Collection+2

=__** Collection 2 - "Do The Right Thing" **__= = = = = = =

Literary Focus by Sara Kajder


 * How Do Writers Introduce You to Their Characters?**

Have you ever gotten to know a character so well that you were a little sad when the story was over? How is it that a writer can create a character in his or her mind, transfer that character to the page, and make you feel as though you have met a real person?

__**Characterization**__

The way a writer reveals character is called **characterization.** Poor characterization can make even a real person seem uninteresting. Good characterization can make readers feel that even fantasy characters live and breathe.

**Creating Characters**

A writer may simply tell you directly that a character is mean-tempered or thrifty or honest. This kind of characterization is called **direct characterization.** You don’t have to do any detective work to figure the character out. However, writers generally prefer to //show// their characters in action, giving readers the chance to decide for themselves what the character is like. This method is called **indirect characterization.**

**Direct Characterization**

In the example that follows, Yoshiko Uchida states directly what the character is like. You know immediately three things about him: he’s arrogant, he’s cruel, and he’s young.


 * [[image:http://my.hrw.com/la3/la09/student/bookpages/eolit09_08/images/spacer.gif width="1" height="1"]] ||
 * Many long years ago, there lived an arro-gant and cruel young lord who ruled over a small village in the western hills of Japan. from “The Wise Old Woman” by Yoshiko Uchida ||
 * [[image:http://my.hrw.com/la3/la09/student/bookpages/eolit09_08/images/spacer.gif width="1" height="1"]] ||

**Indirect Characterization**

Now, contrast the previous example of direct characterization with the following examples of ways that writers show indirect characterization. Below, Naomi Shihab Nye describes the **appearance** of her character. You can **infer*** that Mr. Hamadi takes pride in his appearance and dresses conservatively. What might this say about his personality?


 * [[image:http://my.hrw.com/la3/la09/student/bookpages/eolit09_08/images/spacer.gif width="1" height="1"]] ||
 * Usually Hamadi was wearing a white shirt, shiny black tie, and a jacket that reminded Susan of the earth’s surface just above the treeline on a mountain—thin, somehow purified. from “Hamadi” by Naomi Shihab Nye ||
 * [[image:http://my.hrw.com/la3/la09/student/bookpages/eolit09_08/images/spacer.gif width="1" height="1"]] ||

O. Henry shows readers through Jimmy’s **actions** that all the beauty of nature is having no effect on Jimmy. His attention is set on one thing: food.


 * [[image:http://my.hrw.com/la3/la09/student/bookpages/eolit09_08/images/spacer.gif width="1" height="1"]] ||
 * Disregarding the song of the birds, the wav-ing green trees, and the smell of the flowers, Jimmy headed straight for a restaurant. from “A Retrieved Reformation” by O. Henry ||

= * How to make inferences when reading: = = = = = When you see a group of classmates giggling in the hallway, what do you think is happening? If the students have been mean to you before, you may decide they are laughing at you. If they are your friends, you may think someone is telling a funny story about something that happened in class. You make **inferences,** or guesses, based on your observations and your prior experiences.
 * Making Inferences**

**Hints for Making Inferences**

To make an inference about a character in a story, combine the information the writer gives you with what you already know. As you read, keep these questions in mind.
 * What does the writer tell you about how the character looks and acts? What do you know about people who look and act that way?
 * What does the writer tell you about problems the character faces? What do you know about similar situations?
 * What does the writer tell you about the way people respond to the character? What do such responses usually tell you about a person?

====Comparisons and contrasts - you make them all the time, whenever you talk about how things are similar **(comparisons)** and how they are different **(contrasts).** Teachers ask you to find and discuss comparisons and contrasts constantly. Your Reading teacher asks you to discuss how two stories are simialar or different. Your history teacher asks you to explain how the Civil War was different from the Revolutionary War. Your science teacher asks you to compare and contrast the ways mountains form.====

**Comparisons**
additionally moreover in the same way similarly both correspondingly as well as besides further too also

**Contrasts**
except despite the fact but although instead of nevertheless however on the other hand otherwise by contrast