The Ransom of Red Chief Assignment – Read the story

The Ransom of Red Chief Assignment – Read the story – page 71-78
Notes:
Characterization - the process by which the writer reveals the personality of a character
An author reveals the personality of the character by:
-
giving a physical description
o The boy had red hair and blue eyes.
through what the character does, says, feels and thinks
o He thought, “Why am I here? What did I do to fail?”
through what other characters say or think about that character
o “I really don’t want to go to John’s house,” she said. “He is always so mean.”
directly telling you about the character
o Dena was a kind, caring individual.
Static vs. Dynamic
Static – characters that never change or develop throughout the story
Dynamic – characters that experience changes throughout the plot of the story
Flat vs. Round
Round – characters that are most real-like. They experience emotions, grow, and we usually feel some
emotional bond to them (multiple personality traits)
Flat – characters that have no depth and can be described in a single sentence. Reveals only one or two
personality traits throughout the plot.
The following chart is based on the responses from the class:
Character
Bill
Sam
Red Chief (Johnny) – kid
Ebenezer
Traits
Kidnapper – seemingly stupid, afraid of the kid, timid, the bossed
around one, can’t handle the kid, fat (static, round)
Kidnapper - The brains of the operation, seemingly smart at first,
uses a lot of big words, narrator, ends up falling for the counteroffer (dynamic, round)
Evil, annoying, trouble, devil-child, hyper, imaginative, no one
seems to like him (static, round)
Dad, pretty smart, out-wits the kidnappers (static, flat)
Assignment:
After watching the video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4RuofhNcvg) give 2 -3 examples on how the
characters in the story are different than the characters in the video.
*Beware –Another word for cat is used which is a now-derogatory word about 2 minutes
into the video