Elements of Fiction: Character

1
Elements of Fiction Character

• The Readers Connection

2
What is a Character?

• Is it a human being?
• Is it an animal?
• Is it an inanimate object?
• Is it Bigfoot? ?

3
Consider this

• If a character can be just about anything (even
  Bigfoot ?), then what definition should we use
  for Character?
• With a partner or on your own, come up with a
  definition for Character that fits with every
  story you have read or film you have seen.

4
Character a Workable Definition

• Character is a personified presence in a
  work of fiction. A character can participate in
  or somehow affect the action and events in a
  literary work.
• Are there any terms in this definition you dont
  already know?
• Does this definition work? Why, or why not?

5
Types of Characters

• Protagonist vs. Antagonist
• The protagonist is the main character. The
  antagonist is the character opposing the
  protagonist and causes all the conflicts
• Major vs. Minor
• Major Significant Part in the story
• Minor Little or Small Part in the story

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Types of Characters (Cont.)

• Round vs. Flat
• Round Characters have qualities that make
  them seem like real people. Flat Characters
  couldnt exist in the real world (over-the-top,
  stereotypes, total fantasy)
• Dynamic vs. Static
• Dynamic Characters change in some way by the
  end of the story while Static Characters do not.

7
Think About It

• What character types are Squeaky and
  Raymond? Are they the same character types?
  Why, or why not?

8
Types of Characterization How the Reader Learns
About a Character

• Use these when you are asked to analyze a
  character
• Information from the Author
• The Characters physical appearance
• What the Character thinks, says, and does
• What other characters think, say, and do about
  that Character

9
Something to Consider Point of View

• Point of View is the perspective from which
  the story is told.
• Who is telling the story? (For instance, is it a
  player on the home team or someone watching the
  game?)
• How do we know what is happening? (For instance,
  does a character tell us?)

10
Omniscient Point of View

• The author is telling the story directly
• Myop carried a short, knobby stick. She
  struck out at random at chickens she liked, and
  worked out the beat of a song on the fence around
  the pigpen. She felt light and good in the warm
  sun. She was ten, and nothing existed for her
  but her song, the stick clutched in her dark
  brown hand, and the tat-de-ta-ta-ta of
  accompaniment.
• The Flowers by Alice Walker

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Limited Omniscient Point of View

• Like Ominiscient, Limited O.P. of V. is in third
  person, but it is told from the viewpoint of a
  character in the story.
• They all laughed, and while they were
  laughing the quiet boy moved his bare foot on the
  sidewalk and merely touched, brushed against a
  number of red ants that were scurrying about the
  sidewalk. Secretly, his eyes shining, while his
  parents chatted with the old man, he saw the ants
  hesitate, quiver, and lie still on the cement.
  He sensed they were cold now.
• Fever Dream by Ray Bradbury

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First Person Point of View

• Told from the viewpoint of one of the characters,
  using the first person pronouns I, me, my, etc.
• The thousands of injuries of Fortunato I had
  borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon
  insult I vowed revenge. You, who so well know
  the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however,
  that I give utterance to a threat.
• The Cask of Amontillado
• By Edgar Allan Poe

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Challenge Questions

• Which of the four types of characterization does
  the reader NOT receive when a story is told in
  first person?
• What kind of point of view is used most in
  movies?

14
For tonight

• Write an analysis of Squeaky or Raymond by
  answering one of the questions on the worksheet.
  Use the information gathered from the character
  wheel to help you.