“THE BEGINNING OF GRIEF”

L. Woiwode

Setting?

Outskirts of St. Paul, Minnesota Early 40’s

Characters?

Stanion (protagonist)

Stanion has five children to support:

Carl:

Kevin:

Jim

There are also two young girls in the family

Can you identify the climax of this story?

Yes, the point of highest emotional intensity occurs when Stanion loses control and hurts Kevin

After the climax, Kevin and Stanion both desire what has been lacking in their lives since the mother’s death – understanding and love

This story has all of the elements of plot (exposition, climax, etc . . .) but these plot devices are secondary to the emphasis on individual Characters and their MOTIVATIONS (reasons why characters act the way they do)

Types of Characterization

Woiwode uses two types of characterization to show us the

characters’ emotions

DIRECT CHARACTERIZATION

This is when direct statements about the character are used to reveal emotion and thought.

INDIRECT CHARACTERIZATION

This is when emotion and motivation are revealed through dialogue, actions and thought.

Look at the following examples– What types of characterization are they?

Marvin became extremely frustrated when his stapler came up missing at the office.

Marvin’s stapler was missing. His co-workers noticed his face was more wrinkled than usual and that he was pulling tufts of hair out of his head.