September 11, 2013

Characterization

a way of depicting an imaginary person so that we can “see” him or her or it
using a variety of writing skills - we had a list (also, it’s kind of on that wall <- )
this is a very common “thing” to discuss in any given English class
learning the structure behind it will make that a lot easier
I am going to teach you a little plan to follow and a way of thinking to help you to crowbar in to any potential thing that you have to read so that you can alway analyze the material around you (including PEOPLE)

one thing we can do is that list

physical attrib - clothes, hair, body, face, etc
emotional makeup - obvious feelings, expression, etc
actions and behaviours - big movements and repeated, observed physical activity
interactions and relationships - with those close to them or not
symbolic attributes and associations - what COULD they mean or represent?
(interior) character’s thoughts and feelings - if we get his/her POV in a story
(exterior) POV of other characters (or narrator) - other characters’ thoughts

Those things above are SIGNIFIERS of character

Like a face tattoo on a scary, racist Aryan Brotherhood prison gang member, those things above tell us what someone is

There is another aspect of character upon which you should focus - CHARACTER ARC

The arc of change that occurs in a story - Bob starts A and ends up Z (classic arc of change)

Not all stories have an arc - short stories in particular - also, sitcoms
Most movies have a great arc - character starts broken, gets fixed - every movie

This idea of an arc is about teaching the audience something through the character’s change

The Lottery Ticket

get with some partners and go through Lottery and make up a wee chart for the observations you make on both characters using the list above (5-10?)
THEN try to figure out and NOTE if those characters change and how
do they end as they began or are they different
a chart of observations with some references
an arc of change or not


Ivan

Arc
satisfied with his life and doesn’t care much for the lottery, however in the middle he changes to become a believer and filled with greed, consumed with ideas about what he can do with the cash, and then he wants to control the money and then he realizes that they didn’t win and he becomes depressed/suicidal?

it’s not an arc, it’s actually a circle - a cycle of internal change that leaves him in the same place he was, only now he HATES what he loved

is this realistic? of course it is - we do this kind of thing all the time!

eg dread - the fear you build up about something ahead that you are inventing because that thing is in the future and does not exist yet

Ivan builds a mental world that breaks apart and he is left with a serious problem from buying into his own fantasy - this is not something unusual in marriage

Prom Misery - a girl builds up the prom, goes and has a terrible time - why?

Ivan undergoes a very common, almost stereotypical situation

The situation was IMAGINARY but his feelings are REAL. This is power of human foolishness.

Notice - Lobb used the arc to discuss an issue that came from thinking about that change - the flow - idea from the book pushed out to looking at life
Microcosm -> Macrocosm

Masha - does she have an arc?

She follows the same arc of change - the build up and disappointment, but we don’t see her POV in the same way

Ivan does X, which makes me think he is Y
Ivan wears X,

Character - Observation - Reference - Conclusion

Your Blog (troubles)