Subject: English Language
Date: November, 16, 2011
Grade: 12
Duration: 2 hours
Topic: Characterization in Narrative Writing
Language Arts Skills: Listening, Speaking, Viewing, Writing
Materials: LCD Projector, Graphic Organizer, Video, Laptop Computer.
Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8se_HnukM8U
Prerequisites: Students can:
· Write grammatically correct, properly structured sentences
· Use descriptive words in sentences
Objectives: Students should be able to:
· Define the term characterization
· Use descriptive words to develop a character
· Read a story to identify major and minor characters
· Discuss the roles played by characters in the story
Purpose: This activity is an effort to increase and or create an awareness of the importance of character in the story. It is an aim to demonstrate to students how characters are developed and how important they are to the development of the other elements of the story. Moreover, it helps students appreciate and understand better, stories and as well increases their ability to write and develop characters that are connected in some way to the other elements of the story.
Content: the elements of a story are the fundamental aspects that help build a story. These include the plot, character, theme and setting: the plot of the story is a logical sequence of the events in a story from the beginning to the end. The plot usually revolves around the problem or conflict of the story. In addition to that, the plot of the story also refers to how the structure of a story helps bring about change in a character and how it helps toward the achievement of emotional and physical effects.
The theme of the story is the message that the writer intends to communicate to the reader. It is directly connected to the plot as it would have to reflect the message or moral based on the storyline. Moreover, the theme of the story is developed and portrayed through the actions of the characters.
The setting of the story refers to the location of the events in the story; where and when various events occur. It helps in determining the type of characters that may be in the story and their various attributes; the appearance and general attributes of each character, has to identify with the setting of the story.
Characterization is a term which defines the methods used to present the personality of a character. It focuses mainly on the way in which the writer develops and portrays the different characters. Of importance is the fact has to be developed in such a way that it reflects and matches the other elements of a story.
Characterization allows for the development of a character through a detailed, meticulous description of personality, traits, feelings, dialogue, behavior and appearance that are attributed to that individual. The combination of these attributes helps distinguish between the types of characters; whether it is a major or minor character.
A major character is the central primary figure in a narrative. This character is also referred to as the antagonist or protagonist. Developing a character, allows the reader the opportunity to be able to feel, see and hear exactly what is going on in the story. In the absence of these, the story would be very dull.
The minor character in the story is the one who does not play any major role but supports either the main character or the villain. These characters interact with the major characters.
In order to effectively describe a character, the reader or writer has to play careful attention to the roles that each character plays, their physical appearance, emotions, behavior, what motivates the character and his purpose in the story. Descriptive words such as assertive and cunning help define a character, however, it would depend on the characteristics that are portrayed
Introduction: students will brainstorm and or use prior knowledge to identify and briefly discuss the elements of a short story.
Guiding questions:
a) What are the elements of a story?
b) What are the roles/purpose(s) of the different elements?
c) In what way(s) are they connected to characterization? Or character development?
Development:
Step 1. Students will use the think- pair- share strategy to brainstorm their understanding of the term character.
a) Students will be grouped into pairs to discuss their different ideas
b) Students will share their ideas and or definitions with the class.
Step 2. In groups of four, students will recall a movie they have viewed to identify the major and minor characters. Students will then discuss the differences between the two.
Discussion will be facilitated by the teacher through question probing
a) What attributes of the main character differentiates him form the minor character?
b) Why do you think they are the major and minor characters?
c) What are the feelings/emotions that each character portrays?
d) Why does the character feel that way?
e) What motivates the character to act the way he does?
f) How does the character act?
g) What does the character look like?
h) How does his physical appearance contribute to the way he behaves and feels?
i) How does the writer contribute to or enhance the story?
j) How does the character add to the different elements of the story?
Step 3. Students will view a short video clip from a movie to generate ideas for discussion on what characterizes each character. Viewing will commence from 6:24 (six minutes and twenty four seconds) into the movie and will last until 13:46 (thirteen minutes and forty two seconds). Video will be viewed from this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8se_HnukM8U
The ideas, generated will be recorded using a graphic organizer categorized into personality, appearance, behavior, motivation, feelings, dialogue. Teacher will model the first example.
Step 4. Remaining in their groups of four, students will use the information from the graphic organizer to write a short paragraph where they develop a character for their story.
Evaluation: In their groups, students will present their paragraphs to the class. The class will use an observational checklist to evaluate their peers. The checklist will be provided by the teacher
Conclusion: students will demonstrate their understanding of characterization through an ‘I have Learnt’ Strategy, coordinated by the teacher.
Observational checklist:
· Does the paragraph have an interesting introduction?
· Is the paragraph interesting?
· Did students use complete grammatically correct sentences?
· Did they make use of precise, descriptive detail to develop the character?
· Were the characters’ features identified: personality, appearance, behavior, feelings, motivation?
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