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Characterisation

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4 views

Characterisation

Uploaded by

gabimazonas151
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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>>>>> skills >>>>> characterisation E / Lo

How to write a characterisation


A characterisation is a description of all the features that make up a personality and its development. One
can distinguish between two main methods:
• direct (explicit) characterization: the reader is told about a character’s personality directly by the
author, by another character or by the character him/herself
• indirect (implicit) characterization: the reader is expected to draw conclusions about a character by
studying his/her behaviour, opinions, choice of words and/or way of talking

Before you start working on your characterisation find out how the character’s personality is revealed in the
text. This could be …
• through the narrator’s description of his/her outward appearance.
• through direct comments on his/her character.
• by what he/she does, says or thinks.
• by showing what other people think or say about him/her.

Then collect the facts from the text and draw your conclusions about the person’s character. Read the text
carefully and mark words or sentences or write down lines (with page / line numbers!) that give you
information about the character(s). Look for…
• name, age, figure, clothes, height, sex
• language, nationality, general impression
• social background, family, kind of friends, profession
• what he/she does and says
• his/her behaviour (e.g. toward other characters) and actions
• thoughts, dreams, emotions, attitudes
• what other people say/think about him/her

Ask yourself if the character(s) change(s) during the development of the text and if so, how. Number your
notes and group them, then organise your notes into paragraphs. Each paragraph should deal with one
characteristic feature (e.g. helpfulness, friendliness, carelessness, imagination, etc. are all characteristic
features). Do not forget to write a short introduction in which you present the character(s) and his or her
(their) situation. Move from the outward features to the inward features/nature when writing your
characterization. Do not forget to work with the text by using text reference and give examples for your
findings, especially when you are working on the last four categories mentioned above. Try to show how the
different characteristic features belong together. Write a conclusion that sums up the results of your
detailed analysis.

Basically present tense is used in characterizations.

After Writing Checklist:


• Does your introduction lead to the detailed analysis of one or more characters?
• Does your characterisation include all the notes that you made before starting to write?
• Have you linked up the different aspects in a logical way?
• Have you referred to or quoted the text?
• Does your conclusion offer a convincing summary of what you have found?

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