3.3 Character Analysis: Traits
3.3 Character Analysis: Traits
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Analyse a character by inferring their character traits using text evidence
Chapters: hello; names; patience; how I look
Analyse a character by inferring their character traits using text evidence
Chapters: hello; names; patience; how I look
Stories have characters who are affected by the plot or setting of the story.
They can be people, animals, or things that have been given human-like qualities. 1
Character analysis involves examining the traits, behaviours, and motivations of a character portrayed in a text.
It involves closely studying the character's feelings, actions, speech, and thoughts to better understand their character traits, character development over a period of time, role in a story or relationship with other characters.
We analyse characters to:
Better understand the character and connect with the character.
Gain a deeper understanding of the story as a whole.
Characterisation is the process through which a writer reveals the character’s personality, using either direct characterisation or indirect characterisation. 1
1. Direct Characterisation:
Direct Characterisation tells the audience what the personality of the character is.
For Example: “The patient boy and quiet girl were both well mannered and did not disobey their mother.”
The author directly describes the personalities of these two children.
The boy is “patient” and the girl is “quiet.”
2. Indirect Characterisation:
Indirect Characterisation shows things that reveal the personality of a character. The reader infers character traits through clues in the text, such as their feelings, actions, speech and thoughts.
For Example: Instead of saying, “Liam was helpful,” you might show:
When Mia dropped her books in the hallway, Liam hurried over. "Here, let me help you," he said, picking up the biggest book and stacking the rest neatly. He smiled and said, "Now you won’t be late for class!"
In this example, Liam's helpfulness is shown by what he does and says, instead of just being told.
Character traits are words that help us understand and describe a character’s personality.
These may be descriptive adjectives. Character Traits can be both positive and negative.
To refer to a list of character traits, please click on this link.
For a summary of character traits watch this video2
To refer to a list of sample character traits, please click on this link. 6
Common Misconceptions:
Characters have both feelings and traits, although they are different.
Character Feelings: Character's feelings are the emotions they experience in response to a specific situation. They can change over time.
Example: happy, sad, angry, upset, scared, jealous
Character Traits: Character’s traits are the part of their personality that is consistent over time. Traits can change over time, but don’t change as quickly as feelings.
Example: kind, generous, shy, rude, respectful, sly
Glossary
Character analysis: Looking closely at a character to understand their traits, actions, and feelings better
Traits: Words that describe a character's personality such as, ‘kind,’ ‘brave,’ or ‘silly’
Summary:
Summary:
Stories have characters who are affected by the plot or setting of the story. They can be people, animals, or things that have been given human qualities.
Characterisation helps us analyse the characters in the story so that we can better understand the characters, and the story as a whole.
Characterisation is the process by which the author reveals the personality of a character to the reader. Characters are developed directly and indirectly.
Direct Characterisation tells the audience what the personality of the character is.
Indirect Characterisation shows things that reveal the personality of a character. To infer character traits, we can use the FAST method: Feelings, Actions, Speech, and Thoughts.
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