Everything you need to know about:

CHARACTER, Characterization,
& Character development

Character

Character can be revealed through actions, speech, and appearance. It also can be revealed by what the author or other characters in the story say.

Certain types of characters appear in many stories. They are:

< The protagonist is the central character (person, animal, or personified object) in the plot's conflict.

< The antagonist is the force in conflict with the protagonist. It may be society, nature, or fate, as well as another person. It can also be the protagonist's own self, if he or she has an internal conflict.

< A character foil is a character whose traits are in direct contrast to those of the principal character. The foil therefore highlights the traits of the protagonist. The foil is usually a minor character, although if there are two protagonists, they may be foils of each other.

< A stereotype, a.k.a. stock character, is a character who possesses expected traits of a group rather than being an individual. Using stereotypes is usually considered an indication of poor quality, especially in cases such as members of minority groups, people with disabilities, or women. However, stereotypes can be useful in furthering the story quickly and are acceptable in minor roles if they do not provide hurtful portraits of the groups in question. Stereotypes and stock characters are related to the concept of archetype, which you will learn about later in the semester.

The first person to study character was a philosopher named Theophrastus, who was a student of the very famous Aristotle. Theophrastus introduced the idea of a character sketch. He came up with thirty types of characters, some of which are included in the list below. Each character sketch is an illustration of an individual who represents a group and is characterized by his most prominent trait.

Here is a list of frequently used stock characters:

§ The Fake Guy § The Flatterer § The Garrulous Guy
§ The Guy w/ No Manners § The Liar § The Miser
§ The Guy w/ No Morals § The Mean Guy § The Greedy Guy
§ The Hapless Guy § The Sycophant § The Absentminded Guy
§ The Faultfinder § The Show-Off § The Jock
§ The Coward § The Daredevil § The Jealous Guy
§ The Suspicious Guy § The Ugly Guy § The Oligarch
§ The Nerd § The Player § The Misanthrope

Can you think of any more? I thought of a bunch, but they couldn’t all fit!!

Characterization

Characterization is the way the writer describes a character. This can be done in a couple of different ways.

Character Development

Character development is showing the multitude of traits and behaviors that give the literary character the complexity of a human being. The amount of character development affects the quality of the story:

< A flat character is not fully developed; we know only one side of the character.

< A round character is fully developed, with many traits--bad and good--shown in the story. We feel that we know the character so well that he or she has become a real person.

Character development is a continuum with perfectly flat characters at one end and very round ones at the other. Every character lies somewhere on this continuum. Round characters are usually considered an indication of literary quality. However, characters in folktales are almost always flat, and flatness is appropriate for minor characters in modern literature for children. A character foil is often flat, even if the protagonist is round.

The amount of change in a character over the course of the story also affects its quality:

< A static character is one who does not experience a basic character change during the course of the story.

< A dynamic character is one who experiences a basic change in character through the events of the story. This change is internal and may be sudden, but the events of the plot should make it seem inevitable.

There is also a continuum of character change in a story, with very static characters at one end, and very dynamic ones at the other. Every character lies somewhere on this continuum. Dynamism in the protagonist is usually considered an indication of quality, but many characters, especially in stories for younger children, have only the mild amount of change which can be expected from growing and maturing from day to day.

A character may thus be round and dynamic, round and static, or flat and static. A flat character cannot usually be dynamic, because you do not know enough about the flat character to notice a change. If a character seems flat and yet seems to change, it is usually because the characterization is not well written.

	Dynamic	Static
Round	Considered the best type of character development. Usually the protagonist.	Development is considered well-done. Often found in protagonists in books for younger children.
Flat	Characters cannot be dynamic and flat, because in a flat character we do not know enough about them for them to recognize a change. If a flat character seems to change, it is usually due to poor writing.	In very simple books, or in fairy tales, the protagonist may be flat and static. Also appropriate for minor characters in other books.

The following table summarizes how the development and change in characters interact: