Good stories have interesting characters. In the story, the author provides clues about the characters in the story and expects the reader to think about these clues in order to understand the characters fully. Sometimes, the clues are obvious, as the author says something about the character, as happens in stories with a narrator. Other characters in the story may talk about the character. Often, the character will say something directly in the dialogue that helps us to understand the character better. Usually, the reader can learn about the character when thinking about the interactions between the character and events in the story.
You may find it hard to find the right words to describe your character if the author doesn\’t specifically identify the traits. Some common traits that you might know already are \”kind\”, \”loving\”, \”loyal\”, \”aggressive\”, \”brave\”, \”shy\”, \”honest\”. Here is one source of character trait words that you could use if you need more examples of character traits..
https://examples.yourdictionary.com/character-trait-examples.html
While the author provides clues in the story in order to help us understand the character\’s, it is not always easy. It is best if the reader records the clues or evidence from the text before making a judgement about the character. A chart or table like the one below can be very helpful in this process.
Character Description Chart
In the chart below, write the names of the characters in the story in column one. In column two, you can add character traits/ descriptions of the character that the author uses in the story. Not all characters will have the same amount of description in the text. But, be sure to check through the whole story as sometimes, the author reveals something very important about the character in unusual places.
Remember that you can learn about a character through these clues…
- What the character says ( You may want to use a quote from the text)
- What other characters in the story say about the character or feel about the character
- The way that the character acts or reacts to a situation
- The way that the author describes the character and the specific words the author uses in the description
Your description should not be your guess or opinion. You are providing “evidence” that you understand the character in the way that the author presented the character in the story.
| Character Name | Description of Character |
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