Read the passage from The Grapes of Wrath. His fingers found a twig, and used it to draw his thoughts on the ground. He swept th
e leaves from a square and smoothed the dust. And he drew angles and made little circles. Which type of characterization is the author using? A. direct characterization B. indirect characterization C. abstract characterization D. personal characterization
The author is using B. INDIRECT CHARACTERIZATION. Indirect Characterization refers to what the character says or does. In the above passage, the author wrote what the character does. We, as the readers, only infer what the character is all about because we cannot read his mind or "get inside his head". Direct Characterization refers to what the narrator directly says or thinks about the character. The reader is told what the character is like.
