Build Your Character! Discovering Characters in Fiction Literature

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

Characters are the players in a story. They are the people, animals, and other creatures that act or are acted upon in the story.

The main or central character is known as the protagonist. The protagonist is the character who faces a major conflict that must be solved before the end of the story.

The antagonist is the character, idea, or force that opposes the protagonist and serves as an obstacle. Antagonists are sometimes thought of as villains.

Each character can also be dynamic or static, and round or flat.

To learn more about these character descriptions, watch the video below.

Print the Character Analysis Circle Chart from Downloadable Resources in the right-hand sidebar.

Using the information above and the video, write a short description of each type of character in the sections of the chart. You can also illustrate your notes to help you remember the meanings!

Check out the following sites for definitions and more information.

• Types of Characters in Fiction
• Static vs. Dynamic Character — Differences and Examples

Now, choose a novel to work with. Several suggestions are under Suggested Reading in the right-hand sidebar.

Write the names of the characters from the book on your chart in the sections that best fit them.

• Which character is the protagonist, and which is the antagonist? (There can be more than one of each).
• Also, which ones are dynamic and which are static?
• Which are flat and which are round?

Now that you understand which types of characters are in your book, take it a bit further and describe them by making a bubble map.

Here's how.

1. Print two copies of the Graphic Organizer - Bubble Map found under Downloadable Resources in the right-hand sidebar.

2. Use these to create one character web for the protagonist in the book you are currently reading and one character web for the antagonist.

3. For each character, fill in their name in the large circle.

4. Add adjectives in the connecting circles to describe the character.

5. Compare the webs to find what similarities and differences the characters have.

Wow, now you know a lot about your characters!

Continue to the Got It? section for some practice.