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September 9: Characterization September 9, 2014

Posted by garvoille in Uncategorized.

1. Warm-up. We either played the Show, Not Tell game on whiteboard, or students described a face projected on the whiteboard in order to convey an attitude.

2. Notes on Characterization. Students received W5 (not available online, since it has an amazing drawing on it — if you need it, get a copy from me). We took notes on three ways to use indirect characterization (DAD):

Dialogue: What they say (their vocabulary, their dialect)

Action: What they do. Actions speak louder than words.

Description: What they look like, walk like, sound like, talk like

Think of indirect characterization in literature like people-watching at SouthPoint (or wherever you go to watch the crowds). You can tell a lot about a person by just observing them. It’s fun to try to pinpoint what someone’s personality is like based on how they walk. Likewise, in literature, we read about characters and enjoy trying to figure them out.

3. Examples of Indirect Characterization. We looked at one example of indirect characterization together, underlining the loaded words that communicated more about the character than just his looks. We then figured out what the author was secretly trying to tell us about the character. Then, in pairs, students read another example of indirect characterization, also figuring out the secret the author was communicating.

4. Character Piece Prewriting. Students chose a person who appears in one of the parts of their memoir. They wrote down that person’s name. Then, they wrote down how they feel about the person. Finally, students wrote down physical descriptions of the person’s face that could hint at the secret they want to communicate to the reader.

HW: Write a description of your character, slanting your characterization to show your feelings toward them. This should be between 1/2 page and 1 page long. It can either be a story that includes a description or a description to add into a different part of your memoir. Due tomorrow.

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