Characterization in literature

Physical description, the character's physical appearance is described. For example, characters might be described as tall, thin, fat, pretty, et cetera. We might be told the color of hair or something about the clothing of the character. How the character dresses might reveal something about the character. Does the character wear old dirty clothing or stylish expensive clothing? Action or attitude or behavior. What the character does tells us a lot about him or her, as well as how the character behaves and his or her attitude. Is the character a good person or a bad person? Is the character helpful to others or selfish? Inner thoughts, what the character thinks reveals things about the character. We discover things about their personalities and feelings which sometimes helps us understand the character's actions. 

Reactions affect on others or with the other characters say and feel about this character. We learn about the relationships among the characters. How does a character make the other characters feel? Do they feel scared, happy or confused? This helps the reader have a better understanding of all the characters. Speech, what the character says provides a great deal of insight for the reader. The character might speak in a shy, quiet manner, or in a nervous manner. The character might speak intelligently or in a rude manner. This is a brief excerpt of a narrative to help understand how authors might use the various methods of characterization. And could feel her heart pounding as she entered her new school for the first time. She was not expecting such a large campus. Her old school is very small in comparison. She felt a little out of place as she looked around and saw how the other girls were dressed. 

They seemed so mature in their skirts and heels. She felt uncomfortable in her baggy jeans and old tennis shoes, but this was how everyone at her old school dressed. She started to miss how she felt with her old friends. As a group of girls approached her, she became increasingly nervous and dropped her books. The girls laughed as they pointed to her and made jokes, calling her a farm girl. She quickly gathered her books and ran to the restrooms to hide. She called her mother on her cell phone and cried mother, please, I want to go back home, I don't belong here. In this brief excerpt, we saw how the author uses physical description to convey information about Anne. We know she's dressed differently than the other students. She wears baggy jeans and tennis shoes while the other girls wear skirts and heels. 

We get a sense that the students in our hometown are very different from the students in her new school. Perhaps she moved from the country to the city. The author uses action to describe Anne when she dropped her books. We know she's very nervous and uncomfortable and dropping her books has caused unwanted attention. She is probably feeling embarrassed and humiliated at this point. Anne's inner thoughts are communicated in that she was nervous, heart was pounding, and she was surprised at the large size of the school. She felt out of place and she missed her old friends. Again, we get the sense that she is now in a very different place than where she once lived, and she's not very happy about her situation. The reaction of the other girls when they see Anne paints a picture for the audience. They call her a farm girl, which again tells us this new town is very different from Anne's hometown. 

The other girls do not seem very friendly toward Anne because of her appearance. She is different from the others. And speech when she calls her mother tells us she is very upset, sad and desperate to go back home. She feels at a place in this new school and feels she will not be accepted in this new environment. In this lesson, we learn the difference between direct characterization with the author tells us about the character and indirect characterization with the author shows us about the character. We learned about 5 methods of characterization and a good way to remember them by thinking of the word pairs. The 5 methods are a physical description, action, inner thoughts, reactions, and speech. We examine each method in a short example in order to have a good understanding of how authors use the various methods of characterization to develop the characters and create images for the audience.