTA AT THE DINER

She is drunk when she

sees Twyla.

Apologizes for saying

Twyla kicked Maggie.

Wonders what really

happened in the

orchard.

SUMMATION

Characters are who tell us the story. You can’t have a story without characters, even if sometimes the characters aren’t people.

Characters give insight to the story through their voices.

We learn a lot of what an author is trying to convey from the characters.

Characters stick with you after you finish the story.

Not all narrators are characters within the story.

M O R R I S O N , T O N I .   R E C I T A T I F.   T H E N O R T O N I N T R O D U C T I O N T O L I T E R A T U R E .   1 1 T H   E D . N E W

Y O R K C I T Y: N O R T O N & C O M PA N Y, 2 0 1 3 . 2 0 0 - 2 1 4 . P R I N T.

 W E L T Y, E U D O R A .   W H Y I L I V E A T T H E P. O .   T H E

N O R T O N I N T R O D U C T I O N T O L I T E R A T U R E .   1 1 T H   E D . N E W Y O R K C I T Y: N O R T O N & C O M PA N Y, 2 0 1 3 . 6 5 9 -

6 6 8 . P R I N T. 

Works Cited