Summer Reading

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Summer Reading

• Writing About Character

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Character

• Every literary work contains a character, and so
  a study of character is an effective place to
  begin our study of literature.
• A character is a human (or human-like!)
  participant in a story.
• A characterization is a composition that
  describes a characters traits, explains their
  goals, and demonstrates their key conflicts.

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Flat and Round Characters

• Some characters are flat or 2-dimensional
• flat characters often have limited descriptions
  or are stereotypes.
• Some characters are round or 3-dimensional
• round characters tend to have complex feelings,
  motives, and personalities, often showing both
  weakness and strength.

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Some Change, Some Stay the Same

• Some characters are dynamic
• dynamic characters change, learn, or grow
  throughout the course of a story.
• Some characters are static
• static characters do not change, learn, or grow
  they're the same at the end as they were at the
  beginning.

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Not All Characters Are Equal

• Some characters are more important in a story
  than others.
• Main characters are the characters about whom the
  story revolves, and they are usually in every
  scene.
• Minor characters, while they take part in the
  story, are not the focus and are often not in
  every scene.

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Describing Characters

• So, there are many terms that can be used to
  describe a character
• flat (2-dimensional)
• round (3-dimensional)
• dynamic
• static
• main
• minor

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The Protagonist

• Most stories, however, revolve around one main
  character.
• In a literary work, this main character is called
  the protagonist.
• The protagonist is almost always 3-dimensional
  and dynamic.
• In fact, the protagonist's growth or change is
  usually the focus of the entire story.

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Growing Pains

• Therefore, in order to understand a protagonist,
  we need to understand how and why he or she
  changes.
• Understanding how and why the protagonist changes
  is the key to beginning your understanding of
  literature.
• So, where do we start?

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The Antagonist

• First, the protagonist doesn't usually change or
  grow on his or her own.
• The protagonist often has help characters who
  force him to grow or change.
• Sometimes these characters are friends, and
  sometimes they are enemies.

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The Antagonist

• A character who forces or causes the protagonist
  to change is called an antagonist.
• While there is usually only one protagonist,
  there is often more than one antagonist.
• Understanding the antagonists in a novel can
  often help explain why the protagonist changes.
• Notice that an antagonist can be a friend, an
  enemy, or something in between.

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Character Keys

• Next, in order to understand how the protagonist
  changes, we need to focus on three things
• Traits
• Conflicts
• Goal

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Traits What Makes a Character Unique

• A trait is feature that helps distinguish,
  identify, or tell apart a character.
• Traits can be internal, such as a character's
  personality or fears.
• Traits can also be external, such as a
  character's appearance or physical abilities.
• A character can have some traits in common with
  another character but the sum of a characters
  traits make them unique!

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Identifying Traits

• How do we locate a character's traits?
• There are four main places to look
• What the narrator tells the reader about the
  character
• What other characters say about the character
• What the character says
• What the character does

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Traits Going Deeper

• Consider the following questions
• Are all traits equally important to the story?
• What makes some traits more important than
  others?
• In what kinds of stories are internal traits more
  important than external traits? In what kinds of
  stories are external traits more important?
• Can a characters traits change? Why would such
  a change be important to the story?

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Supporting Your Ideas

• Different readers will interpret the
  protagonist's actions or statements differently.
• Therefore, you must support your ideas by
  referring to specific details or quotes from the
  novel.
• This is one of the most important keys to writing
  a superior composition!

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Two Weak Statements

• In the beginning of the novel, Kira feels lonely.
• She is also afraid.

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Two Stronger Statements

• In the beginning of the novel, Kira feels lonely
  because her mother has died.
• Since she doesnt know what to do or how she will
  live, she is also frightened.

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Two Well-Supported Statements

• In the beginning of the novel, Kira feels lonely
  because her mother has died. Before she leaves
  the Fields, she thinks, She had loved her
  mother, and would miss her terribly.
• She is also scared because she doesnt know what
  to do now. As she prepares to leave the Fields,
  She felt a small shudder of fear.

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Writing Well-Supported Statements

• Having specific quotations to support your ideas
  is key to preparing a characterization.
• As you read the novel, highlight or underline
  quotes and passages that you can use to support
  your ideas.
• Be prepared to explain how and why a specific
  quotes supports your idea!

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The Goal What the Character Wants

• Every character has a goal - something he or she
  wants to accomplish.
• A characters goal can be
• to get or find something
• to achieve or accomplish something
• to learn, grow, or change
• Notice that a goal isnt necessarily something
  physical or external!

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Identifying the Goal

• Consider the question what does the character
  want?
• Remember that a character can have more than one
  goal.
• Remember that a characters goals can change.

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Goals Going Deeper

• Consider the following ideas
• Thinking about a characters goal help the reader
  understand the character
• Some characters may not know what their goal is
• Imagine a story where a characters goal is to
  discover what his or her goal is!
• What would such a story be like?

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Conflict

• Every protagonist has a conflict an enemy,
  obstacle, or problem that he or she has to
  overcome.
• Some conflicts are external
• external conflicts involve other people, forces,
  or things
• Some conflicts are internal
• internal conflicts involve emotions, desires, and
  fears

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The Five Major Conflicts

• All conflicts can also be described as being one
  of the Five Major Conflicts
• Character v. Self
• Character v. Character
• Character v. Society
• Character v. Nature
• Character v. the Supernatural

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Conflict and Goal

• Most stories have more than one conflict.
• The main conflict of a story is what prevents the
  character from achieving their goal.
• However, as a characters goals change, their
  conflicts change as well.

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Putting It All Together

• By comparing a protagonist's traits, conflicts,
  and goals at the beginning of the story to those
  at the end, we can understand what she learns and
  how she changes throughout her journey.
• There is not only one correct answer, but you
  must use specific details and quotes from the
  novel to support your ideas!