Creating Memorable Characters

Do you know who this character is and what book made her famous?

"Of course, she knew that married people occupied the same bed but she had never given the matter a thought before. It seemed very natural in the case of her mother and father, but she had never applied it to herself. Now for the first time since the barbecue she realized just what she had brought on herself. The thought of this strange boy who she really hadn’t wanted to marry getting into bed with her when her heart was breaking with an agony of regret at her hasty action and the anguish of losing ____ forever, was too much to be borne. As he hesitatingly approached the bed she spoke in a hoarse whisper.

“I’ll scream out loud if you come near me. I will! I will—at the top of my voice! Get away from me! Don’t you dare touch me!”

                                                               *************

In preparation for my class at Central Piedmont Community College on "Crafting Characters that Connect," I wanted to find an example of a memorable character. I leafed through the books on my daughters' shelves and finally decided on this selection.

Reading through these two short paragraphs, what do you learn about this character FAST- about her feelings, actions, speech, or thoughts?

As a reader, you are privy to her thoughts and can hear her naive beliefs about sex and marriage; this may make you wonder what time period is depicted. The author also informs you that this character is prone to impulsive actions--even to the point of marrying someone she doesn't truly love. Her obvious discomfort during her wedding night is emphasizied in five short, belligerent lines of speech. 

In less than 150 words a famous author artfully shows us a woman who finds herself in a difficult position and handles it by refusing her new husband.

Internal conflict precipitates external conflict. Delicious conflict that hooks the reader, leaving you wanting more.

Memorable characters keep readers turning the page. Creating them is the goal of every writer. If you are a new or established writer looking for ways to create your own unforgettable characters, I hope you'll consider joining my CPCC class which begins on June 16. You'll write, do lots of fun exercises, and learn how to wiki--all within the space of six lessons.  

Now, back to our mystery post. If you insert "Ashley" in the blank above, then you know that the infamous character depicted above is none other than,

Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara

If you guessed Gone With the Wind you were right!

technorati tags: http://technorati.com/tag/Central" rel="tag">Central http://technorati.com/tag/Piedmont" rel="tag">Piedmont http://technorati.com/tag/Community" rel="tag">Community http://technorati.com/tag/College," rel="tag">College, http://technorati.com/tag/creating" rel="tag">creating http://technorati.com/tag/memorable" rel="tag">memorable http://technorati.com/tag/characters," rel="tag">characters, http://technorati.com/tag/FAST," rel="tag">FAST, http://technorati.com/tag/teaching" rel="tag">teaching http://technorati.com/tag/writing," rel="tag">writing, http://technorati.com/tag/wikis," rel="tag">wikis, http://technorati.com/tag/Scarlett" rel="tag">Scarlett http://technorati.com/tag/O" rel="tag">O http://technorati.com/tag/Hara," rel="tag">Hara, http://technorati.com/tag/Gone" rel="tag">Gone http://technorati.com/tag/with" rel="tag">with http://technorati.com/tag/the" rel="tag">the http://technorati.com/tag/Wind" rel="tag">Wind
del.icio.us tags:  http://del.icio.us/tag/Central" rel="tag">Central http://del.icio.us/tag/Piedmont" rel="tag">Piedmont http://del.icio.us/tag/Community" rel="tag">Community http://del.icio.us/tag/College," rel="tag">College, http://del.icio.us/tag/creating" rel="tag">creating http://del.icio.us/tag/memorable" rel="tag">memorable http://del.icio.us/tag/characters," rel="tag">characters, http://del.icio.us/tag/FAST," rel="tag">FAST, http://del.icio.us/tag/teaching" rel="tag">teaching http://del.icio.us/tag/writing," rel="tag">writing, http://del.icio.us/tag/wikis," rel="tag">wikis, http://del.icio.us/tag/Scarlett" rel="tag">Scarlett http://del.icio.us/tag/O" rel="tag">O http://del.icio.us/tag/Hara," rel="tag">Hara, http://del.icio.us/tag/Gone" rel="tag">Gone http://del.icio.us/tag/with" rel="tag">with http://del.icio.us/tag/the" rel="tag">the http://del.icio.us/tag/Wind" rel="tag">Wind
icerocket tags:  http://blogs.icerocket.com/tag/Central" rel="tag">Central http://blogs.icerocket.com/tag/Piedmont" rel="tag">Piedmont http://blogs.icerocket.com/tag/Community" rel="tag">Community http://blogs.icerocket.com/tag/College," rel="tag">College, http://blogs.icerocket.com/tag/creating" rel="tag">creating http://blogs.icerocket.com/tag/memorable" rel="tag">memorable http://blogs.icerocket.com/tag/characters," rel="tag">characters, http://blogs.icerocket.com/tag/FAST," rel="tag">FAST, http://blogs.icerocket.com/tag/teaching" rel="tag">teaching http://blogs.icerocket.com/tag/writing," rel="tag">writing, http://blogs.icerocket.com/tag/wikis," rel="tag">wikis, http://blogs.icerocket.com/tag/Scarlett" rel="tag">Scarlett http://blogs.icerocket.com/tag/O" rel="tag">O http://blogs.icerocket.com/tag/Hara," rel="tag">Hara, http://blogs.icerocket.com/tag/Gone" rel="tag">Gone http://blogs.icerocket.com/tag/with" rel="tag">with http://blogs.icerocket.com/tag/the" rel="tag">the http://blogs.icerocket.com/tag/Wind" rel="tag">Wind
keotag tags:  http://www.keotag.com/tag/Central" rel="tag">Central http://www.keotag.com/tag/Piedmont" rel="tag">Piedmont http://www.keotag.com/tag/Community" rel="tag">Community http://www.keotag.com/tag/College," rel="tag">College, http://www.keotag.com/tag/creating" rel="tag">creating http://www.keotag.com/tag/memorable" rel="tag">memorable http://www.keotag.com/tag/characters," rel="tag">characters, http://www.keotag.com/tag/FAST," rel="tag">FAST, http://www.keotag.com/tag/teaching" rel="tag">teaching http://www.keotag.com/tag/writing," rel="tag">writing, http://www.keotag.com/tag/wikis," rel="tag">wikis, http://www.keotag.com/tag/Scarlett" rel="tag">Scarlett http://www.keotag.com/tag/O" rel="tag">O http://www.keotag.com/tag/Hara," rel="tag">Hara, http://www.keotag.com/tag/Gone" rel="tag">Gone http://www.keotag.com/tag/with" rel="tag">with http://www.keotag.com/tag/the" rel="tag">the http://www.keotag.com/tag/Wind" rel="tag">Wind

Reading (and writing) in the 21st Century

At the Pennsylvania Reading Association conference this week (KSRA) I listened with interest to Dr. Donald Leu, a professor of Education at the University of Connecticut, speak on Technology and Literacy. "The Internet is this generation's defining technology for reading," he told his audience of reading specialists, literary coaches, and language arts teachers. "We place our students at risk if they're not prepared."

To be honest, I hadn't thought about the skills that students need to decode websites. Dr. Leu was quick to fill in my knowledge gap. "First a student must be able to look at a website and see who wrote the material and discover the author's bias," he told us. He demonstrated this by showing what search results for Martin Luther King turned up. The first Google hits were websites for bookstores which would not give students the information they sought.

Once a seemingly suitable website was located, Dr. Leu pointed out that student researchers must find out who hosts the site so that they can discover the author's bias in presenting the material. This would prompt critical evaluation and discussion in the classroom. He emphasized the two reading skills which are exercised at this point: locating information and then evaluating it. New literacies of online reading comprehension include identifying important information, reading to synthesize the information, and reading to connect answers to other material. Visual aids such as photos and videos can aid comprehension, particularly for slow learners.

Obviously there are issues with online reading. Students must go beyond Wikipedia searches (although as a novice wiki user there is a definite place for wikis in the classroom- my wiki at http://redfontandrevision.pbwiki.com/Welcome%20to%20Carol%20Baldwin%27s%20Red%20Font%20Wiki shows what I presented at KSRA). But wikis can be edited and thus they are less reliable as a source of information. Teachers must make sure that students are reading in depth and not simply scanning a site, and of course when it comes to writing, there are plagiarism issues with a "cut and paste" mentality.

By the way, did you know that you can have your students filter their work through a website such as http://www.turnitin.com/static/index.html which checks a document for originality? I heard of this site the day before KSRA, when my friend's teenagers told me they had to submit their papers through this website before turning them into their teachers.

Check out New Literacies Reading Lab at the University of Connecticut. Dr. Leu is the director of a team who researches the new reading comprehension and learning skills that 21^st century students will need as technology changes the nature of our classrooms.

Online reading leads to online writing (e-mail, blogs, wikis, Facebook, etc) and as a writing aficionado, how can I argue with that? After all, this is the 21^st century.

Technorati Tags:
KSRA, Donald Leu, New Literacies Reading Lab, Wikis
Add to: | Technorati | Digg | del.icio.us | Yahoo | BlinkList | Spurl | reddit | Furl |