Department of English

Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University

Character

major characters

minor characters

stock or type characters

stereotypes

double

confidant(e)

villain

hero

anti-hero

foil

self-revelation

personality

direct presentation of character

indirect presentation of character

show v. tell

consistency in character behavior

motivation

plausibility of character: is the character credible? convincing?

flat character

round character, multidimensional character

static character, unchanged

developing character, dynamic character, active character

direct methods of revealing character:

• characterization through the use of names

• characterization through physical appearance

• characterization through editorial comments by the author, interrupts narrative to provide information

• characterization through dialog: what is said, who says it, under what circumstances, who is listening, how the conversation flows, how the speaker speaks (ex. tone, stress, dialect, diction/word choice)

• characterization through action

indirect characterization

Home  |  Introduction to the Study of English Fiction  |  Literary Terms  |  English Resources  

Last updated June 23, 2008