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Understanding Characterization

Characterization is the process by which a writer reveals the personality of a character, either through direct characterization by stating their personality traits, or indirect characterization by showing traits through a character's speech, thoughts, effects on others, actions, or appearance. Indirect characterization uses five methods that can be remembered with the mnemonic STEAL.

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263 views1 page

Understanding Characterization

Characterization is the process by which a writer reveals the personality of a character, either through direct characterization by stating their personality traits, or indirect characterization by showing traits through a character's speech, thoughts, effects on others, actions, or appearance. Indirect characterization uses five methods that can be remembered with the mnemonic STEAL.

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Defining Characterization

Characterization is the process by which the writer reveals the personality of a character.
Characterization is revealed through direct characterization and indirect characterization.

Direct Characterization tells the audience what the personality of the character is.

Example: “The patient boy and quiet girl were both well mannered and did not disobey their
mother.”
Explanation: The author is directly telling the audience the personality of these two children. The
boy is “patient” and the girl is “quiet.”

Indirect Characterization shows things that reveal the personality of a character. There are five
different methods of indirect characterization:

Speech What does the character say? How does the character speak?

Thoughts What is revealed through the character’s private thoughts and feelings?

Effect on others What is revealed through the character’s effect on other people? How do
toward the other characters feel or behave in reaction to the character?
character.
Actions What does the character do? How does the character behave?

Looks What does the character look like? How does the character dress?

TIP #1: Use the mnemonic device of STEAL to remember the five types of indirect characterization
TIP #2: Use indirect characterization to analyze visual media:
Film: Look at how the character dresses and moves. Note the facial expressions when the
director moves in for a close-up shot.

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