“Thank You M’am” pg 120• People in life and in fiction tend to show

their true character when they are in stressful situations. In this story, two characters have a tense encounter. The writer lets their actions and their words (or their silences) tell us about the kind of people they are – or could be.

Character – The Actors in the Story

• Character – An individual in a story, poem or play. Always has human traits, even if the character is an animal.

Characterization – Ways to develop characters

• Writers portray the personalities of characters through a variety of methods.– Direct Characterization – The author directly

describes the character’s traits or special qualities.

– “Bob is a very happy person.”

Indirect Characterization

• Indirect Characterization – The author indirectly describes the character’s traits or special qualities, through:– Appearance– Actions– Speech– Thoughts– How people respond to the character.

• With this method, a writer shows rather than tells the reader what the character is like.

Types of Characters• Flat Characters

• Round Characters

Flat• A flat character has no depth. Such a

character has one or two key personality traits and can be described in a single sentence.

Round• A round character is fleshed out. He or

she is more complex and have depth.

Flat and round characters are both used in literature.

“Thank You M’am” -Assignment

• Answer questions 1,2,4,5, and 6.

• Write a newspaper article about the events from the story. – Must be at least one page long.– Include at least two quotes from fake

interviews.– Have a catchy headline– Include the five W’s (What, who, when,

where and why.)