Elements of LiteratureCharacter Development

The Journey is the oldest, truest, most inescapable shape for a story. From nursery story to biblical narrative to contemporary novel, someone is always setting out from home.

The Journey doesn’t need to be a literal voyage ... It can be physical or mental, deliberate or accidental, voluntary or forced, a quest or a flight.

The journey as narrative structure

is the process by which the writer reveals the personality of a character…

Where the author creates a character on a page and make readers feel as if they have met a real person…

creating characters boils down to, ultimately: making the audience care...

Character Development

Character AnalysisPhysical.

• What does the character look like?

• How do the character’s physical attributes play a role in the story?

• How does the character feel about his or her physical attributes?

• How does the character change physically during the story?

• How do these changes affect the character’s experience?

Intellectual.• How would you describe this

character’s intelligence? • What does this character know?

How does this character’s intellect compare to others in the story?

• Is this character smart enough to thrive in the world in which he or she lives?

• What does this character learn as the story develops?

Character Analysis

Emotional. • How does this character feel

most of the time? • How do his or her feelings

change throughout the story? • How does this character feel

about himself or herself? • When faced with challenges in

the story, what emotions come up for this character?

Social. • How does this character get along

with other characters in the story?

• Who does this character choose for friends and why does this character choose them?

• Where does this character stand in the social order?

• How does this character’s social standing affect events in the story?

Character Analysis

Philosophical. • What does this character

believe about the way life is? • What are these beliefs based

on? How do these beliefs affect the choices this character makes?

• How do those beliefs change throughout the story?

• Do others in the story share these beliefs?

He was eight months older than Liesel and had bony legs, sharp teeth, gangly blue eyes and hair the colour of lemon. (p.49)

Description of Rudy Steiner

Help us understand why characters speak and act the way they do.

Help us understand what the characters think or why they have certain beliefs.

Help us understand a character’s relationships with other characters.

Help us predict what characters might do next. Help us make inferences and to draw

conclusions about events in the story.

Character Traits:

Frau Diller was a sharp-edged woman with fat glasses and a nefarious glare. She developed this evil look to discourage the very idea of stealing from her shop, which she occupied with soldier-like posture, a refrigerated voice and even breath that smelt like Heil Hitler. (p.51)

Description of Frau Diller

The two types of characterization are direct characterisation and indirect characterisation. If a writer tells you what a character is like, the

method is called direct characterisation. If a writer prefers to show characters in action,

the method is called indirect characterisation.

Characterisation: Creating Characters

Direct presentation Indirect presentation

The author or narrator makes direct statements about a character's personality and tells what the character is like.

How does the character STEAL your attention:

• A character’s Speech (What does the character say? How does the character speak?)

• A character’s Thoughts (What is revealed through the character’s private thoughts and feelings?)

• A character’s interactions [Effect on others] (What is revealed through the character’s effect on other people? How do other characters feel or behave in reaction to the character?)

• A character’s Actions (What does the character do? How does the character behave?)

• A character’s Looks (What does the character look like? How does the character dress?)

To identify character traits, think of the following:

Direct Indirect

Lewis always took ages to get ready. He really did. He always forgot something. He had to make sure that his outfit was just right - that was his problem. Eventually he would appear, say sorry, and you’d explain to him that he had taken ages – again.

Lewis looked at himself in the mirror, adjusting his shirt. He put on his new watch and looked at the time. Getting on, he thought. His wallet was somewhere, as were his keys, but he wasn’t ready to look yet. He looked at the shirts on his bed, thinking what to wear. After a while, he took off the one he was already wearing, picked up the yellow one instead and put it on. He looked into the mirror again, checking his beard and spraying some cologne on his neck. He found his keys on the side, and eventually his wallet appeared in a coat he had worn the night before. He put on his shoes and had one last look in the mirror by the door. His friends were waiting outside, grumpy and muttering because of the time he had taken. “Sorry.” He said.

Direct/Indirect: Example…

Writers also give readers a view of their characters from another angle: through characters’ relationships with each other.

Character reactions reveal qualities of both characters and their relationship…through: what characters say to each other and how characters act toward each other

Relationships - Indirect

One evening Hans, Max and Liesel were sitting in front of the fire. Mama was in the kitchen. Max was reading Mein Kampf again.“You know something?” Hans said. He leaned towards the fire. “Liesel’s actually a good little reader herself.” Max lowered the book. “And she has more in common with you that you might think.” Papa checked that Rosa wasn’t coming. “She likes a good fist-fight, too.”“Papa!”Liesel, at the high end of eleven and still rake-skinny as she sat against the wall, was devastated. “I’ve never been in a fight!”“Shhh,” Papa laughed. He waved at her to keep her voice down, and titled again, this time to the girl. “Well, what about the hiding you gave Ludwig Schmeikl, huh?” (p.238)

Relationships

What relationship exists between Papa and Liesel, Papa and Rosa?

How is this revealed in the passage by: what the characters say to each other? how the characters act toward each other?

Papa and Liesel

Motivation is the reason why people do the things they do.

Uncover a character’s motivations by paying attention to

Then, think about the outcome of the character’s actions.

Motivation

what the

character

says

What the

character does

Clues about

motivation

The protagonist is the main character. The antagonist is the character or force opposing

the main character. Flat: characterized by one or two traits, summed

up in a few sentences. Round: complex and many-sided. Stock: a type of flat, stereotypical figure who has

occurred so often in fiction that his/her nature is immediately known (i.e. sinister villain, good sheriff, mad scientist, etc.)

Classifying Characters

Static: unchanging character from the beginning to the end.

Developing or Dynamic: undergoes a permanent change in some aspect of his/her character, personality, or outlook. Change should be plausible, meaning that the change is believable, given the details in the story.

Classifying Characters

the events that take place in a story. Every story needs a plot! The plot has different parts:

Exposition/Orientation Conflict Rising Action Climax Falling Action Resolution

Plot

Suspense- excitement or tension Flashback- interrupts the normal sequence of

events to tell about something that happened in the past

Surprise Ending- conclusion that reader does not expect

And…Foreshadowing…

Ways to develop your plot

Plot of The Book Thief

When Liesel tried to make her way through, a crackling sound prompted her to think that the fire had already begun. It hadn’t. The noise was kinetic humans, flowing, charging up.They’ve started without me!Although something inside told her that this was a crime, after all, her three books were the most precious items that she own – she was compelled to see the thing lit. She couldn’t help it. I guess humans like to watch a little destruction. Sandcastles, houses of cards, that’s where they begin. Their great skills I their capacity to escalate.The thought of missing it was eased when she found a gap in the bodies and was able to see the mound of guilt, still intact. It was prodded and splashed, even spat on. It reminded her of an unpopular child, forlorn and bewildered, powerless to alter its fate. No-one liked it. Head down. Hands in pockets. Forever. Amen. (p.119)

ConflictThe book burning…

Character vs Character – problem with another character

Character vs Nature – problem with a force of nature

Character vs Society - problem with the laws or beliefs of a group or character vs. community, society or culture

Character vs Self -problem with deciding what to do or think; “inner conflict”

Types of Conflict

Character vs Character Character vs Nature Character vs Society Character vs Self

Conflict – The Book Thief

What type(s) of conflict(s) existed in The Book Thief: For Liesel? For Death? For Max?

Nazi Germany and the Second World War Munich Dachau Concentration Camp

Setting

What central message, concern or purpose was/were evident in The Book Thief?

Are some themes more evident/important than others?

Themes

The literary device ‘motif’ is any element, subject, idea or concept that is constantly present through the entire body of literature. Using a motif refers to the repetition of a specific theme dominating the literary work.

Motifs are very noticeable and play a significant role in defining the nature of the story, the course of events and the very fabric of the literary piece.

Motifs

How are these communicated? Books and writing Darkness Stealing Survival

Motifs

Symbolism is the use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities by giving them symbolic meanings that are different from their literal sense.

Symbolism can take different forms. Generally, it is an object representing another to give it an entirely different meaning much deeper and more significant. Sometimes, however, an action, an event or a word spoken by someone may have a symbolic value. For instance, “smile” is a symbol of friendship. Similarly, the action of someone smiling at you may stand as a symbol of the feel of affection which that this person has for you.

Symbols do shift their meanings depending on the context they are used in. “A chain”, for example, may stand for “union” as well as “imprisonment”. Thus, symbolic meanings of an object or an action are understood by when, where and how they are used. It also depends on who reads them.

Symbols

The swastika (symbols of fear, irrational prejudice, and terror)

Han’s Accordian (symbol of…) Bread (symbol of…) Books (symbol of…)

Symbols