Class Class 55

EWRT 2 A Game of Thrones

REVIEW: ANALOGYREVIEW: ANALOGY1. Trusting Varys for information is like relying on a

politician for change- they will use their power to help you if it serves their own interests.

2. Telling Samwell he is a coward is like telling Bill Gates he is rich; he already knows.

3. Telling Bran not to climb and explore is like telling a bird to not fly.

4. Joffery is to the kingdom what pollution is to the environment.

5. Dany trusting Ser jorah is like a reader trusting an author; only one of them has the whole story.

AGENDAAGENDADefining your CharacterModes of Characterization

DirectIndirect

Eight Methods of CharacterizationRhetorical Strategies:

ExamplesExplanation

In-class Writing

Take a few minutes and answer these Take a few minutes and answer these questions about your character:questions about your character:

1. How does ancestry shape your character? Is the character at odds with family traditions?

2. Who are character’s closest family members: spouse, children, parents, grandparents, siblings?

3. What motivates your character? Money? Love? Truth? Power? Justice?4. What does your character want more than anything else in the world? 5. What other characters or events are interfering with your character’s

goals? What obstacles are in the way? 6. What is your character’s single greatest fear? How did your character

acquire his or her fears?7. What are your character’s flaws and weaknesses?8. Do the character’s fears and flaws prevent him or her from reaching a

goal or goals?

Direct or Direct or Indirect?Indirect?

Two Modes of Two Modes of CharacterizationCharacterization

Direct CharacterizationThe writer makes

direct statements about a character’s personality and tells what the character is like.

Think adjectives.

Indirect CharacterizationThe writer reveals

information about a character and his/her 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/her.

Think verbs.

Direct Characterization Gary is a nice and caring

person.

Gary can sometimes be very mean or rude.

Indirect Characterization Gary watched his little

brother for two hours while their mother was ill, taking care of his every need. He did this without being asked and he did not ask for anything in return.

“The next thing I know, Gary was tearing up my rose garden,” said Beatrice his elderly grandmother as she gave her statement to the police. She was still badly shaken after the attack.

ShowingShowing

Eight ways to look at a character in a story

1. Physical Description1. Physical DescriptionPhysical description is the most

common way of describing a character.It identifies physical attributes of the

character.height, skin, hair and eye color, short/tall,

skinny/fat, glasses, nose size and shape, disability, difference

gestures and movements: walking, standing, moving, wrinkling brow

2. Name 2. Name AnalysisAnalysis

To analyze a character’s name, look more closely at its meaning, allusion, or suggestion. Not all characters have a name with

significance to the story. Often though, author’s carefully choose a character’s name to represent a trait or quality about the character or the story.

STARK: Lords of Winterfell The English/German surname Stark means

“strong, brave.” Stark is also a common word in the English

language meaning “harsh, grim or desolate; extremely simple or severe; bluntly or sternly plain.” The word  comes from the Middle/Old English stearc (stiff, firm). It is similar to the German stark and the Old Norse sterkr (both meaning strong).

Stark also means, in an archaic sense, “powerful, massive, robust.”

http://thekingskeep.wordpress.com/2011/05/02/whats-in-a-name-stark-edition-2/

This method of characterization is the reader’s description of the character’s attitude and behavior.

The character’s attitude is how the character appears to feel about what is happening to him or her in the story. Sometimes we read attitude in behavior rather than words.

4. Dialogue4. DialogueDialogue refers to characters’ wordsDialogue includes the characters diction

(word choice) and syntax (word arrangement).

It also includes the tone of the character when he or she speaks.Is the character serious? Sarcastic? Shy?

Obnoxious? Ignorant?These qualities can be conveyed through the

character’s dialogue.

5. Thoughts5. Thoughts The thoughts of a character can only be

analyzed if we are inside the head of the character.

This means that you can only include an analysis of a character’s thoughts if you are told what the character is thinking.

6. Reactions of Others6. Reactions of OthersWhen analyzing the reactions of

others, you are looking closely at how other characters in the story react to or treat the character that you are characterizing.

Reactions include verbal responses and physical or emotional treatment.

Character reactions can tell you if the character you are analyzing is liked or disliked, popular, honest, trustworthy and so on.

Example of Reactions of Example of Reactions of Others:Others:

7. Action or Incident7. Action or Incident Characters can be analyzed by

looking at an action or incident and how it affected them or how they reacted to it.

What action did the character take when confronted with a certain situation?

Is there and incident in the character’s past that has shaped him or her as a character?

The action or incident determines the way the character develops as the story goes on.

8. Physical/Emotional Setting:8. Physical/Emotional Setting:The setting of a story affects characters’

development as well as the plot.The physical setting of a story is where

the story is actually taking place and can affect the way a character develops.

The emotional setting of a story is the series of emotions that the character deals with throughout the story.

OK. So now what?OK. So now what?Look back to the set of questions

you answered at the beginning of class. How do you know the answers to these questions? Of course, you read them in the text, either through direct or indirect characterization clues. Now, you have to provide the evidence to substantiate your claims to your reader.

33. What motivates your character? . What motivates your character? Money? Love? Truth? Power? Money? Love? Truth? Power? Justice?Justice?

Suppose I am writing about Jon Snow, and I answered question #3 by saying that his status as a bastard is what motivates him in the novel.

When we assert an opinion or make a claim about a character, we do so to support the main argument—the thesis. But, in order to convince the reader that our claim is true, we must present evidence that shows it to be true.

For example, if we are going to claim that Jon Snow is driven to excel because of his status as a bastard, we might use this quote:

But we must also tie our assertion to the quotation so that people understand why we included the quotation in the essay!

Explaining ContextTo explain context, we must compose multiple sentences that give background information about the textual evidence. We must tell the reader what is going on in the novel in the section we chose our passage from.

Jon arrives at the wall and begins his training with his new “brothers,” but his skills with a sword do not win him many friends. Four boys confront Jon to try to put him in his place, but he is not an easy target to overcome physically. Yet, when the boys call his mother “a whore,” Jon loses control of himself and the confrontation escalates into a brawl. The armorer breaks up the fight, and he reminds Jon that no matter what the boys say about his mother, she remains unchanged. An upset Jon slips into this reverie:

Jon Snow is driven to excel because of his social status as a bastard. This is exemplified soon after he arrives at his new post at The Wall. Jon begins his training with his new “brothers,” but his skills with a sword do not win him many friends. Four boys confront Jon to try to put him in his place, but he is not an easy target to overcome physically. Yet, when the boys call his mother “a whore” Jon loses control of himself, and the confrontation escalates into a brawl. The armorer breaks up the fight, and he reminds Jon that no matter what the boys say about his mother, she remains unchanged. An upset Jon slips into this reverie:

Explanation of context

Yet, the connection between the evidence and the assertion is not always clear, so you must also explain why the evidence you have presented makes your claim a truth.

The connection between your assertion and the evidence might not yet seem obvious, so we must explain why this bit of evidence supports our claim. We might say something like this:

Jon’s recurring dream indicates an unresolved issue concerning his legitimacy, and this issue influences his sense of self and guides both his behavior and actions. In Trauma and Dreams, Barret discusses Gestaltist Dream Theory, which suggests recurrent dreams represent a person’s state of psychic imbalance. Because of the value placed on parentage in A Game of Thrones, the lack of a mother upsets Jon’s sense of value. In order to restore balance, Jon must achieve status through another venue. This is the quest that drives his growth and development in the novel. He is driven to prove himself an important part of the social structure despite his bastard status.

Jon Snow is driven to excel because of his social status as a bastard. This is exemplified soon after he arrives at his new post at The Wall. Jon begins his training with his new “brothers,” but his skills with a sword do not win him many friends. Four boys confront Jon to try to put him in his place, but he is not an easy target to overcome physically. Yet, when the boys call his mother “a whore,” Jon loses control of himself, and the confrontation escalates into a brawl. The armorer breaks up the fight, and he reminds Jon that no matter what the boys say about his mother, she remains unchanged. An upset Jon slips into this reverie: “Not my mother, [he] thought stubbornly. He knew nothing of his mother; Eddard Stark would not talk of her. Yet he dreamed of her at times, so often that he could almost see her face. In his dreams, she was beautiful, and highborn, and her eyes were kind” (122). Jon’s recurring dream indicates an unresolved issue concerning his legitimacy, and this issue influences his sense of self and guides both his behavior and actions. In Trauma and Dreams, Barret discusses Gestaltist Dream Theory, which suggests recurrent dreams represent a person’s state of psychic imbalance. Because of the value placed on parentage in A Game of Thrones, the lack of a mother upsets Jon’s sense of self-value. In order to restore balance, Jon must achieve status through another venue. This is the quest that drives his growth and development in the novel. He is determined to prove himself an important part of the social structure despite his standing of bastard.

Explanation of context

Now go back to your questions and answers:

Choose one and write down your assertionFind textual evidence (a quotation) to support itWrite an explanation of the context

Compose multiple sentences in which you give background information about where you found your textual evidence. What’s going on in the novel in the section you chose your passage from?

Write an explanation of the evidence Tell how your textual support (your

quotation) makes your point. Add a concluding sentence

RememberRememberIn order to help a reader see your argument,

you have to provide, explain, and analyze evidence that supports your thesis.

In this type of essay, evidence (examples) acts as supporting material to explain or clarify the your thesis.

The key to a good essay is to use enough detailed and specific examples to get your points across. Examples should be carefully chosen so that they will appeal to readers and help them understand your argument.

Effective examples should enhance your writing, giving your essay vitality and intensity.

Your essay may contain both brief and comprehensive examples.

Brief examples may occur relatively frequently within the essay, with just enough concise details to illustrate clear-cut ideas.

Comprehensive examples are used to illustrate complex ideas that can not be adequately explained using brief examples. For instance, if you are trying to show nuanced characteristics, you might have to group multiple examples to make your point.

Be choosey about what you include, using the strongest examples. Make every example work in your favor.

HomeworkHomeworkRead A Game of Thrones through

500 Post # 8 In-class writing:

Paragraph practice

Post #9 Find one example for six of the eight methods of characterization.

Study Vocabulary: ◦ Test class seven