Trait a quality of mind or habit of behavior Ex self centered sloppy needy Character traits help us to define and understand a character Internal quality ex Selfishness determines external behavior ID: 694716
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Slide1
Characters in FictionSlide2
Character Traits
Trait: a quality of mind or habit of behavior
Ex: self centered; sloppy; needy
Character traits help us to define and understand a character
Internal quality (ex. Selfishness) determines external behaviorSlide3
Characterization Process
5 ways in which an author can teach you about the characters
Actions by characters reveal their nature
What we do defines who we are
Author’s descriptions of characters
Appearance & Environment can reveal socioeconomic status
3. What the character says
Speeches move plot along but also allow us to draw conclusions about character’s motivesSlide4
Characterization Process
What others say about the character
Listen to what other characters say and what it reveals about a given character
The author (as narrator) presents judgments about the character
Usually doesn’t happen in fiction—most apt to happen in a playSlide5
Types of Characters
Round (usually the hero)
Round characters undergo some sort of change, making them DYNAMIC characters
Author presents enough detail to make them full, lifelike, and memorable
Change may be shown in
Actions
Realization of new strength
Acceptance of new conditions or the need to make changes
The discovery of unrecognized truthSlide6
Types of Characters
Flat
Flat characters do not grow or change; they stay the same, making them STATIC characters
Usually act to highlight the changes of the dynamic characters
Stock Characters: representatives of a class or group—stereotypes!
Insensitive father, interfering mother; greedy politicianSlide7
Other terms to know
Protagonist: a round character, who is clearly the main character in a story, but who lacks the qualities of a hero.
Antagonist: someone or something that opposes the goals of the protagonist (the bad guy)
Archetype: the
original pattern or model from
which
all things of the same
kind are copied or on which
they are
based; a model or
universal symbol; prototype (the hero, the mother figure,
the villain, the scapegoat, etc
.
-can also be theme)
Slide8
Ant
agon
ist
Honesty
and Integrity
Mother and Maggie
Dee/ Wangero
Self posturing / artificiality
Prot
agon
ist
Self-Sacrifice
Rapacity
Authentic relationship to a heritage of things made for “everyday use”
Ethnic Pretentiousness
Heritage
aesthetisism
utilitarianismSlide9
“Everyday Use”
Ingrained habits may be given up if justice makes a greater demand
.
or
A person whose honesty and tolerance have long made her susceptible to the strong will of another may reach a point where she will exert her own will for the sake of justice
.Slide10
“Cathedral” (1983)
Raymond CarverSlide11
Raymond Carver (1938-1988)
Influential short story writer of the last decades of the 20
th
century; influence comparable to Hemingway’s in the earlier part of the century
Born in Clatskanie, Oregon, raised in Pacific Northwest, married girlfriend right after high school (divorced in 1982)
Blue-color background: worked as janitor, sawmill worker (like his father); he often wrote about lower middle class workers
Struggled with alcoholism, like his father; quit drinking in 1977 Slide12Slide13
Raymond Carver (1938-1988)
got college degree and received M.F.A. from prestigious University of Iowa Writers Workshop (from which Flannery O’Connor had graduated)
Taught at several universities, including Syracuse University in New York
Married poet Tess Gallagher in 1988; died that year of lung cancerSlide14
Raymond Carver (1938-1988)
His style has been called “minimalist” for its simple, spare narration; Carver rejected the term because it “smacks of smallness of vision and execution.”
Some early stories are bleak but later ones, like “Cathedral,” developed a more positive, spiritual dimensionSlide15
Vision vs. Reality
“Cathedral” is about “vision vs. reality” in several senses
Vision of cathedrals vs. narrator’s drab reality (job, married life)
Vision achieved in spite of real blindness
Television (mass-media) vs. real life
Art (drawing) vs. real life/ T.V. Slide16
Narrator’s Reality
Marriage: “My wife finally took her eyes off the blind man and looked at me. I had the feeling she didn’t like what she saw. I shrugged”
(177);
“My wife and I hardly ever went to bed at the same time”
(180)
Job: “
How long had I been in my present position? (Three years.) Did I like my work? (I didn
’
t.) Was I going to stay with it? (What were the options?)
”
(178) Slide17
Chartres
Cathedral of Notre-Dame
Slide18
Chartres
Cathedral of Notre-DameSlide19
Cathedrals: Narrator’s Description (2)
“
They
’
re massive. They
’
re built of stone. Marble, too, sometimes. In those olden days, when they built cathedrals, men wanted to be close to God. In those olden days, God was an important part of everyone
’
s life. You could tell this from their cathedral-building
”
(181).Slide20
ReimsSlide21
Carver’s Style
Simple,
direct
Colloquial-
language is casual and conversational: it's the difference between "What are you going to do?" and "
Whatchagonnado
?"
Statements of what happens, how things work
(176,
last
¶): “I saw my wife laughing as she parked the car. . . .”
Carver shows the minute details of reality to help us to see
Similar to the narrator and his wife helping the blind man see the details of the cathedral, the faceSlide22
Indirect Characterization & Direct Characterization
Direct Characterization
Author/narrator makes clear statements about the character’s personality and what the character is like
Examples of Carver’s direct characterization of Robert
“This blind man was late forties”
“a heavy-set”
“balding man”
“with stooped shoulders, as if he carried a great weight there”
Find 3 other examples of Direct Characterization with your table group. Slide23
Indirect Characterization & Direct Characterization
Indirect Characterization
the writer reveals information about a character and his personality through that character's thoughts, words, and actions, along with how other characters respond to that character, including what they think and say about him
.
Think of it this way…direct characterization is a “tell”, while indirect characterization is a “show”
Find 3examples of Indirect Characterization of with your table group.
Consider: Why does the
narrator’s wife want
Robert to visit? What factors lead to that decision? How do we know how Robert feels? How does the author hint at Robert’s mental state throughout the story?Slide24
Indirect Characterization & Direct Characterization
Direct characterization moves plot along more quickly
Indirect characterization engages the reader’s imagination more
WRITING:
First, determine what you deem to be Robert’s major character trait—the one that really defines who he is.
Then, discuss which method of characterization is more effective in “Cathedral”.
W
rite out a one paragraph explanation of which method of characterization is more effective to determine the major character trait.
Be specific. You must include at least two direct quotes from the story to support your opinion