Question

In 100 words or less, explain the difference between indirect and direct characterization and provide one example of each.

Answer 1

Indirect characterization reveals the personality of a character through thoughts, dialogue, actions, or physical appearance, which subtly develop and add layers to a character.

• Example: "Anne was holding the pen, slowly nailing it on her skin, wondering about the pages she had left". This subtly and indirectly states how Anne reacts every time she does homework with action.

On the other hand, direct characterization refers to the descriptions (usually through adjectives) that directly reveal how a character is, behaves, thinks, or looks.

• Example: "Anne was always angry when she did her homework". This directly states Anne's behavior whenever she did homework with the adjective "angry".

Answer 2

Direct characterization is when an author clearly states in the text what kind of personality the character has. For example, if the author writes " Cidney was always sad" That would be direct characterization. Indirect characterization would be " Cidney always seemed to be frowing or pouting" which would then lead you to believe she's always sad. Both of those examples pretty much mean the same thing exept one is direct and the other is making you infer.