Holes. Characters and Characterization

A lesson introducing the class to our study of the characters of holes

1. You will be working in English OneNote folder (in the “HOLES” section.) A new page called ‘CHARACTERISATION’ “ HOLES ”

2. Characters and Characterisation

3. Characters Characters in texts are developed through what they say and do, and the language used to describe them. Voice means the tone of a narrative. Character can be shown through : the things they  do what they  say what they  look  like and what they  own .

4. What is characterisation? Characterisation is the art of creating characters for a narrative. In other words , it is the way authors create the characters in their novels and how they make them believable. When writing about texts, it should be easy to see the characters as real people ( perhaps even identify with them ). You need to remember that the author is  creating  characters using language. They pick their words very carefully to give the reader clues to the character and the situation. Characters will be presented using various techniques : a straight/direct description of them, through a description of their actions, the words used to develop their speech ( dialogue ), or thoughts.

5. What is characterisation? When you examine a set of characters in a text, you should ask yourself: What are the characters like? How you know this? What do the characters say (the dialogue)? How are they described? How are they perceived (seen) by other characters? What happens to them at the end of their story? (How does the character develop?)

6. Inference Every reader does this without thinking about it What is inferred in the sentences about some characters? What images do you get in you head when you read them? His lip wobbled and he looked down at the desk She blushed and clasped her hands tightly together A warm, familiar smell of mum’s cooking wafted along the corridor, making him smile. He stood surveying the scene. The outline of a notebook was apparent in his suit jacket pocket. “Hi,” the white kid grunted Be a literary detective and work out what is inferred . Meaning : To conclude from evidence

7. Who is Who in ‘Holes’? Character list: Camp Green Lake (Ch 4-5) Other Characters in ‘Holes’ Stanley (Caveman) Mr Sir Mr Pendanski Rex (X-Ray) Alan (Squid) Lewis (Barf Bag) Jose (Magnet) Theodore (Armpit) Ricky ( ZigZag ) Zero ( Hector ) Brian (Twitch) The Warden Stanley’s Father Stanley’s mother Clyde “Sweet Feet” Livingstone Derrick Dunne Elya Yelnats Madame Zeroni Miss Katherine/ Kate Barlow Sam Charles “Trout” Walker Mary Lou

8. Who is Who in ‘Holes’? Major Characters Stanley Yelnats Minor characters Charles “Trout” Walker TASK 7.1 Sort out the characters (from last slide) in ‘Holes’ into major and minor characters A major character is someone important to the action or theme of a story. A minor character has a name and contributes to the plot but is not the focus of the story.

9. Character Traits List of character traits Kind or cruel Educated or uneducated Dishonest or honest Reckless or careful Excitable or unemotional Powerful or weak Generous or mean Cunning or simple Hard working or lazy Hard-hearted or kind Short-tempered or patient Easy-going or difficult Cowardly or brave Uncertain or confident Loud or quiet Well-spoken or badly-spoken Well-mannered or ill-mannered/rude There are many well-known character traits that everyone understands. A few are a the right with opposites and contrasting trait listed together.

10. Go back to the book Many of the Camp Green Lake characters are introduced in Ch 4 and 5 . You will have made judgments about them from the first descriptions/dialogue and behaviours . TASK 7.2 1. Write a series of 4/5 statements describing someone famous ( without giving away the name of who it is). 2. Do the same for a character from ‘Holes’. Put these onto the class Padlet. We will see if anyone can guess who your characters are.

11. TASK: 7.3 Discuss: (In your OneNote folder) Choose 3 characters. How does Louis Sachar give the reader a strong first impression on what these characters are like? (Your opinion) Who is Who? What do we already know?

12. ONE way Louis Sachar creates character in ‘Holes’ is through using nicknames. This is one of the methods we will look at for creating character Nicknames Re-read Chapters 4, 5 and 6 Consider: What is a nickname? Do any of your friends/family have nicknames? How did they get this nickname? Why do we give people nicknames? Why do the campers have nicknames?

13. Character Nicknames We can tell a lot about the characters from their nicknames. Task 7.4 Complete the worksheet. From Today’s session on SEQTA

14. Task 7.5. Create an acrostic. Take each of the letters in Stanley’s name and write a sentence that links to and characteristic or an event that has happened to him in the novel Stanley Yelnats Acrostic S Sleeps in a cot that smelled like sour milk T A N L E Y Y E L N A T S Sneakers got him into trouble