@zxm, Characterization AL the heart of every story is an array of characters. A character is one of the most significant elements in fiction. A character is the “who” of the story. “The s ful development of the main character is the most vital element of the work" (Brown & Stephen, 2007) Characters include the people and animals that are featured in the narrative, Every character is especially designed based on the function in the story, thus, every single character is essential, The characterizations are developed through dialogues and descriptions of the authors. Characters are developed based on: the narrators’ portrayal of how the characters look like and their Personality through the vivid description; what other characters see; on What they do, how they act and interact, what they feel and speak. Main Characters The central characters are cither the protagonist or antagonist. The protagonist is the hero in the story, while the antagonist is the villain or someone whose function is to oppose the hero or has qualities opposite of the hero. An antagonist is someone who has evil ulterior motives and a plot to destroy the protagonists. The heroes are significant figures in children’s literature since they show commendable qualities and serve as models of good values to the children. While heroes are always depicted as physically pleasant, good-natured, and naturally lovable, villains are described as ugly, with a typical evil power or bad qualities. Although the protagonists are the most important characters, the role of the villain is equally significant since, without the villain, the heroes will not experience events that will help develop their characters. Without the villain, the hero cannot shine. Not only that, villains help the heroes fulfill their heroic acts. They-also help the young readers deal with the idea of darkness, injustice, unfaimess. They are the exact figures of what children have to avoid becoming, what behaviors should not be followed. It will help children to make favorable choices. They will help children process negative emotions positively. They also represent the tangible forces that give people challenges and obstacles, which happen in real life. Among the unforgettable villains is Count Olaf in the story “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” Lord Voldemort in “Harry Potter,” The White Witch in “Namia”, In fairy tales, the most hated villains of all time include the big bad Wolf, Scanned with CamScannerSnow White's step-mother, Maleficent, Ursula in “Little Menaid,” Cinderella step-mother, and more, Supporting Characters Supporting characters arc people who serve as a backdrop to the main characters’ story. Supporting characters arc usually the allies of the protagonists who provide support, they create a particular interest, provide comic relief or enhance the main characters, Supporting characters exist to affect the heroes and give us a better view of the heroes" characterization, Supporting characters’ archetypes are the confidantes, the mentors, the sidekicks, the love interests, or the fool. Round Characters Characters‘can be identified as round or dynamic, flat or static, stock and foil. The most developed character is the round or dynamic characters since they have to undergo character transition and changes to respond to their experiences and the events in the story. Round or dynamic characters are the most detailed characters who change in the course of the plot. The main characters are mostly round. The character's development is very important, especially the protagonists since readers will always tend to relate to the protagonist of the story. The main characters’ strengths must be distinct as well as their weaknesses, This will help the readers to identify themselves with the main characters and make a connection to maximize their reading experience. Flat, Static, and Stock Characters Supporting characters are the less developed characters compared to the main characters. They are typically given a flat and static character. Only a few of their traits and one side of their personality are revealed. Flat characters are usually static characters, Flat and static characters can be distinguished in terms of character change and emotion. A flat character is someone who has not shown complex emotions or complex motivations, while static characters are those who do not change over time; the personalities do not evolve. They consistently show the same qualities from the beginning of the story until the end. Harry Potter was characterized as static since his characterization did not undergo any change. The protagonists and antagonists in most of the classical and medieval literature are static characters. They are consistent with their side being good or bad. However, modem-day characterization is more interesting since some protagonists reveal their | weak side, and other antagonists reveal their good side, Many of the 2I* literary | pieces adapted to films show the story of the antagonist who became a protagonist. | Two of which are Maleficent and Cruella. | Stock characters are those that are usually stereotyped or those that are recognizable and are based on cliches. Stock characters are in between archetype and stereotype. A stereotype is an oversimplification of the characterization. This oversimplification will usually lead to negative characterization. Cliches, on the | Scanned with CamScannerother hand, are those with predictable character qualities. This happens since every character must play a role that shows a universal truth. On the contrary, an archetype is a familiar character, This familiarity is due to the emotional recursion brought about by the readers’ parallel human experience with the characters. Examples of archetypes are the warrior, the explorer, the hero, the villain, the creator, the sage, the ruler, and others that are usually portrayed in stories. Stock characterization includes the qualities of heroes as manly, handsome, good, courageous, usually with a heroine counterpart who is beautiful, innocent, gentle, and kind personality, While a villain is always characterized as the nemesis of the hero who creates the odds, there is always a villain accomplice who serves as the sidekick and whose role is to execute the villains’ plans. Another, is a faithful servant of the heroes. In the classical stories where females are stereotyped as weak, they usually play the damsel in distress who will be rescued by the heroes. Foil Characters The foil character is anyone who exhibits contrasting qualities of the protagonist or another character in the story to highlight the difference. The hero and the villain foil each other. In many stories, a wise hero is foiled with a dumb sidekick. The famous Harry Potter is foiled by Draco Malfoy. Without the White Witch, we could not recognize Aslan’s good qualities. Without the White Queen, we cannot point out the Red Queen’s strengths and weaknesses. Deuteragonists and Confidante Deuteragonists are secondary characters of importance.’ They are sometimes close to the main characters and share the same intention with them or play neutral. They may serve as a foil to the protagonist or share the same qualities with them. The confidantes are the closest persons to the protagonists. The main character usually reveals his/her mind to the confidant. Confidantes help the protagonists to make decisions, handle situations, analyze problems and recover, The confidante provides advice, persuades the main character, or confronts them. The main character usually reveals his/her mind to the confidant. In the “Lord of the Rings,” Samwise Gamgee played both deuteragonist and a confidante, while Gandalf played a deuteragonist. Setting Every story occurs in a geographical location during a certain period. This is called the setting. The setting can be introduced by directly stating the place and the time the story takes place. Setting can be revealed through the characters’ eyes, manners, and orientations. A setting generally describes the time and place where the story takes place. In a single-story, there could be one or more settings, The story may occur in a one-day setting like Slote’s “Finding Buck McHenry” or Paulsen’s “The Rifle.” A setting creates-an impact, thus, plays an important role in the entire narration (Brown & Stephens, 2007). In stories that involve natural disasters or calamities, the time and location are of great significance. Further, when the setting is mentioned as a title of the story, readers would expect Scanned with CamScannerits greater significance. Wilder's “The Little House on the Prairie” are examples, Understanding the setting will also help the readers in identifying the mood that the author wants to convey, To understand the setting, the readers should look into the following: the alternative realities such as the past, present, future, or the combination of the three; the weather, climate, location, or the topography; * he concrete or imaginary time and place: * the abstract location (such as the wardrobe in “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”). A setting has been given more weight in some stories and less in others, Settings can be an integral part or serve as a backdrop. In historical and realistic fiction, the setting is an important clement thus, referred to as integral. In an integral setting, the time and place are described in detail. Integral setting dictates the language that the character uses, the norms of the society and culture, the means and style of transportation, the clothes that the characters wear, and the activities that the people are engaged in. The setting is integral when the story could not have been set anywhere but the time and location where the author intended the story to happen. An integral setting is used in Erdrich’s “Birchbark House,” Gidwtiz’s “The Inquisitor’s Tale,” Kalmar’s “A Stitch in Time,” and others. On the other hand, the setting used as a backdrop has moderately less importance than the setting used as an integral element. A backdrop setting creates a visual charm but is not significant to the whole plot. Backdrop setting in many traditional pieces of literature helps in presenting universal or general ideas. It is nonspecific and vague like a huge castle, in a countryside, in the peasant’s shack, into the woods or in any city or place. In fairytales, the setting is always a “once upon a time or in a faraway land” that conveys a timeless tale. Plot A plot is a narrative or the logical order of events in a story. A basic structure of the plot includes the exposition or introduction where the characters and the setting are introduced. Aristotle formulated a unified triangle-shaped plot that consists of a continuolis sequence of beginning, middle, and end. It describes a linear path where the beginning imitates an action towards achieving the intended’ chains of cause and effects. The middle is where the complication is introduced and how it is overcome. The ending provides a resolution or closure to the story. Middle Beginning End Scanned with CamScannerGustave Freytag’s pyramid plot structure is modified from Aristotle ‘sy which consists of 5 parts, exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. The exposition introduces the setting and provides a background of the major characters and their relationships, The plot thickens in the rising action. It is where the complications are introduced and tensions built between and among the characters that lead to climax, The highest peak of the plot is the climax, where the central characters make a decision, or where there is a revelation, a twist, or a turing point for the major character. Next to the climax is the falling action. The falling action takes place when the conflict of the major characters is almost resolved. The final part of the story is the resolution, where the readers are provided with a sense of closure, Climax Rising Faling Action Action Freytay's Plot Structure Exposition. Resolution Conflict Another very essential element of a story is conflict. A conflict is the main challenge to the characters. The main types of conflict include man versus himself, man versus’ nature, man versus man, man versus society. Man versus himself highlights the inner conflict of the main character that causes him or her to fail. Man versus nature portrays the struggle of the main character against nature, Man versus man is a conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist of the story. Man versus society depicts the protagonists’ struggle between the norms, the culture, and the society itself, Theme A theme is a central idea or a hidden meaning of the story. It is always related to the subject yet can be distinguished from the subject. A subject is the topic of the story, such as the contrast between good versus evil, true love, friendship or connection, seeking freedom or revenge. Themes are ideas or opinions on the subject which are written in statement form. We think of the contrast ‘between good and evil; the theme could be “In the battle between good and evil, good always triumphs.” If the subject is true love, the theme could be “True love knows no reason.” For friendship, the theme could be “No matter how friends are separated by time and distance, true friendship remains.” Themes can be conveyed by the characterization, the plot, the setting, and other elements of the story: In short, a theme is the “what” of the story, In understanding the theme, a reader needs to look for the recurring symbolism or images and relate them to human experiences. Themes can be expressed in sentences or clauses. It can be directly stated or implied. In a single-story, there can Scanned with CamScanner‘Themes can also be chunked into subthemes. Main themes, while minor or subthemes can be deduced at a be one or many them present the overall idea of the story, certain point of the narrative, Moral ‘Theme and moral are two related elements. If the theme is the “what” of the story, the moral is the “why.” Moral refers to the piece of wisdom that the author wants to convey. Morals are deduced at the end of the story. It is a suggested lesson that could be explicitly written at the end of the story, like that of fables or implied. To understand the moral of the story, readers need to finish reading. The morals teach the readers how to behave as part of society. The moral is an essential element in children and adolescent literature since it helps them realize how to act or become better people. Point of View A point of view is a perspective that determines who tells the story. It could be the first-person point of view or the point of view of the main character, telling the story, the second person point of view where the readers are involved in the story, or the third person point of view where the author is directly telling the story. The point of view also explains how the narrator presents the story and how much the narrator knows. Classical literature’ is usually consistent with the one-person narrator's point of view; and these are revealed on the first and second pages. In modern stories, the point of view may shift from one person to another. This is referred to as an alternating point of view. Alternating Point of View There are stories told from the point of view of two characters or more. This happens when a single incident is told from different eyes. In the “Animorphs: The Andalite’s Gift,” each of the five children told a first-person account in each. The novel “Never Mind! A Twin Novel was told alternately by the male and female twins. Third Person Omniscient Point of View The omniscient narrator is an all-knowing narrator being aware of everything that happened and about to happen in the story. This includes the more profound thoughts and voice of each character. The third-person omniscient narrator can move freely from one mind to another and reveals to the readers how each character thinks, The omniscient narrator knows the characters more than they know themselves. He is also aware of the past and future events or events that occur simultaneously. This type of narration is a third-person omniscient point of view. Examples of Omniscient narration are the “Little Women,” “Peter Pan,” “Charlotte’s Web,” “Frog and Toad are Friends” and many others. Third Person Limited Point of View When the story unfolds through the eyes of one character, the narration used is a third-person limited point of view or the limited omniscient point of view. Scanned with CamScannerIt is a point of view that allows the readers to get to know the character deeply by observing the feclings and senses the emotions of the characters. An example of third-person limited omniscient is ‘The Little House on the Prairie”. Objective Point of View An objective point of view is a narration where the narrator does not disclose or enter the minds of the character but narrates as an observer or reporter. The narrator, in an objective point of view, only reports facts. The readers do not know what the character thinks unless they are engaged in dialogues. The narrator does not also comment on the events of the story. The story unfolds based on the actions of the characters, Mood As a literary element, mood is the emotive atmosphere within the story conveyed through the use of language, setting and physical location, feelings of the main characters, or music, The mood of the literary piece is described as an emotional impact to the readers, or what the readers feel about the plot, dialogues, setting, and events in the story. Commonly the mood of the story is cheerful when the characters are happy, the songs used are lively, the colors are bright, and the emotion that the story gives to the readers is light. On the other hand, using dark colors, sad music, and melancholic characters, the mood becomes pensive and sad. The mood is humorous when the characters throw punch lines, or the actions are ridiculous, or when there is a comic relief intentionally inserted which gives a fun vibe to the readers. The mood is idyllic when the story gives a peaceful and calm feeling to the readers. The mood is mysterious when there is a feeling of thrill or suspense in the story. Many . detective stories give a mysterious mood. The most common mood is romantic. This happens when the author makes the readers fall in love or feel the love vibe. Tone For fiction, tone refers to the author's attitude towards a subject that serves as the backdrop of the story. It is conveyed through the use of expressions or the author’s choice of words and syntax. Usually, the author's tone creates the mood or the overall feeling of the story. The authors choose a tone to serve as the backdrop of a story, Common tones are intellectual, hopeful, melancholy. Children’s literature usually has a didactic tone..This includes hopeful, moralistic, loving, sympathetic, and wondrous tones, Since tone influences the meaning of the reading material, stories must be processed so children can understand the message of the story. Tones can change throughout the story. Authors can change the tone as the characters change. Further, most authors use the setting to emphasize the tone. An example is the use of rain to emphasize the gloomy fecling of the character or the use of the rainbow to signal hope. Scanned with CamScannerStyle Style is an element that is very personal to the author. It has to do with how the author writes rather than what the author writes. It reflects the author’s choice of diction, literary techniques, figurative language, sentence structures, rhythm, and symbolism. Style usually sets the mood of the story. Style is what distinguishes one author from another. Most readers choose a literary piece because of the authors’ style of writing. Several authors have specific writing styles, such as the use of flashbacks or media res. Style is what distinguishes one author from another. To analyze the author’s style, the readers must look into the following: * the words used as well as the structures of the sentences; * the mood created; * the tone of the story; _ * ‘the effect that the author wants to achieve; * the symbolism, imagery, details; and ° the use of the literary devices. Scanned with CamScanner