Question

Instructions:Select the correct text in the passage. Which sentence in this excerpt from Mark Twain’s short story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” is an example of direct characterization? I found Simon Wheeler dozing comfortably by the barroom stove of the old, dilapidated tavern in the ancient mining camp of Angel's, and I noticed that he was fat and bald-headed, and had an expression of winning gentleness and simplicity upon his tranquil countenance. He roused up and gave me good-day. I told him a friend of mine had commissioned me to make some inquiries about a cherished companion of his boyhood named Leonidas W. Smiley — Rev. Leonidas W. Smiley — a young minister of the Gospel, who he had heard was at one time a resident of Angel's Camp. I added, that, if Mr. Wheeler, could tell me anything about this Rev. Leonidas W. Smiley, I would feel under many obligations to him. Simon Wheeler backed me into a corner and blockaded me there with his chair, and then sat me down and reeled off the monotonous narrative which follows this paragraph.

Answer 1

The sentence that is an example of direct characterization is I noticed that he was fat and bald-headed, and had an expression of winning gentleness and simplicity upon his tranquil countenance.

Direct characterization refers to the way the narrator or other characters describe a character. This characterization is done through the use adjectives that reveal physical or personality traits. The character is described in a straightforward manner and, this helps the reader to have a better idea of the type of character they are going to read about in the story.