Characterization, Part 2
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This document provides a summary of characterization techniques in fiction writing. It discusses direct characterization through a character's appearance, actions, thoughts, and dialogue. It also covers indirect characterization through the author or another character interpreting a character. Examples are provided from novels. Writing prompts encourage using sensory details to describe characters and a scene. The document discusses developing character purpose and tension. It profiles the authors Jamaica Kincaid and Yiyun Li, and analyzes their short stories "Girl" and "Kindness". Groups are assigned to analyze characterization in the stories. The next week's reading assignments are outlined.
Characterization, Part 2
- 2. Review of Fiction Craft elements so far Sensory details: What elements are used to show rather than tell the physical world: sensations, objects, environment? Touch, taste, smell, sight, sound Direct characterization: What four elements are employed to create characters that are three-dimensional? Appearance, action, thought, dialogue Let’s have a writing prompt now!
- 3. From Page 73 in Writing Fiction: Two characters are in a room. One is trying to throw stuff away that the other wants to keep. Describe the room and the objects using as much sensory detail as possible. Describe the characters using just direct characterization: dialogue, appearance, action
- 4. Characterization, Part 2 Authorial interpretation Interpretation by another character Direct characterization “shows” the reader the character through action, thought, dialogue, appearance. Indirect characterization is a means of “telling” by having the author or another character interpret for the reader. Benefits: Allows for relaying a lot of information quickly. Detraction: Can be distancing and not as engaging as direct Read examples, p. 76 and p. 77
- 5. Interpretation by another character P. 78, example from Mansfield Park by Jane Austen How are Mrs. Norris’ opinions conveyed? What about Sir Thomas? What impression does this leave about Fanny? Dramatic tension: Created by varying the methods of characterization and putting them in opposition; thoughts that conflict with actions, for example But we may not always know a character’s thoughts. What are other ways to create conflict/tension in the direct methods of characterization? And what are some ways to create tension using both direct and indirect?
- 6. Character Purpose Developed characters have purpose—some sort of quest, be it small and humble or large and grandiose. They also are complex, meaning they are capable of change Guiding questions for stories: “does my character change from opening to end? Do I give the sense tha this or her life will never be quite the same again?” (WF, p. 91) “A story is about a single moment in a character’s life when a definitive choice is made, after which nothing ins the same.” —John L’Heureux
- 7. Writing what you know Challenge is to make fiction from fact, and not leave too much in your mind since you already know the story Alter externals (p. 92) Find ways to see the story fresh On the other hand, if the story is totally invented, find internal commonalities to ground and create credibility
- 8. Jamaica Kincaid Born in St. Johns, Antigua, in 1949 as Elaine Cynthia Potter Richardson. Changed her name in the 1970s, primarily to stay anonymous from her family and people I Antigua Author of several short story collections, novels, and nonfiction books, including At the Bottom of the River (1983), winner of the Morten Dauwen Zabel Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters; The Autobiography of My Mother (1996), winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award; and See Now Then (2013), winner of the Before Columbus Foundation American Book Award. Kincaid was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2004 Former staff writer at The New Yorker teaches at Harvard University. Much of her fiction is often considered autobiographical in nature. Let’s listen to “Girl” 33.12
- 9. “Girl” Who are the characters? How would you characterize the mother? How would you characterize the daughter? What is their relationship like? Explain what is happening here: don’t sing benna in Sunday school; you mustn’t speak to wharf-rat boys, not even to give directions; don’t eat fruits on the street—flies will follow you; but I don’t sing benna on Sundays at all and never in Sunday school; And here: always squeeze bread to make sure it’s fresh; but what if the baker won’t let me feel the bread?; you mean to say that after all you are really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won’t let near the bread? What is the effect of how the story is formatted?
- 10. Yiyun Li Yiyun Li was born in 1972 in Beijing. Along with her parents and one sister, she lived in an apartment complex built as housing for employees of the Department of Nuclear Industry, where her father worked as a physicist. In 1991, Li reported to Xinyang to complete one year of service in the Chinese army before going to college. After receiving her bachelor of science from Peking University, in 1996 she moved to the US to study immunology at the University of Iowa. However, after taking a writing course to improve her English, she started herself writing fiction. She earned her master of fine arts in 2005 from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop She has received the Plimpton Prize from The Paris Review; a Pushcart Prize; a nomination for The Story Prize; fellowships and awards from the Lannan Foundation and the Whiting Foundation; and in 2010 she received a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship. Also in 2010, she was named by The New Yorker as one of the top 20 writers under 40. Teaches at UC California
- 11. Group activity for “Kindness” Write down one word that describes Moyan, Lieutenant Wei and Professor Shan. Bonus points (sort of) for describing Moyan’s parents. Group 1: Find examples of direct and indirect characterization for Moyan. Group 2: Find examples of direct and indirect characterization for Lieutenant Wei Group 3: Find examples of direct and indirect characterization for Professor Shan
- 12. Take out your eavesdropping Let’s hear some! Exercise: Using your stolen dialogue, write a quick scene in which fictional characters speak these words (or some version of them), and provide indirect authorial characterization as well. Example: Lucy’s blond hair, tangled and faded, revealed her growing depression with her new job answering phones at a local dentist’s office. She had once dreamed of being a dancer, but hadn’t had the pluck to bounce back from the rejections. “I’m OK,” she told Dave. “I mean, everyone does things they don’t want to do sometimes, right?” Dave prided himself on always telling his friends the truth, even when they didn’t want to hear it, but right now he lacked the energy to tackle Lucy’s obvious delusional state about the mess of her life. “Sure,” he said. “Whatever you say.”
- 13. Assignments for Next Week Assigned reading: Chapter 5: Long Ago and Far Away: Fictional Setting in Writing Fiction. Read: “Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter” by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. Read: "You're Ugly Too" by Larrie Moore. Both stories attached on Canvas. Bring observations about the use of time and setting, as based on the craft readings, for both stories.