Lesson 30 — Activity 2: Assignment

In this assignment, show your understanding of the characters in your novel.

Here is a review of the different

Character Types:

Direct presentation:

• Think of it in terms of reading a resume. A resume directly states many characteristics about a person. It may identify the person as being honest, reliable, hard working, and a team player. It makes direct statements about the person.

Indirect presentation:

• You may watch a movie or play and think that a character is reliable, trustworthy, or honest, but you have drawn these conclusions by watching what the person did, listening to what he or she said, or listening to what others have said about the character. This is indirect presentation.
• An author can reveal a character indirectly in the same way. It is almost impossible to read a story without getting to know at least the protagonist.

Round character:

• Most protagonists are round characters as the reader learns quite a lot about this person.  

Flat character:

• The reader is given little information about such a character.

• This usually applies to minor characters in a story.

  

Stock character:

• Another name for this type of character is stereotype. This is a character that is identified with a particular group and there is an automatic assumption as to how this person will perform. For example, a spoiled rich girl, an athlete, a bully, or someone who only cares about himself and how much money he has! Like Mr. Burns from The Simpsons!

  
   
It is also important to see whether or not a character changes as a result of his or her experiences.

Static character:

• Just as some people refuse to change their attitudes or don’t seem to learn from their mistakes, not all characters in stories grow as a result of their experiences. A character that stays the same is said to be static.

    

    

Dynamic character:

• Have you had an experience in your life from which you have learned something? Has something ever happened to you that has made you examine your own beliefs, attitudes, or values? You may have changed them or perhaps your experience has made you even stronger in your beliefs. This means you are a dynamic character as you have undergone a change.

• This term only applies to a round character because this is the only type of character about whom a reader knows enough to know whether or not a change has occurred.

Answer the following questions:

1. Was the main character revealed through direct or indirect presentation? Give a quote to support your answer.  /2

2. Would you describe the protagonist as round or flat? Support your answer.  /2

3. Would you describe the protagonist as dynamic or static? Support your answer.  /2

 
4. Give three words to describe the protagonist's personality.  /3

5. Take one of the words you used in #3 and give an example from the novel of something that made you suggest this character trait.  /2

6. Name any flat characters in the novel.  /1

7. Name any static characters in the novel.  /1

8. Name any stock characters in the novel.  /1

9. Complete a relating response based on the actions of one of the characters in the novel. You may use any of the prompts below to begin. Write your response as a paragraph.  /5

Remember that connections can be:

• a personal connection (a reminder of an experience you had or person you know)

• a connection to something you’ve read or seen on TV or in a movie

• a connection to real events that have happened in the world

Relating Prompts

You might begin relating with these beginning prompts:

• This makes me think of ...
  

• This reminds me of ...
  

• I remember when ...
  

• Something like this happened to me ...
  

• This is like ...
  

• When I read this, I felt ...
  

• This happened to me too when ...
  

• When I was young ...
  

• It sounds like ...

When done, review by using the

 Editing Checklist.

Checklist Items: Read through each item and review your work.

I read my written piece aloud to see where to stop or pause for periods, question marks, exclamation marks, and commas.
              
I checked for capitals at the beginning of sentences.
    
Proper nouns begin with capital letters.
    
My sentences are complete thoughts and contain a

noun

a word that is used to name a person, place, thing, or idea

and a

verb.

 a word that expresses "action", events, or states of being

   
I checked spelling and fixed the words that didn’t look right.