American Literature / Unit 2 AML 0108 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Characterization: Direct and Indirect
Captions available
The idea
Direct characterization tells a reader what a character is like. Indirect characterization shows it through speech, appearance, action, thought and the reactions of others. Realist writers favour the indirect kind, and questions about a character's nature are usually answered from what the character does.
In practice
Told, or shown through five channels.
Where people slip
What a character does outranks what the narrator says.
Your place on the trail
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