Characters

What is a Character?

There are many ways to categorize a character.

Main Minor Round

Flat Static

Dynamic Protagonist Antagonist

Main and Minor Characters

The plot of a story is focused around the main character.

Minor characters provide insight to the main character. They often do not cause anything significant to happen within the plot and cannot exist without the main character.

Dynamic vs. Static

Dynamic characters are fully developed and mirror a real person. This means their actions and thoughts are believable. As the plot unfolds, the dynamic character will change in some way.

Dynamic vs. Static

Static characters do not change. They remain the same throughout the story/plot line.

Round vs. Flat

Round characters are well-developed. The author gives them many traits, both good and bad. They are not easily defined because we know many details about the character

Round characters are realistic and life-like.

Round vs. Flat

Flat characters are not well-developed. You can define them easily in a single sentence because they do not have many traits. These characters are sometimes stereotypes.

Protagonist

The protagonist is the main character in a piece of literary work who is the hero.

Antagonist

In a piece of literature, the antagonist is the character that goes against, opposes, or fights the protagonist.

Foil Character

Foil characters contrast with another character (usually the protagonist) to highlight the protagonist’s personality traits.

Stock Character

Stock characters are related to literary archetypes (stereotypes), but they are often more narrowly defined.

Characterization

Characterization is the process by which the writer reveals the personality of a character.

Characterization

Two types of characterization:DIRECT—what the author tells about a

character. Example: Jana is loud and talkative. Jim is shy

and timid.

INDIRECT—what the author shows about a character.

Indirect Characterization

An author shows characterization by:

SPEECH

THOUGHTS

EFFECTS ON OTHERS

ACTIONS

LOOKS