Example:ĭave is a jock who is good looking, popular, funny and dates the head cheerleader at his school. In this example Betty is a foil.ħ Stock: A character that is based upon a stereotype. Betty enjoys gossip and likes to see people’s reactions, especially if it involves hurt or embarrassment. The teacher assigns Betty to be Sally’s science lab partner. She always tries to tell the truth and consider everyone’s feelings. Example: The main character in a story, a teenager named Sally, is a very honest person. Cinderella’s grace and beauty as opposed to her nasty, self-centered stepsisters is one clear illustration of a foil. After his experiences with the ghosts that visited him, he changed his ways, paying his employees a more than fair wage, providing days off work and actually giving gifts.Ħ Foil: A character that is used to enhanceĪnother character through contrast. He worked his employees very hard for little pay. Example: Ebenezer Scrooge, in A Christmas Carol by Dickens, was very stingy with his money. Sometimes a dynamic character is called a developing character. ![]() The change in outlook or character is permanent. A week later the new boss fires Bert after he fails to follow up with an important customer.ĥ Dynamic: A character who changes during the course of a story or novel. Bert is informed he must get organized or he’ll be fired. Bert finally finds a new sales position but, before a week passes, he is called into a conference with his new boss. During that time, his car is repossessed for nonpayment and he maxes out his credit cards. Bert struggles for two months to find a new sales position. Finally, his boss gets fed up and fires him. Example: Bert, a bumbling salesman, never takes the time to organize his files, properly record his sales, or follow up with customers. Events in the story do not alter a static character’s outlook, personality, motivation, perception, habits, etc. Louis is always happy and easygoing whenever Sandra runs across him.Ī character that remains primarily the same throughout a story or novel. Example: In a story about a teacher named Sandra Smith, Louis Dart is a janitor in her building. On the other hand, Elaine can never pass up feeding a stray kitten or puppy, and always tries to find a good home for lost or abandoned pets.ģ Flat: Flat A character who reveals only one, maybe two, personality traits in a story or novel, and the trait(s) do not change. She tells her friends and coworkers that charity and compassion have no place in society. Example: A character in a story named Elaine never cuts anybody a break. Round characters are usually dynamic (change in some way over the course of a story). (Phillip Lopate, “Writing Personal Essays: On the Necessity of Turning Oneself Into a Character.Presentation on theme: "Character Types: Round, Flat, Static, Dynamic, Foil, and Stock"- Presentation transcript:ġ Character Types: Round, Flat, Static, Dynamic, Foil, and StockĢ Round: Round: A well developed character who demonstrates varied and sometimes contradictory traits. It means you have achieved sufficient distance to begin to see yourself in the round: a necessary precondition to transcending the ego-or at least writing personal essays that can touch other people.” But rather a potential release from narcissism. I would further maintain that this process of turning oneself into a character is not self-absorbed navel-gazing. The need thus exists to make oneself into a character, whether the essay uses a first- or third-person narrative voice.Character tropes can be useful in fiction, but when overused, they can detract from a story. The point is to begin to take inventory of yourself so that you can present that self to the reader as a specific, legible character. What’s the difference between a flat character and a well-rounded character How do writers bring a character to life on the page When it comes to character development, these are central questionsespecially when it comes to using character tropes. ![]() The art of characterization comes down to establishing a pattern of habits and actions for the person you are writing about and introducing variations into the system. ![]() Forster, in ‘Aspects of a Novel,’ drew a famous distinction between ‘flat’ and ‘round’ characters-between those fictional personages seen from the outside who acted with the predictable consistency of caricatures, and those whose complexities or teeming inner lives we come to know. And I use the word character much the same way the fiction writer does.
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