The 7 Methods of Characterization

7 different ways of looking at a character in a story

Methods of Characterization Cont.

• Indirect–Writer gives clues to the reader about

what kind of person the character is.– Character’s appearance, words,

actions, inner thoughts and feelings, environment, reaction of the other characters to the character.

Methods of Characterization• Direct–Writer tells the reader what kind of

person the character is.

1. Appearance• The most common way of describing

a character.• Identifies anything physical about the

character.• Includes height, skin, hair and eye

color, short/tall, skinny/fat, wear glasses?, how he/she walks/stands, anything physical about the character.

Example of Appearance:The name of Crane suited him. He was tall

but exceedingly lank with narrow shoulders, long arms, and legs, hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves, and feet that might have served for shovels. His whole frame was most loosely hung together. His head was small and flat on top, and he had huge ears, large green, glassy eyes, and a long, snip nose…

2. Name Analysis• Analyzing a character’s name is

looking more closely to it’s meaning (if there is one) and describing it.

• Not all characters have a name with significance to the story.

• A lot of times though, author’s carefully choose a character’s name to represent something about the character and/or the story.

Example of Name Analysis:Ichabod CRANE

3. Inner Thoughts and Feelings• A character’s way to react/respond

internally to events that have occurred externally.

• This means that you can only include an analysis of a character’s thoughts if you are told what the character is thinking.

Example of Inner Thoughts/Feelings:

“She suffered constantly, feeling that all the attributes of a gracious life, every luxury, should rightly have been hers.” – “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant.

In this quote from the popular short story we learn that the main character’s attitude is one of resentment, feeling that she deserves a better life.

4. Speech• Dialogue is the way in which a character

talks.• Dialogue includes the characters choice of

words.• It also includes the tone and diction of the

character when he/she speaks.• Is the character serious? Sarcastic? Shy?

Obnoxious? Ignorant? Etc…all these qualities can be conveyed through the characters dialogue.

Example of Speech:

“Spare the rod and spoil the child”

All this Ichabod called “doing his duty by their parents.

5. What Others Say• When analyzing the reactions of others

you are looking closely at how other characters in the story react to or treat the character that you are characterizing.

• Reactions include verbal responses and physical or emotional treatment.

• Character reactions can tell you if the character you are analyzing is liked or disliked, popular, honest, trust-worthy etc…

Example of What Others Say:The school master is generally a man of some

importance in the female circle of a rural neighborhood, being considered a gentleman of much better taste and greater accomplishment that the rough country boys, and indeed, second in learning only to the parson. Therefore, there is apt to be a stir at the table of a farmhouse when he appears, and an extra dish of cakes or sweetmeats. A silver teapot may even be brought out.

6. Actions• A character can be analyzed by looking at

an action or incident and how it affected them or how they reacted to it.

• What action did the character take when confronted with a certain situation.

• Is there and incident in the characters past that has shaped them as a character and affected the way they look at their life.

• The action or incident determines the way the character develops as the story goes on.

Example of Action :He laid aside his stern schoolroom

manner and became wonderfully gentle and pleasant. He found favor in the eyes of the mothers by petting the children, particularly the youngest and he would sit with a child on one knee and rock a cradle with his foot for whole hours together.

7. Environment:• The setting of a story affects the

characters’ development as well as the plot.

• The physical setting of a story is where the story is actually taking place and can effect the way a character develops.

• The emotional setting of a story is the series of emotions that the character deals with throughout the story.

Example of Environment:• Every sound of nature at that

witching hour fluttered his excited imagination—the sound of the whippoorwill from the hillside; the boding cry of the tree toad foretelling a storm; the dreary hooting of the screech owl; or the sudden rustling in the thicket…