Characterization Review

Characterization: a device in literature used to reveal details about a character in a story. We make inferences to figure out what the characters are like. There are two types of characterization in literature, direct and indirect.

Direct: when the author plainly states what the character is like.

Jason is a handsome and generous man. He always lends a hand when someone needs it.

Indirect: when the author uses dialogue, interactions and appearance to give details about a character.

We can use STRAL to figure out a character’s personality by their:  

S: speech- what they say in dialogue

T: thoughts- what they are thinking about

R: response to others- how they respond to other characters and how characters respond to them 

A: actions- what they do, how they act

L: looks- their appearance and the look on their faces