Characterization Study Guide

Jason is an excellent accountant who works full-time for his best friend's company. A larger accounting firm contacts Jason and offers to pay him twice what he makes if he will work for them. Jason thanks them for their offer but declines. He doesn't even tell his friend that he received the offer.

What trait best describes Jason in this scenario?

• loyal

• honest

• hard-working

• greedy

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

Eric's car broke down in the woods and his phone wasn't getting a signal. He used his car antenna as a spear and caught fresh salmon. He started a fire with sparks from his car battery, and he ate the cooked salmon while waiting for help.

What trait best describes Eric's character in this scenario?

• unprepared

• resourceful

• smart

• cursed

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.6

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

After coming home late from a party, Mae's father questioned her. She wanted to tell him that she was studying at a friend's place and lost track of time, but she told him the truth instead: she was at a party.

What character trait does Mae in this scenario?

• resourceful

• dishonest

• careless

• honest

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

Andy saw his neighbor struggling to get his lawn mower running, so Andy went over to his neighbor's house and filled up his lawn mower with gas. When it still wouldn't start, Andy lent him his lawn mower.

What character trait does Andy demonstrate in this passage?

• smart

• neighborly

• resourceful

• friendly

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

When vandals burned down the orphanage, Ms. Cleary started a fundraising campaign and donated $5,000 dollars of her own money. After nine months of hard work from Ms. Cleary and her team, the funds were raised and the orphanage was rebuilt.

What character trait best describes Ms. Cleary in this passage?

• philanthropic

• greedy

• smart

• honest

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.6

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

Jared got off the train from his small farm village. He was now in the big city. An unshaven man with a trench coat with several holes in it approached Jared and told him that he was a police officer and that he needed to see Jared's wallet. Jared did not think that the man looked like a police officer, but he didn't want to get arrested on his first day in the city, so Jared reached into the front pocket of his overalls and gave the man his wallet. The man promptly ran away leaving Jared with no money.

What character trait best describes Jared?

• naive

• honest

• smart

• hard-working

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

When Angela asked her mother if she could go to the party, her mother said that she could not. So Angela asked her father, who said that she could. She then played her parents off one another until she got her way. Angela enjoyed herself at the party.

What character trait best describes Angela?

• smart

• honest

• manipulative

• greedy

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

What is direct characterization?

• How the author (or a narrator) describes a character 

• What the character says or does within a text

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

What is indirect characterization?

• How the author (or a narrator) describes a character

• What the character says, does, and thinks within a text

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

What does STEAL stand for?

• Shakespeare, Tolkien, Ellison, Austen, and Le Guin

• shoe, tree, elephant, apple, letter

• showing, thinking, editing, analyzing, and listing

• speech, thoughts, effects on others, actions, and looks

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3