Skip to main content

What are the indirect and direct characterizations of Miss Stephanie in Chapters 7 and 8 of To Kill a Mockingbird?

Writers develop and reveal characters and character traits through direct characterization, in which the writer tells the reader about a character through direct statements rather than dramatization. Writers can also use indirect characterization, which can be developed through the following means:

  1. through a physical description of a character

  2. through the character's actions

  3. through the character's thoughts, feelings, and speech

  4. through the comments and reactions of other characters

In Chapter 7 of To Kill a Mockingbird, there is only a brief mention of Miss Stephanie Crawford. Jem and Scout find two carved figures in the knot-hole of the tree on the Radley's place; one is a boy and another a girl. As they study them, Scout notes the carver even caught the cowlick in Jem's hair. When they try to figure out who could have made these figures, Scout suggests Mr. Avery. Jem disputes this conclusion, saying all Mr. Avery really does is whittle a stick down to a toothpick.


Scout then suggests, "There's old Miss Stephanie Crawford's sweetheart. . . Maybe he sits on the porch and looks at us instead of Miss Stephanie." These statements are examples of indirect characterization.


In Chapter 8, there is another example of indirect characterization when Jem fashions a snowman after Maycomb has a rare snowfall.


Looking at Jem's unfinished attempt, Scout remarks, "'He looks like Stephanie Crawford with her hands on her hips. . . Fat in the middle and little-bitty arms,' I said." 


Miss Maudie talks to the children after the fire and tells them she will bake a Lane cake. She also comments on Miss Stephanie, saying, "That Stephanie's been after my recipe for thirty years."


The only example that can possibly be considered as direct characterization is that in which Scout acts as narrator, and is thus the voice of the author. In Chapter 8, she mentions,



Another fire truck appeared and stepped in front of Miss Stephanie Crawford's.



This statement tells about Miss Stephanie's house, so, perhaps, it can be defined as telling about a character, which is direct characterization.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is the meaning of "juggling fiends" in Macbeth?

Macbeth is beginning to realize that the three witches have been deceiving him since he first encountered them. Like jugglers, they have kept changing their forecasts in order create confusion. This is particularly apparent when the Second Apparition they raise in Act IV,   Scene 1 tells him that no man of woman born can overcome him in hand-to-hand battle--and then Macbeth finds himself confronted by the one man he has been avoiding out of a... Macbeth is beginning to realize that the three witches have been deceiving him since he first encountered them. Like jugglers, they have kept changing their forecasts in order create confusion. This is particularly apparent when the Second Apparition they raise in Act IV,   Scene 1 tells him that no man of woman born can overcome him in hand-to-hand battle--and then Macbeth finds himself confronted by the one man he has been avoiding out of a sense of guilt, and that man tells him: Despair thy charm. And let the angel whom thou still hast serve...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are some external and internal conflicts that Montag has in Fahrenheit 451?

 Montag, the protagonist of Fahrenheit 451, faces both external and internal conflicts throughout the novel. Some examples of these conflicts are: External Conflicts: Conflict with the society: Montag lives in a society that prohibits books and critical thinking. He faces opposition from the government and the people who enforce this law. Montag struggles to come to terms with the fact that his society is based on censorship and control. Conflict with his wife: Montag's wife, Mildred, is completely absorbed in the shallow and meaningless entertainment provided by the government. Montag's growing dissatisfaction with his marriage adds to his external conflict. Conflict with the fire captain: Montag's superior, Captain Beatty, is the personification of the oppressive regime that Montag is fighting against. Montag's struggle against Beatty represents his external conflict with the government. Internal Conflicts: Conflict with his own beliefs: Montag, at the beginning of th...
Post a Comment
Read more

In A People's History of the United States, why does Howard Zinn feel that Wilson made a flimsy argument for entering World War I?

"War is the health of the state," the radical writer Randolph Bourne said, in the midst of the First World War. Indeed, as the nations of Europe went to war in 1914, the governments flourished, patriotism bloomed, class struggle was stilled, and young men died in frightful numbers on the battlefields-often for a hundred yards of land, a line of trenches. -- Chapter 14, Page 350, A People's History of the United States Howard Zinn outlines his arguments for why World War I was fought in the opening paragraph of Chapter 14 (referenced above). The nationalism that was created by the Great War benefited the elite political and financial leadership of the various countries involved. Socialism, which was gaining momentum in Europe, as was class struggle, took a backseat to mobilizing for war. Zinn believes that World War I was fought for the gain of the industrial capitalists of Europe in a competition for capital and resources. He states that humanity itself was punished by t...
Post a Comment
Read more