Thursday, September 25, 2008
Student Samples of Published Authors' Indirect Characterization
Here's where you can put in short (no more than 100 words, please) examples of favourite indirect characterization by an author you have read. Choose a segment that has pleasing sentence structures, outstanding description etc. Please also give a short (up to 25 words) reason for submitting it to us and identify the author's full name and the full title, also.
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"After that I thought he’d freeze himself to death working on that car. He was out there all day, and at night he rigged up a little lamp, ran a cord out the window, and had himself some light to see by while he worked."-45 words
from "The Red Convertible" by Louise Erdrich
Through this piece of characterization, Erdrich shows us the fanatical determination of the badly damaged Vietnam veteran, Henry.
this is my sample of published author's indirect characterization, hope u like it...^^*
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A story went around about Eddie. When he was a boy, growing up by this same pier, he got in an alley fight. Five kids from Pitkins Avenue had cornered his brother, Joe, and were about to give him a beating. Eddie was a block away, on a stoop, eating a sandwich. He heard his brother scream. He ran to the alley, He ran to the alley, grabbed a garbage can lid, and sent two boys to the hospital. After that, Joe…, but it was Eddie who did the fighting.
Words:90.
from 'the five people you meet in heaven' by Mitch Albom
I like this piece of characterization because it gives a full image of what Eddie did and had to stand up for his brother, Joe.
“I bent lower so my ear was a few inches from his head and stroked him ever so gently again and again. Then, so quiet that it seemed far, far away, I heard a familiar sound. Darwin was purring. Joy swelled my chest and squeezed more tears from my eyes because Darwin recognized that I was there.” -57 words
from A Cat Named Darwin by William Jordan
Through this piece of characterization, Jordan shows us his deep feeling toward his little dying friend Darwin, a cat.
I was busy dealing with a good looking costumer in the store yesterday. The costumer was a well dressed and nice man.
From the corner of my eyes I saw a familiar figure standing to the side of the raw. It was my husband. I knew I was in trouble. Again.
When the costumer left my husband came forward, and started asking me the same questions: do I know this man? Why I was so nice to him? Is he a regular costumer?
In the end, as always, he said, “You should know I love you”
“I’m not upset,” Bo said, “I sure as hell don’t care that we didn’t win. I’m only taking this class because the coach said I had to. My father didn’t like the idea either, but I had to take something that would give me at least a solid B.”
“I can understand a dumb jock looking for snap courses to make grades,” said Teena.
--64 words
From ‘A Deadly Game of Magic’ by Joan Lowery Nixon
Through this characterization, I know that Bo is dumb and not competitive
His face fell to an exaggerated sadness. His voice took on a whining undertone. “I ain’t had a thing to do today. Maybe I won’t have no supper tonight. You see I’m off my regular road. I know folks on the highway clear from Seattle to San Diego. They save their things for me to sharpen up because they know I do it so good and save them money.”
-- John Steinbeck: The Chrysanthemums
***The face and the voice are pretended. The words are make-believe too. The description is a mirror to lead the audience to think of the dark mind of this peddler.
"Look,"said the old sheep, "next time you go to the dump, Templeton, bring back a clipping from a magazine, Charlotte needs new ideas so she can write messages in her web and save Wilbur's life,"
"Let him die,"said the rat, "I should worry."
from "Charlotte's Web" by E.B.White.
Through this piece of Characterization, White shows us how selfish and mean Templeton, a rat, is.
“He was eating a sandwich hungrily. He had eating nothing since morning. He had been too excited to eat. He finished the sandwich, and, taking a flask from his pocket, he took a short draught. Then he returned the flask to his pocket. He paused for a moment, considering whether he should risk a smoke. It was dangerous. The flash might be seen in the darkness and there were enemies watching. He decided to take the risk”. From “The Sniper” by Liam O’Flaherty.
I like this piece of writing because it shows clearly that the sniper was as anxious as he didn’t care to put his life at risk.
"I watched my mother. During the laughter, I could see her retreat for a minute behind her eyes, expressionless, lifeless, beaten. Then she took a deep breath and looked at him directly, squarely, with no fear in her face. Pain, yes, but no fear."
44 words from The Leaving by Budge Wilson
Through the description of the character, Wilson shows the struggle of a traditional famer’s wife striving to change her own fate.
“The people for whom she worked would sometimes present her with the leavings of their cut flowers which in their wilted state she would take home and try to nurse back to health, and once in a while, particularly in the spring, she would buy herself a little box of pansies, primroses or anemones. As long as she had flowers Mrs. Harris had no serious complaints concerning the life she led. They were her escape from the sombre stone desert in which she lived. These bright flashes of color satisfied her. They were something to return to in the evening, something to wake up to in the morning.”
From "Mrs. Arris Goes To Paris" by Paul Gallico
Although the poverty and class determined her social status as a cleaning lady in London, it didn't stop the craving of beauty in her life.
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