CHARACTER

Approaches to Literary Texts

Professor Goodwin
12 October 2022
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9km8ks1pXE
Introduction to
CHARACTE
R
 A character is a personage who
acts, appears or is referred to in a
Aspects of literary work (or film or TV
Characters show). A character may not be
human, but should have some
human characteristics (like
emotions, for example)
  Traditionally, HEROES are good
guys; VILLAINS are bad guys
 Both are larger than life and we
Heroes and are encouraged to admire them
Villains  But “good guy” and “bad guy” are
not precise terms
 Better to use PROTAGONIST and
ANTAGONIST
 Protagonist: Leading
character
Protagonists -- an unusual type of
and protagonist is the
Antagonists
ANTIHERO, like Batman
Antagonist: Opponent of
the Protagonist
  ROUND characters are complex,
more human-like, more realistic
 FLAT characters have one or two
Round, Flat,
Static, traits but are not complex
Dynamic  STATIC characters do not change
 DYNAMIC characters change in
the course of the story
  Discuss the PROTAGONISTS and ANTAGONISTS in a story
you have read or film or TV show you watched.
 What made the characters central to the story? What made
them opponents?

Talking about  Discuss ROUND v FLAT characters in stories you have

read/films you have seen
Characters  Discuss STATIC v DYNAMIC characters in stories you have
read/films
 Discuss STOCK CHARACTERS, STEREOTYPES and
ARCHETYPES in stories you have read/films you have seen
  For the questions about the story “Apollo,” give references to specific lines
in the text to support your ideas.

 1. How is Okenwa characterized in the

story? How about the parents, and
Raphael? What impressions do you have
Characterizati of them?
on in “Apollo”
 2. How does your impression of Okenwa
p 246 develop/change over the course of the
story?
 3. Why do you think Okenwa acts as he
does at the end?
 Exercise in  If we have time in class,
Characterizati we will go over this passage

on pp 214-215