Week 6: Reading and Writing Fiction: Characters PDF

W E E K 6: READING AND WRITING FICTION: CHARACTERS What is Character?  Characters refer to the people, animals, beings, creatures, or things that takes part in the action of a story. Characters are the central focus of the story. They perform the actions, utter dialogue, and move the story...

W E E K 6: READING AND WRITING FICTION: CHARACTERS What is Character?  Characters refer to the people, animals, beings, creatures, or things that takes part in the action of a story. Characters are the central focus of the story. They perform the actions, utter dialogue, and move the story along its plot line, causing its twists and turns and ultimate resolution.  The reader digs deep into the characters’ personality traits,their greatest fear,worst nightmare,and proudest achievement. Characters may be major or minor depending on their development and on their role in the story. Characterization refers to the ways that writers develop their characters.  TYPES OF CHARACTERS  A. MAJOR CHARACTERS  PROTAGONIST This is known as the main character or the principal character which the whole story revolves. He is the most prominent person in the story and usually an admirable character with whom we usually sympathize or identify.  ANTAGONIST This character is known as the opposing force against the leading or main characters. He is commonly called as the “villain” of the story. He is usually less admirable than the hero; he creates the conflict.  ANTIHERO An inept or otherwise ridiculous character in the story. He can be classified as a flawed character with good intentions; a protagonist who lacks on attributes of a hero such as courage and morality.  B. MINOR CHARACTERS  These are known as the other characters in a story. Though they are not as important as the main characters, they still play a big part in the story. Their actions help move the story forward. They may also have impact on the decisions of the protagonist or antagonist, either helping or interfering with the conflict. Characters can have different personality traits. They can be dynamic, changing, or growing through the story while minor characters may be static.  FOIL CHARACTER This character has an opposite character traits from others. He is meant to help highlight or bring out other’s positive or negative personality. Most of the times, antagonist is considered as the foil of protagonist.  STATIC CHARACTER This character does not change all throughout the story. His role is simply to create or relieve tension and not to change. A main character can remain static through the entire story.  DYNAMIC CHARACTER This character does change throughout the story. He may learn a lesson,becomes bad, or change in different ways.  FLAT CHARACTER This character has one or two main traits and usually both are positive or negative. It is known as the opposite of round character.  ROUND CHARACTER This character may have many different traits, can be good and bad, which make them more interesting.  STOCK This is the stereo type of character such as the faithful side chick, boy genius, ambitious career person, sidekick, mad scientist, strict teacher, and etc. The Importance of Character Characters are the ones making the story. They are considered as the most important element of a story. Without them, there will be no story to tell. Many characters in literature, movies, or television series have a huge impact on audience or people. Some people are inspired to live a life through the characters they truly admire. Also, these characters can be soinspirational that people forget they are only fictional and not existing.  REMEMBER! Characters are the entire reason for any story. They can help in teaching a lesson, entertaining, educating, and even persuading, depending on the goal of the author’s story. Characters serve as the driving force of every story; they can be based on real people, or can also be unrealistic, such as aliens. Most of the time, people get attached to the characters as if they are really existing; they may develop favorites, and can relate to those who have faced the same situation and circumstances. THANK YOU!