Year 8 English (Extension)

1. Year 8 English (Extension) Character Study

2. “What does characterisationdo for a story? In a nutshell, it allows us to empathisewith the protagonist and secondary characters, and thus feel that what is happening to these people in the story is vicariously happening to us; it also gives us a sense of verisimilitude, or the semblance of living reality. • An important part of characterisationis dialogue, for it is both spoken and inward dialogue that affords us the opportunity to see into the characters' hearts and examine their motivations. In the best of stories, it is actually characterisationthat moves the story along, because a compelling character in a difficult situation creates his or her own plot."

3. Characterisation • A character in its most basic definition is an imagined person who inhabits a story. We usually recognise, in the main characters of a story, human personalities that become familiar to us and that we can relate to. • Characterisation is the creation and convincing representation of fictional characters. Characterisation can be achieved throughout a novel and develop throughout a narrative. It is achieved through speech, appearance, actions, thought and interactions. • There are two forms of characterisation: • Direct presentation (or characterisation) - This refers to what the speaker or narrator directly says or thinks about a character. In other words, in a direct characterisation, the reader is told what the character is like. • Indirect presentation (or characterisation) - This refers to what the character says or does. The reader then infers what the character is all about. This mimics how we understand people in the real world, since we can't "get inside their heads". In other words, in an indirect characterisation, it's the reader who is obliged to figure out what the character is like. And sometimes the reader will get it wrong.

4. Character types • Major or central characters- the plot and resolution of conflict revolves around these characters. • Minor characters serve to complement the major characters and help move the plot events forward. • Dynamic - A dynamic character is a person who changes over time, usually as a result of resolving a central conflict or facing a major crisis. Most dynamic characters tend to be central rather than background characters, because resolving the conflict is the major role of central characters. • Static - A static character is someone who does not change over time; his or her personality does not transform or evolve.

5. Round - A rounded character is anyone who has a complex personality; he or she is often portrayed as a conflicted and contradictory person. • Flat - A flat character is the opposite of a round character. This literary personality is notable for one kind of personality trait or characteristic. • Stock - Stock characters are those types of characters who have become conventional or stereotypical through repeated use in particular types of stories. Stock characters are instantly recognisableto readers or audience members (e.g. the femme fatale, the cynical but moral private eye, the mad scientist, the geeky boy with glasses, and the faithful sidekick).

6. Character types… • Protagonist - The protagonist is the central person in a story, and is often referred to as the story's main character. He or she (or they) is faced with a conflict that must be resolved. The protagonist may not always be admirable (e.g. an anti-hero); nevertheless s/he must command involvement on the part of the reader, or better yet, empathy. • Antagonist– The antagonist is the character(s) (or situation) that represents the opposition against the protagonist. The antagonist is an obstacle that the protagonist must overcome.

7. Anti-Hero - A major character, usually the protagonist, who lacks the morals and values of a conventional hero but they are the central character of the story and their struggles are still of interest to the readers • Foil - A foil is any character (usually the antagonist or an important supporting character) whose personal qualities contrast with another character (usually the protagonist). By providing this contrast, we get to know more about the other character. • Symbolic - A symbolic character is any major or minor character whose very existence represents some major idea or aspect of society.

8. So what makes up a character? • Ask yourself this … When I meet a stranger for the first time, what influences my initial impression of them as a person? What helps me to make a decision about the kind of person they are?

9. APPEARANCE We can judge a person without even having to speak to them because their outward appearance gives us clues about their personality, life, class, culture, values etc. Look at the following images and decide what clues we can infer from the appearance of the people in the images.

15. So how does this relate to the novel Parvana? Even though novels are not visual texts, authors can describe a character’s appearance through descriptive language. It is up to us as readers to interpret and visualise this information and make meaning from it.

16. Parvana’s appearance … • Think back to the early chapters in the novel. What does Parvana think about her own appearance? • Think back to how Parvana appears when in the market with her father? Why is she so conscious of her appearance? What theme could we relate this to? • What is the major change that occurs to Parvana’s appearance in the text? What indication does this give us about her changing attitudes and values? • How does Parvana feel about her appearance when she goes into the market dressed as a boy? What changes do you notice in the way she feels? Is she still powerless? How could we relate this to a theme? • Are there any other aspects of appearance that Parvana has to sacrifice in the novel?

17. Other characters … • How are the appearances of these characters described? Is appearance important in the construction of these characters? • Mrs. Weera • Fatana (Mother) • Shauzia

18. What else makes a character? • Often we find someone intriguing or attractive … until they open their mouth and speak. • We can learn a lot about someone’s personality by the way they speakand what they say. This builds on our understanding of a character’s intelligence, personality, values and attitudes etc. • Sometimes how someone speaks or what they say reinforces the initial opinion we have formed based on their appearance and other times what a character says challenges the opinion we have already formed based on their appearance. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAgNBabKR3k

20. I can’t wait to get home from work and make my husband dinner and let him relax after a hard day of work

21. I only have five minutes with the kids before I have to go to an important business meeting and present a lecture on feminist theory

22. OMG I love pink and shopping and pink, like totally. I’ll be tutoring this afternoon in Physics and Calculus

23. After the gym I’m going to the animal shelter to bathe and feed abandoned kittens and puppies

24. How has the speech of the people in these images changed or reinforced our original opinion of them? • How does this relate to Parvana? • Author’s utilise speech to further build on a character’s development and their contribution to meaning in a text. Furthermore, speech builds on the judgments readers have already made and reveal more about a character’s personality, life, culture, values and attitudes.

26. Actions • A character’s actions are integral to understanding a character and rounding out meaning as character contributes to it. A character’s actions lead the plot of a text and create or diffuse conflict. • We generally find that characters act in a reasonably consistent manner and that the author has provided them with motivation: sufficient reason to behave as they do. • Should a character behave in a sudden or unexpected way, seeming to deny what we have been told about his or her nature or personality, we trust that there was a reason for this behavior and that sooner or later we will discover it.

27. Lets consider Parvana’s actions. How do her actions reinforce or challenge the perception we as readers have of her based on her appearance and speech? • What are Parvana’s main motivations for her actions?