Springboard Lesson on Characterization
- 1. Unit 2: Changes in My World The Lion King Created by: Gina Giordano Un de rs ta n di ng C h a racter iz ati on
- 2. Definition
- 3. Definition Characterization is the process of conveying information about characters in narrative or dramatic works of art or everyday conversation. Characters may be presented by means of description, through their actions, speech, or thoughts.
- 4. Ways to know a Character Appearance how the character looks how the character dresses Thoughts and conversation what the character says, thinks, or feels what others in the story say or think about the character Actions what the character does what the character chooses not to do what others in the story do to the main character
- 5. Types of Characters Protagonist ★ The main character in the story Antagonist ★ The character or force that opposes the protagonist Foil ★ A character who provides a contrast to the protagonist.
- 6. Major versus Minor MAJOR CHARACTERS MINOR CHARACTERS Almost always round or three-dimensional Almost always flat or two-dimensional characters. They have good and bad characters. They have only one or two qualities. Their goals, ambitions and values striking qualities. Their predominant quality change. A round character changes as a is not balanced by an opposite quality. They result of what happens to him or her. A are usually all good or all bad. Such character who changes inside as a result of characters can be interesting or amusing in what happens to him is referred to in their own right, but they lack depth. Flat literature as a DYNAMIC character. A characters are sometimes referred to as dynamic character grows or progresses to a STATIC characters because they do not higher level of understanding in the course change in the course of the story. of the story.
- 7. Character: _____________________ Main Character Trait: Directions: Write the character’s main personality trait or attribute in the center. Find four pieces of evidence in the text which reveal the trait or attribute. Write the evidence on the lines provided. (Include the page number on which you found the evidence.) © 2006 Education Oasis™ http://www.educationoasis.com May be reproduced for classroom use only.
- 8. Readers who want to understand a character can ask questions like the following: Are the characters believable? Have you ever felt like this character, or have you known anyone who felt like this character? What about the character seemed real and true? Is each character’s behavior consistent with what we know about him or her? Does the behavior remain consistent throughout the book? Is the change that occurs in the character consistent with what we know about the character? Although the character’s behavior is consistent, is it also not stereotyped? Does the character’s behavior show that the character is a unique individual? Do you identify with the character? How would you have reacted if you were the character? Does the character change or learn as the story progresses? Does the character reach a new understanding about the situation or about life? Is the character memorable? Will you remember this character in a month?
- 9. Directions: In the left-hand column, write the character traits of the one of the characters in the story. In the right-hand column, list how the trait is revealed in the text. (Traits can be revealed by events, actions, words, thoughts, attitudes, and feelings.) Character: ___________________________________ Trait Revealed by... Character Traits Word Bank adventurous, afraid, ambitious, arrogant, bad, bold, bossy, brainy, brave, brilliant, calm, careful, careless, charming, cheerful, childish, cowardly, cruel, curious, demanding, depressed, dishonest, eager, easygoing, energetic, evil, faithful, fearless, foolish, friendly, funny, gentle, giving, gloomy, graceful, greedy, guilty, happy, healthy, helpful, honest, hopeful, imaginative, impatient, impolite, innocent, inventive, intelligent, jealous, kind, lazy, lonely, loving, loyal, lucky, mature, mean, mysterious, nervous, nice, noisy, obedient, peaceful, pleasant, polite, poor, proud, quiet, responsible, rough, rowdy, rude, sad, scared, selfish, serious, shy, silly, sly, smart, sneaky, spoiled, strange, sweet, talented, thoughtful, thoughtless, trusting, trustworthy, unfriendly, unhappy, upset, warm, weak, wicked, wise, worried, zany © 2006 Education Oasis™ http://www.educationoasis.com May be reproduced for classroom use only.
- 10. Analyzing Character refers to a person, an animal or an object in a story. It is very important that characters are well-developed, believable and consistent. At the beginning of a story a conflict is presented for the main character to resolve. There are secondary characters who are important to the main character because they help the main character move toward solving a problem. By the end of a story, a character should change or grow somehow. This could be by learning something new or by growing in understanding of self.
- 11. How does Simba change in the end of the story? What happens that makes him grow?
- 12. Name Date Period Character Study Other people think that I... What I really like is... Draw a picture in this space. One day I will... I really dislike... I like people who... My favorite thing to do is... Freeology.com - Free Teaching Resources
- 13. References ★Freeology.com ★Educationoasis.com ★Disney images from Google images ★Disney writters Irene Mecchi & Johnathon Roberts ★Disney song writer Hans Zimmer rd Create d as an enha nc emen t to th e 6t h grade Sp ringb oa cu rr icu lum fo r Un it 2