Introduction to

Characterization
Character Analysis Unit
9th Grade Honors English
Ms. Avina

Lecture Adapted from:

Lit Charts: Characterization
ReadWriteThink: S.T.E.A.L. Strategy
Indirect Characterization: Revealing Characters Subtly
 Class Objectives & CA Content Standards
Addressed
Objectives:
• Students will be able to distinguish between
direct and indirect characterization
• Students will be able to draw conclusions from
a text that contribute to characterization
elements
• Students will be able to write an indirect
characterization analysis using a graphic
organizer
CA Content Standards:
•
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL 9-10.6 Acquire and use accurately general academic
and domain-specific words and phrases, sufficient for reading, writing,
speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate
independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or
phrase important to comprehension or expression
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.6. Use technology, including the Internet, to
produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking
advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display
information flexibly and dynamically.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.10. Write routinely over extended time frames
(time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single
sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.1. Initiate and participate effectively in a range
of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with
diverse partners on grades 9–10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’
ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
 For the next 2 minutes, make a list
of traits or characteristics that
describe YOU.

Quick-Write Pick one trait from your list and

provide a specific example. In what
Exercise: way does this trait contribute to
who you are?
Who am I?
I am hard-working:
When I go to school
For example: every day, I am eager to
expand my knowledge
and challenge my mind.

*Educational Hook (Interpersonal)

Think About This…
• Is there a character from a story you
read that you either related to or
found yourself mesmerized with
how they carried themselves
throughout the story?
• How we just described ourselves is
the same way we develop analysis of
literary characters!
*Educational Hook (Interpersonal)
 What is Characterization?
• Characterization is the
representation of the traits,
motives, and psychology of a
character in a narrative.
• There are two types of
characterization: direct and
indirect.
 Direct vs. Indirect Characterization

Direct characterization:
character's qualities are explicitly • Example: The seven dwarfs’ names present
described by a narrator, another
character, or by the character him their character qualities.
or herself.

Indirect characterization: • Example: Without knowing their names, the

character's qualities are revealed
by his or her actions, thoughts, or seven dwarfs’ actions, dialogues, and facial
dialogue. expressions eventually reveal their personalities.
 Now You Try:
• Watch the video provided to the right from
Disney’s Pixar Inside Out and answer the
following:
• Can you identify a form of direct
characterization within the clip?
• Can you identify a form of indirect
characterization within the clip?
• Think, Pair, Share: Discuss your answers
and reasonings with a partner.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1oXx4delIY
*Progress Monitoring Question (Mastery)
*Dual-coding technique (Video Visual Aid)
 Direct Characterization:
A Closer Look
• An author provides the reader with a very specific description of a character.
• Example:
Jimmy's the worst. He acts nice when you first meet him, but then he'll ask you for
money and never return it, and eat all your food without any offering anything in return,
and I once saw him throw a rock at a puppy. Thank God he missed.
• Another speaker is used to explicitly describe Jimmy.
• Jimmy is described directly through distinct characterizations: “[he] is the worst…he’ll ask
you for money and never return it." Readers know exactly the kind of person the character
described is like. Jimmy is cruel and selfish (… and that poor puppy ).

*Dual-coding technique (use of examples/elaboration to deepen levels of engagement with content

 Direct Characterization:
Comprehension Check
• “The first thing Rainsford's eyes
discerned was the largest man
Rainsford had ever seen--a gigantic
creature, solidly made and black
bearded to the waist. ‘Ivan is an
• What are some phrases that give
incredibly strong fellow,’ remarked the you direct, specific information
general, ‘but he has the misfortune to about the character of Ivan?
be deaf and dumb. A simple fellow,
but, I'm afraid, like all his race, a bit of
a savage.”
-Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous
Game”

*Progress Monitoring Question (Understanding)

 What a character
says

Indirect Characterization: The character’s

A Closer Look thoughts

• Rather than explicit description, readers must make How the character
interacts with
inferences when identifying indirect characterization in others
literature.
• Inferences: the process of arriving at a conclusion
The character’s
using known evidence or premises and logically actions
forming an opinion or interpretation.
• Contributions to indirect characterization include: The character’s
appearance

*Dual-coding technique (visual aid of the S.T.E.A.L. elements)

 Self-Questioning Organizer (S.T.E.A.L.)
Type of Indirect Focusing Questions Examples Explanation
Characterization
What does the character say? How
Speech does the character speak?

What is revealed through the

Thoughts character’s private thoughts and
feelings?
What is revealed through the
Effect on others character’s effect on other people?
How do other characters feel or
toward the character behave in reaction to the character?
What does the character do? How
Actions does the character behave?

What does the character look like?

Looks How does the character dress?

STEAL Self-Questioning Chart *Table Organizer

 Types of Indirect Characterization:
SPEECH
• What does the character say?
• How does the character speak?

• Example: What inferences can

you make about the two people
in the comic to the right based
on their dialogue and tone?

*Dual-Coding Technique (interacting with visual comic image as a humorous example)

 Types of Indirect Characterization:
THOUGHTS
• What is revealed through the
character’s private thoughts
and feelings?
• Requires extra attention to figure out
what the character is like
internally/psychologically based on
how they think.
Types of Indirect Characterization
Now You Try
• Example:
“Bill sighed as he looked at the offer of a gym
membership. He really should join. But just
thinking about it made beads of sweat collect at the
top of his bald spot.”
• Underline the thoughts/feelings mentioned
in the passage. What inferences can be
made about Bill’s personality based on his
thoughts/feelings?
*Progress-Monitoring Question (Understanding)
 Types of Indirect Characterization:
EFFECTS ON OTHERS TOWARD A
CHARACTER
• What is revealed through the
character’s effect on other people?
• How do other characters feel or
behave in reaction to the character?
• These relationships can show
personalities of both characters or just
the one in focus.
 Types of Indirect Characterization:
ACTIONS
• What does the character do?
• How does the character
behave?
• Actions of characters could
reveal their personalities and
motivations.
Types of Indirect Characterization:
Now You Try
• Example:
“Katerina Ivanovna had just begun, as she always
did at every free moment, walking to and fro in her
little room from window to stove and back again,
with her arms folded across her chest, talking to
herself and coughing.” –Crime and Punishment
• What are the actions that Katerina is displaying in the
passage?
• What inferences can you make about the character of
Katerina based on her actions?
*Progress-Monitoring Question (Understanding)
 Types of Indirect Characterization:
LOOKS
• What does the character look like?
• How does the character dress?
• Physical details about a character could
grant insight into their personality—
including facial expressions, clothing,
and the way they carry themselves.
• Can you identify some appearance
details about the characters in the
photo?
*Dual-Coding Technique (Using image examples that students engage with)
 Indirect Characterization:
Comprehension Check
• “He stretched out his arms toward
the dark water in a curious way,
and, far as I was from him, I could
• Analyze the indirect characterization
of Gatsby in the passage.
have sworn he was trembling.
Involuntarily I glanced seaward— *Remember to think of the S.T.E.A.L.
and distinguished nothing except a method.
single green light, minute and far • What elements do you detect and
away, that might have been the end how do they contribute to Gatsby’s
of a dock.” –The Great Gatsby character?

*Culminating Activity/Question (Synthesize information)

 Your Turn! :
Character Analysis Activity
• Using the Self-Questioning Visual Organizer displayed
earlier in the lecture, conduct an indirect characterization
analysis of Louise Mallard from Chopin’s “The Story of
an Hour.”
• Download the word document of the table by
clicking the link below and filling it out with your
chosen quotes/examples and explanations that
represent each element in S.T.E.A.L.
STEAL Self-Questioning Chart

*Culminating Activity & Question (Organize/synthesize information)