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Unit 1: Fiction
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<skip intro>
Fiction is like a spider’sweb, attached ever so lightlyperhaps, but still attached to
life at all four corners. — Virginia Woolf
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What is fiction?
• Fiction is a genre, or category of literary
composition, that includes any work of prose
that tells an invented or imaginary story.
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What are the two main
forms of fiction?
• The two main forms of fiction are the short
story and the novel.
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What are your favorite
types of fiction?
• Realistic fiction
• Mystery
• Science fiction• Romance
• Historical fiction
• Horror• Fantasy
• Sports fiction
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What are the purposes of
fiction?
• To entertain readers
• To enlighten readers by sharing the human
experience
• To provide readers with an escape from reality
• To teach readers empathy
• To help readers explore unknown worlds
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What are the five elements
of fiction?
• Plot
• Point of view
• Characters• Setting
• Theme
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Characters
• Characters are individuals who take part in the
action of a literary work.
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What do you think makes fictional characters
seem like real people and not simply caricatures?
What makes a character memorable?
I have tried every device I know to breathe
life into my characters, for there is little in
fiction more rewarding than to see real
people interact on a page.
— James A. Michener
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Major Characters
• The characters around whom a story is
centered are the major characters.
• Major characters
– play important roles in the plot of a story
– are multi-faceted or complex
characters
– undergo some type of change
during a story
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Major Characters
• Major characters can be classified as
protagonists or antagonists.
– The protagonist has the central role in a story.
– The antagonist works against the protagonist.
• This friction, or tension, creates a story’s conflict.
– The protagonist and antagonist are complex
characters. – Like real people, each has his or her own strengths
and weaknesses.
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The Protagonist
• The protagonist
– is motivated by a goal, aspiration, or desire
– uses his or her strengths (such as courage,
cleverness, wisdom, or kindness) to overcome
conflicts or obstacles that stand in the way of
this goal
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The Antagonist
• The antagonist
– is motivated by a goal, aspiration, or desire
• often this goal is to frustrate, challenge, hurt, or destroy
the protagonist
– uses his or her strengths (such as cleverness,
determination, or knowledge of the protagonist’s
weaknesses) to thwart the actions of the
protagonist
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Minor Characters
• The supporting characters who do not play a
major role in the plot of a story are the minor
characters.
• Minor characters
– lack complexity
– remain unchanged throughout a story
– give the major characters points of interaction
– provide insight into the major characters by
highlighting or contrasting the qualities of the
major characters
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Round and Flat Characters
• In addition to being classified as major or
minor, characters can also be classified as
round or flat.
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Round Characters
• Round characters
– tend to be the major characters in a story
– show a wide range of emotions and can be
unpredictable
– have their own desires and motivations
– are dynamic (undergo a change during a story)
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Flat Characters
• Flat characters
– tend to be the minor characters in a story
– are often stock characters or stereotypes whose
emotions and behavior are predictable
– are valuable to understanding the desires and
motivations of the major or round characters
– are static (remain the same throughout a story)
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Characterization
• The act of creating or describing a character is
called characterization.
• Writers use three major techniques to form a
character:
– Showing what the character says, does, or thinks
– Showing what other characters say or think about
the character
– Describing the physical features, dress, and
personality of the character
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Indirect Characterization
• The first two techniques — showing what
characters say, do, or think and showing what
other characters say or think about them — are
examples of indirect characterization.
• In indirect characterization, the writer shows
what a character is like.
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• In this excerpt, readers get to know Granny
Cain by what she says and does.
―Mornin, ladies,‖ a new man said. … ―We’re filmin for thecounty,‖ he said with a smile. ―Mind if we shoot a bit around
here?‖
―I do indeed,‖ said Granny with no smile. … ―Suppose you
just shut that machine off,‖ said Granny real low through her teeth,
and took a step down off the porch and then another.
―Now, aunty,‖ Camera said, pointing the thing straight at her.
―Your mama and I are not related.‖
—from ―Blues Ain’t No Mockin Bird,‖
by Toni Cade Bambara
Indirect Characterization
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Direct Characterization
• The third technique — describing the physical
features, dress, and personalities of the
characters — is an example of direct
characterization.
• In direct characterization, the writer tells what
characters are like.
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Direct Characterization
• In this excerpt, the author tells readers what
General Zaroff looks like.
Rainsford’s first impression was that the man was singularly
handsome; his second was that there was an original, almost bizarre quality about the general’s face. He was a tall man past
middle age, for his hair was a vivid white; but his thick eyebrows
and pointed military mustache were as black as the night from
which Rainsford had come. His eyes, too, were black and very
bright. He had high cheek bones, a sharp-cut nose, a spare, dark face, the face of a man used to giving orders, the face of an
aristocrat.
—from ―The Most Dangerous Game,‖
by Richard Connell
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Motives
Characterization is the presentation of
the nature of the people in a story.
Characterization is really the
presentation of motives. We understand
a person if we understand what makes
him act the way he does.
— Ayn Rand
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Motives
• To understand characterization, readers need torecognize motives.
• Motives are the forces that drive a character to
think, feel, or behave in a certain way.• Characters can be motivated by
– the desire for accolades
– the need for revenge – the burden of guilt or shame
– the hope of redemption
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Dialogue
• One method of indirect characterization thatallows readers to understand characters is
dialogue, or what the characters say.
• Dialogue can provide insights aboutcharacters, such as culture, level of education,
socio-economic status, social skills, and
personality.• Dialogue can also inform readers of the ―who,
what, and where‖ of the situation taking place.
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Dialect
• When analyzing the dialogue of characters,
readers should pay attention to the writer’s use
of dialect.
• Dialect is a version of a language spoken by
the people of a particular place, time, or social
group.
• For example, when Mrs. Jones in ―Thank You,
M’am‖ says, ―You a lie!‖ she is speaking in
dialect.
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What might be a writer’s purpose in using
dialect?
What stories have you read in this unit that
contain dialect?
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• The Methods of Characterization Chart on the
next slide was completed for old Mrs. Pan, a
major character in ―The Good Deed.‖
• After you view this chart, choose a character
from this unit and complete your own Methods
of Characterization Chart using the blank
template on the subsequent slide.
Methods of
Characterization
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The Character (Draw apicture of your character.)
What the Character SaysWhat the Character
Thinks
What the Writer Says
About the Physical
Features, Dress, and
Personality of the
Character
What the
Character Does
What Other Characters Say or Think About the Character
She feels lonely
and useless in
America.
She is an old, tiny
woman who wears a
lavender silk coat.
Old Mrs. Pan
"It is the duty of the
parents to arrange the
marriage of thechildren."
She bribes her
grandson into
taking her to the
china shop.
Her son worries about his mother adjusting to America.
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Complete the chart for a character from this unit.
The Character (Draw a
picture of your character.)
What the Character SaysWhat the Character
Thinks
What the Writer Says
About the Physical
Features, Dress, andPersonality of the
Character
What the
Character Does
What Other Characters Say or Think About the Character
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SUMMARY:
Characterization• To reveal the essence of a character to readers,
authors use several methods:
– What a character says (dialogue)
– What a character does (actions)
– What a character thinks (opinions, feelings)
– What other characters say or think about the
character (opinions, observations)
– What the writer says about the character (physical
features, dress, and personality of the character)