Characterization and Dialogue

Characterization and

Dialogue

Making characters seem like
living, breathing people is a
very important skill for a
writer.

Most readers expect to
care about the characters
in the books and short
stories they read. That
means that the characters
have to seem like real
people, at least for a while.
But how do writers make
their characters seem
real?

To make characters
seem real, authors
have to characterize
them. What does
characterize
mean?You already
know the word
character. Characterize
is just the word
character with a word
ending added. The word
ending -ize means to
make something be or
act a certain way.

Multiple Choice

What is characterization?

• Developing or describing a character

• Writing a story

• Making something funny

Direct Characterization

Some methods of
characterization involve
telling the reader what a
characters is like. These
methods are called direct
characterization
because the writer just
tells you some of the
character’s traits--so that
you don't have to guess
anything.

Here are some examples of direct characterization.

Sarah is a shy little
Martian girl who loves to
take walks at night when
she can see her home
planet.

Most people think that
Charles is lazy because he
doesn't finish his
homework. But Charles is
really just a dreamer and
an artist.

Indirect
Characterization

Indirect Characterization is
when a writer tells something
the character does, or says
or how the character reacts
to something. This helps you
understand the character
without directly telling their
specific character traits.

Here are some examples of Indirect Characterization:

It was very dark when
Sarah took off her
shoes and climbed the
tallest tree she could
find. She scanned the
sky for her twinkling
red planet and began
to sing a lullaby that
her mother taught her.

Charles put aside his math
problems as soon as his
mother left the kitchen.
Very quietly, he pulled his
sketch book from his
backpack and reached into
his pocket for a crayon.

What’s the
difference?

The difference between direct
characterization and indirect
characterization is that direct
characterization tells the reader
exactly what character traits
the character has.

For Example:

Ahmad was always neat and
clean. He never left the house
without making sure his hair
was neatly combed, his clothes
were ironed and there was not
a speck of dirt in sight.

Indirect Characterization will
describe the character or
give information about the
character without stating
directly the character’s traits.

For Example:

The last stop was Ahmad’s
house. My ummi beeped the
horn and he came right out,
with his crisp white kufi and
shiny white shoes. I always
wondered how he kept his
shoes so white. It was like
dirt was allergic to him.

Multiple Choice

Which is an example of direct characterization?

• Layla was lazy. She never liked to do any work.

• Layla dragged her feet. "Why do I have to clean my room?" she whined.

• "Layla, you must clean your room before you go outside," Grandma said. Layla slumped down on the couch and sighed heavily.

• "Layla, what's taking you so long to clean this room?" Grandma asked. "I just don't feel like cleaning it. Can I just clean it later after I go play?" Layla asked.

Multiple Choice

"Layla, you must clean your room before you go outside," Grandma said. Layla slumped down on the couch and sighed heavily.

This is an example of:

• Direct Characterization

• Indirect Characterization

Dialogue

Conversations between characters
in a story are called dialogue.
Dialogue is a form of indirect
characterization. When characters
speak to each other you can tell a
little bit about them from what they
say.

“Give that back Halima! It’s not
yours!” Yelled Maryam.

“Finders keepers, losers weepers.
I’m the finder and you’re the loser
Maryam!” Halima taunted. Sticking
her tongue out at Maryam.

Multiple Choice

Which is an example of Dialogue?

• Maryam raised her eyebrows.

• Ahmad was so upset with his little brother that he couldn't even talk to him.

• Shazia looked out the window at the rain hitting the porch.

• "Jedda! I made 100% on my English exam!" said Ahmad, smiling.

Multiple Choice

What is characterization?

• Developing or describing a character

• Writing a story

• Making something funny

Multiple Choice

What is Direct Characterization?

• When a writer tells what the character does, says or how the character reacts to something.

• When a writer tells you how the character is by using specific character traits.

Multiple Choice

What is indirect characterization?

• When a writer tells about a character by writing what the character says, does, or how they react to something.

• When a writer tells about the character using the character's traits.

• When a writer tells the setting.

Multiple Choice

What is Dialogue?

• Describing characters by what a character says, does, or how the character reacts.

• The setting of a story

• Conversations between characters in a story.

Multiple Choice

Why do writers use dialog in a story?

• Writers use dialogue as indirect characterization to help readers understand the character.

• Writers use dialogue to fill in the story with words.

• Writers use dialogue to make the story longer

• Writers use dialogue because they have to.

Multiple Choice

Dialogue is a form of:

• Direct Characterization

• Indirect Characterization.