Warm UpWrite in your notebook a response to the following question:You know Lennie killed a Mouse and threatened to run away from George. Is Lennie a good guy or a bad guy? Why? Why not? Be prepared to share

TerminologyCharacter: a person who is responsible for thethoughts and actions within a story, poem, or other literature.

Character development: the change that acharacter undergoes from beginning to end.

Characterization: process by which fictionalcharacters are presented/developed.

Methods of characterizationDirect: explained by narratorIndirect: actions show what kind of character he/she is

Indirect

What others say about him or her

His/her own actions, behavior, speech, thoughts.

Direct: What the narrator explains about him/her

Character

Kite Runner ExamplesDirect Characterization:Born to a German mother and Afghan father, the blond, blue-eyed Assef towered over the other kids. (38)

Kite Runner Examples: IndirectHis actions/behavior: I will never forget how Assefs blue eyes glinted with a light not entirely sane and how he grinned, how he grinned, as he pummeled that poor kid unconscious. (38)His speech: Im going to have a little chat with him, man to man, mard to mard About Hitler. How, there was a leader. A great leader. (39) What others say: Some of the boys in Wazir Akbar Khan had nicknamed him Assef the Ear Eater. (38).

TYPES of CharactersFlat or two dimensionalMay be used as vessels to carry out the story

RoundA complex, fully-developed character, usually prone to change

StaticCan be either round or flat, but these characters do not change during story.

DynamicA developing character, usually at the center of the action, who changes or grows to a new awareness of life.

Function of the characterProtagonist: the principle figure in the storyExample: Amir

Antagonist: the character with whom the protagonist is engaged in a struggle.Note: an antagonistic force is a conflicting agency like weather or the sea.

Example: Assef