English Literature: Characterization and Vocabulary

Characterization

• Characterization is used in writing to describe a character's looks or personality.
• There are two types of characterization: indirect and direct.
• Indirect characterization gives hints, allowing readers to make inferences and educated guesses.
• Direct characterization immediately tells the reader about a character.

Suffixes and Prefixes

• Prefixes are added to the beginning of words, altering their meanings (e.g., "un-" in "unhappy").
• Suffixes are added to the end of words, also altering their meanings (e.g., "-less" in "fearless").
• Common prefixes include "re-" and "pre-", while common suffixes include "-able", "-ful", and "-less".
• Understanding prefixes and suffixes enhances vocabulary and understanding.

Themes and Main Idea

• A theme is the moral or lesson learned from a text.
• The main idea is the overall topic or point of the text.
• Steps to identify a theme include:
  • Identifying the main problem in the text
  • Determining how the problem was solved
  • Analyzing how characters change throughout the story
  • Identifying what characters learn from the beginning to the end

Contextual Clues

• Contextual clues help readers interpret or learn about unfamiliar words or phrases in a text.
• These clues are usually found nearby the unfamiliar word, in the same sentence or paragraph.
• There are four types of contextual clues:
  • Definition/explanation
  • Restatement/synonym
  • Contrast/antonym
  • Inference/general clues

Figures of Speech

• Figures of speech, such as similes and metaphors, enhance language by drawing comparisons.
• Personification humanizes the inanimate, while hyperbole exaggerates for emphasis.
• Onomatopoeia imitates sounds, such as "buzz" or "crash".
• Alliteration repeats initial consonant sounds, and assonance repeats vowel sounds, adding musicality to language.

Poetry

• Poetry encompasses various elements, including:
  • Rhyme, where words share similar sounds at their endings
  • Meter, the rhythmic pattern determined by stressed and unstressed syllables
  • Imagery, which vividly paints pictures or sensory experiences for readers
  • Symbolism, which uses objects or ideas to convey deeper meanings
  • Personification, which lends human qualities to non-human entities
  • Similes and metaphors, which compare things using "like" or "as" or direct equate two things
• Mood sets the feeling of a story, while tone shows the author's attitude.

Test your understanding of characterization in writing, including direct and indirect characterization, andsuffixes and prefixes in vocabulary building. Identify how authors use characterization to convey a character's personality and traits.