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Power in Literature Short Stories: Part 5 414 Views


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Description:

What do “characterization” and “archetype” mean? How are they different? This video defines both of these related terms and explains when and how each could be used in literature.


Transcript

00:01

We speak student!

00:03

Power in Literature:

00:05

Characterization and Archetype, a la Shmoop.

00:09

Another vocab word we've used is

00:12

character or characterization, which maps

00:15

to another five dollar word: archetype.

00:19

Can you talk about those terms and

00:22

apply them to tangible literature

00:24

What does characterization and archetype mean?

00:28

An archetype is a very specific type of character that

00:31

you'll see throughout literature

00:33

it's basically that every story

00:36

or almost every story has the wise

00:40

father figure: Atticus.

00:43

Or has the kind of spunky youthful

00:48

kid, that's Scout. etc.

00:50

If there are, say, fifty archetypes not every story has all fifty.

00:54

But there are specific types of characters that you see in every story.

00:57

So for instance Holden and Scout are kind of the same archetype

01:02

even though they're totally different characters

01:04

they're both this kind of youthful spunky character

01:07

who doesn't quite realize what it means to be an adult

01:10

and that's okay cause they're young.

01:11

so even characters who seem very different can be filling the same archetypal role.

01:16

Characterization, I love characterization, is the way

01:20

that an author describes a character

01:24

or shows what a character is all about.

01:26

We most often think of characterization as

01:28

description and that is one type of characterization: direct characterization

01:32

the author will say to us, this character

01:36

is funny and interesting and

01:39

a little bit naïve.

01:41

And they might actually say those words

01:44

instead, there are other tools that authors use

01:47

like, what clothes do they wear, what's their social status

01:51

do they have any props that describe them

01:54

You could say, you’re writing a story, you could say like,

01:58

"Mike was a tough guy," direct characterization,

02:01

or you could be like: “Mike wore ripped jeans and like, a cutoff t-shirt

02:06

and like, carried a gun with him,"

02:07

or something, and you get, without actually describing

02:11

what the character is like, you're able to express that same thing.

02:14

You show, you don’t tell

02:15

Exactly. First rule of writing.

02:18

A lot of spy movies its funny, you have this

02:20

mother earth wonderful little old lady

02:23

who has a charming tea service with

02:26

the some evil forces

02:29

but then the thing ends and she takes out a recorder and gun from her purse

02:33

and you realize, "oh she's the bad guy."

02:36

What does characterization and archetype mean?

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