Characterization in “The Shawl” by Louise Erdrich

Skills: Analyze how an author develops a theme over the course of a text
through characterization and conflict.

Read: How Trauma Gets Past Down Through Generations and then reread the
last 2 pages of “The Shawl” (starting at “There was a time when the
government…”)

(10 minutes)
Write 3 take-aways when reading the article and the end of the story:

Topic and Theme: (10 minutes - individual)

Topics of the Story ● Father becomes a raging alcoholic when his wife dies
● Betrayal within the family
● Sacrifice

Theme of the Story The Shawl by Louise Erdrich conveys the struggle and sacrifice of the
loss of a family member by showing how the father resorted to alcohol
as a way to cope with past traumas.
Characterization: (20 minutes - groups)

Character (Highlight yours):

● The Narrator
● Aanakwad
● The Narrator’s Father
● The Sacrificed Daughter

How are they ● Anakwad is characterized as a person whose mood differs. This
characterized is shown when they describe her in the first sentence as a cloud
referring to her ever changing mood.
early in the ● In the first paragraph she was characterized as
story? Provide
examples.

How does the The characterization shifts over the course of the story when Aanakwad
characterization gives birth to her child. The evidence of this is when they explain that
raising her child alongside the other duties she has becomes too much
shift over the for her and her character is portrayed as sad and tired.
course of the
story? Provide
examples.

Putting it Together:
After identifying shifts in characterization, as well as conflicts, analyze how
these contribute to the themes which we determined earlier? (2-3 sentences)

because the change in characterization within Aanakwad directly impacted

generational trauma. When she sacrificed her daughter off the wagon that
directly altered the dynamic of the family and eventually led to the soon to be
father becoming an alcoholic. The alcoholism of the father was derived from
Aanakwad and directly affects the kids of the alcoholic which shows the
generational trauma this caused.