answered: Background: Characterization is typically defined as the way

  

Background:
Characterization is typically defined as the way in which an author “paints” or prtrays a character.
Authors make very deliberate and precise choices about the way. characters appear in their stories.
Antagonists are given exotic names, scars, or a dark backstory. At other times, authors wait for that “right wron” moment for antagonists to oppose protagonists (main character). if main characters are weak, authors a minor character whose strenghts help balance that weakness.
Methods of Characterization:
In literature, there are direct and indirect ways an author can provide details about a character:
1) Description – the narrator describes the character – what the characters look like or how the characters typically feel//react to situations
2) Dialogue – the narrator shares what the character say
3) Thaoughts, feelings – the narrator or other characters reveal the thoughts and feelings of the character
4) Reactions – the narrator describes the interactions of the characters
Assignment:
Examine the narrator in Mark Twain’s story (sometimes referrred to as “Cap”) and write a character sketch about him (Note that the story is in 1st person, so the narrator is a person in the story)
“The Invalid’s Story”
tips:
-Glean from the story the narrator directly and indirectly reveals about himself – physical appearance, age, manner of speech, likes/dislikes//fears, religious, inclinations, feelings about others, and his overall dispositon – to use in your sketch.
-Write your sketch in narrative format (see example)
Example character sketch:
The Princess ” The Lady,or the Tiger?” by Frank Stockton
The character of the Princess from “Stockton’s “Teh Lady, or the Tiger?” is revealed to us mainly through direct characterization by the narrator. The narrator describes her as being semi-babaric,just like her father, the king, and with a soul which was much like her father’s- fervent and imperious.
Inferences by the narrator to instances when the Princess gets her way further indicate that she is strong-willed. Merely the detail that she falls in love with a commoner and believes she will be allowed to actually marry him reinforces the perception we have of her willfulness. Furthermore, the fact that she was able to obtain the knowledge of which door held the beautiful lady and which concealed the ferocious tiger is evidence of her tenacity.
In addition, we are appraised by the narrator that she tends to jealousy when she suspects her lover of giving attention to another woman – so much so that she is unable to sleep at night. Since the Princess hides her jealousy, through it all her lover trusts her – so much so that even though he recongnizes his fate is in her hands, he trusts her with his life. He never appears to question in his mind what her decsision will hold for him.
On the other hand, even in the midst of the turmoil of her jealousy and her love for the Commoner, the narrator reveals, that the Princess is resolute in her decision. She indicates, without hesitation, which door her lover should choose, and he, without hesitation, approsaches the door.
What the narrator does not directly reveal is the resolution of the Princess’s dilemma; rather, he lets the reader determine the ending, based on the clues he has given throughout the text.