Characterization

Techniques writers use to create

and develop characters
Two Methods of Characterization (direct and
indirect)
Indirect (determined
Direct through clues)
• Direct Characterization 1.Appearance
how the character looks
tells the audience what how the character dresses
the personality of the 2. Thoughts and conversation
what the character says, thinks, or feels
character is. what others in the story say or think about the
• Example: “The patient boy and character
3. Actions
quiet girl were both well mannered and
• what the character does
did not disobey their
• what the character chooses not to do
mother.” • what others in the story do to the main
• Explanation: The author is directly character
telling the audience the personality of these 4. The story’s setting also enhances the
two children. character’s personality
The boy is “patient” and the girl is “quiet.”
 Common Character
Types
• Flat
• Round
• Dynamic
• Static
 Types: Round or
Flat?
• Authors must decide how much detail to
include about each character.

– Which characters are most important?

– How will giving detail, or not giving detail,

about that character affect the story?
 Round
• Characters that are described in depth, with
many details, are well-rounded characters.
They are called round characters.

• The main character in a story is almost

always round.

• If you are reading a story and believe you

know a character extremely well, then most
likely the character is round.
 Flat
• Characters that are not described well —
that you are not given much information
about — are flat characters.
• Consider a drawing: a three- Flat
dimensional drawing gives more
detail than a one-dimensional
drawing.
• If you draw a two-dimensional,
flat picture of a house, for
example, you can only see one
side of it. You cannot see three
of the four sides.
• This is how a flat character is; Round
you can only see a few
characteristics of the character.
There are many things you
cannot “see,” or many details
you are not given by the author.
 Round or Flat?
• As a reader, judge whether or not the
character is round or flat by trying to write
down characteristics of the character.
• Answer the question: What do you know
about the character? If your list is long,
with many characteristics, then the
character is round. If your list is short, or
there are not many characteristics at all,
then the character is flat.
 Types: Static or
Dynamic?
• The key word when dealing with the difference
between static and dynamic characters is
‘change’.

• The type of change, though, is specific. We are

only concerned with internal changes —
changes which occur within the character.

• Internal changes include a change in his/her

personality , a change in his/her outlook on life,
a change in his/her values, or it could be an
overall change in the nature of the character.
 Static or Dynamic?
• Do not focus on changes that happen TO
a character, but rather, changes that
happen WITHIN a character.

• Think about it this way: Does the event

affect the character by changing the
character internally?
 Static
• Static = not moving or changing
(ex: static electricity is static unlike current electricity which
is moving!!
• In order for a character to be considered a
static character, the character must remain
basically the same throughout the entire
story.
• The character does not undergo any
internal changes.
 Static
• Think of static characterization like plastic
surgery. The character may change in
looks, but unless his/her personality is
affected, the character is static.
 Dynamic
• A dynamic character is a character that
undergoes an internal change sometime
between the beginning and end of the
story.

• The change in the character is usually

crucial to the story itself.
 Dynamic
• Say a main character goes through a life-
altering experience, such as a race car
driver getting into an accident. If the
driver's personality changes, and he is no
longer willing to take on the risk of driving
a race car, the character would be
dynamic.
 Static or Dynamic?
• Look closely at your character at the beginning of
the story. Ask these three questions:
– How does the character feel about him/her/itself?
– How does the character act towards others?
– What is the character’s goal?

• Examine your character throughout the story and at

the end of the story. Have the answers to the
questions changed?

Static = no change within the character

Dynamic = the character changes internally
 Common Character Traits
adventurou creative Friendly a leader proud studious
s
awesome courageous fun-loving Lazy pretty selfish
artistic considerate Gentle messy protective simple
athletic cunning Generous mischievous quiet Tall
active daring Grumpy mean rich Timid
beautiful a dreamer Happy Neat respectful trustworthy
brave dangerous Hideous nervous sad thoughtful
bold exciting Humble nasty sloppy unselfish
bossy entertaining Hostile Nice serious Warm
caring energetic Honest Nosy successful Witty
charming ferocious Intelligent Open shy Wild
cheerful funny Independen persistent short Wise
t
curious a fighter Inventive Poor smart wonderful
 Works Cited
• A Glossary of Literary Terms:
http://www.ode.state.or.us/teachlearn/subj
ects/elarts/reading/resources/readinggloss
ary.pdf
• Literary Vocabulary:
http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms.html