Direct vs.

Indirect
Characterization
Mrs. Ramirez
Language and Literature
Quickwrite

• What is the difference between direct and

indirect?
• What is an example of something that is
“direct”?

What is an example of something that is

“indirect”?

• Partner talk!
Direct Characterization

• direct characterization:

the author or narrator makes direct statements

about a character’s traits. The author tells us
about the character’s personality directly.
• Example:
• “The patient boy and quiet girl were both well mannered
and did not disobey their mother.”
• Explanation: The author is directly telling the audience
the personality of these two children. The boy is “patien
t” and the girl is “quiet.”
Indirect Characterization
• The author or narrator reveals a character’s
traits through his or her actions and speech.
• SHOWING NOT TELLING
• When Alana walked in the room everyone
stopped what they were doing to look at her
stunning big blue eyes, red full lips and long,
silky dark hair. She commanded attention
wherever she went due to her exotic features.
• Jon was unlike any other math student. He was
able to calculate long and detailed problems in
is head faster than Mr. Kelso.
STEAL Method for Indirect
Characterization

• Speech
• Thoughts
• Effect on others toward the
character.
• Actions/how they behave
• Looks/ how they dress
 Indirect Characterization
• SPEECH - What does the character say?
How does the character speak to other characters?

• THOUGHTS - What is revealed through the character’s private thoughts

and feelings?

• EFFECTS - What is revealed through the character’s effect on other

people? How do other characters feel or behave in reaction to the
character?

• ACTIONS - What does the character do? How does the character
behave?

• LOOKS - What does the character look like? How does the character
dress?
Freewrite Activity

• Provide both a direct and indirect

characterization of yourself based on the story
of your life.

• Each should be 3-4 sentences. Write one

sentence explaining why your responses are
direct or indirect.
Direct or Indirect
Characterization?

• Ed Johnson scratched his head in confusion as

the sales rep explained Dralco’s newest engine
performance diagnostic computer. The old
mechanic hated modern electronics, preferring
the old days when all he needed was a stack of
manuals and a good set of tools.
• Direct!
Direct or Indirect
Characterization?

• ‘Ivan is an incredibly strong fellow,’ remarked

the General, but he has the misfortune to be
deaf and dumb. A simple fellow, but, I’m afraid,
like all his race, a bit of a savage.’
Direct Characterization?

• ‘Ivan is an incredibly strong fellow,’ remarked the

General, but he has the misfortune to be deaf and
dumb. A simple fellow, but, I’m afraid, like all his
race, a bit of a savage.’

• Here Zaroff has explicitly described another

character Ivan in the story The Most Dangerous
Game, leaving readers with no more questions about
him. Ivan is a muscular, huge man, having a long
black beard. He is deaf and dumb, yet strong, Zaroff
says.
Indirect Characterization?
• Kelly held up six different outfits in front of the
mirror and pondered which would go best with her
clunky, black boots, purple pastel eye shadow and
the large silver earrings she’d already taken from
her sister. After ninety minutes of mixing and
matching T-shirts and jeans, and texting her BFF
multiple times for advice, Kelly finally made up
her mind. She’d give the torn jeans and white
oversized hoodie a try, hoping to catch Alonso’s
attention at the dance.
• Indirect!
Direct or Indirect
Characterization?
• Kelly held up six different outfits in front of the
mirror and pondered which would go best with her
clunky, black boots, purple pastel eye shadow and
the large silver earrings she’d already taken from
her sister. After ninety minutes of mixing and
matching T-shirts and jeans, and texting her BFF
multiple times for advice, Kelly finally made up
her mind. She’d give the torn jeans and white
oversized hoodie a try, hoping to catch Alonso’s
attention at the dance.
Direct or Indirect
Characterization?
• “The old man was thin and gaunt with deep
wrinkles in the back of his neck. The brown
blotches of the benevolent skin cancer the sun
brings from its reflection on the tropic sea were
on his cheek … Everything about him was old
except his eyes and they were the same color as
the sea and were cheerful and undefeated.”
• Taken from The Old Man and the Sea by Earnest
Hemingway
Direct Characterization?
• “The old man was thin and gaunt with deep wrinkles
in the back of his neck. The brown blotches of the
benevolent skin cancer the sun brings from its
reflection on the tropic sea were on his cheek …
Everything about him was old except his eyes and
they were the same color as the sea and were
cheerful and undefeated.”
• Hemingway uses the method of direct
characterization to describe the old man’s personality
traits, especially the vivid eyes of his main character,
the old man, Santiago in his novel.
• Taken from The Old Man and the Sea by Earnest
Hemingway
Indirect or Direct
Characterization?

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• :34
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWBWnJM
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