The novel station eleven is dominated by six main characters who all connected to each other as well as the secondary characters. Indirect characterization in speak appearance methods of characterization this basically show how melinda feels inside. It is made very clear from the beginning of the story that melinda is not like everyone else. This quote can also relate to rachael because melinda ruined their friendship. Yes, characters can change from the begging of the story to the end. Speak is set in syracuse, new york, in the specific neighborhood and schoolmerryweather high schoolof melinda sordino in the present day character list. The crucible, static character abigail 1061 words 5 pages in arthur miller s the crucible, the main character abigail williams is to blame for the witch trials in salem, massachusetts, abigail williams remained a static character throughout the book. Who are the dynamic and static characters in speak answers.
Overworked and distracted, melindas mother is aware that her daughter has suddenly. She is 15 years old and is beginning her freshman year at merryweather high school. Some days a character can be static, and some days they can be dynamic. After melindas mother ruins the bird read full symbol analysis melindas closet. This will start a 2week free trial no credit card needed breaking down foil characters. The main character palinor in knowledge of angels is a static character, though this may be excused by the book being something of an author tract, with palinor being the author avatar. Melinda even says herself, i am outcast anderson 4. Flat charactersminor figures that play a supporting role in the storyare used to move the plot along, providing subtle exposition. Its easier to floss with barbed wire than admit you like someone in middle. Foil characters can be antagonists, but not always. Also considered the protagonist, she is the character that readers watch bloom from the tormented, quiet girl at. Melinda, a high school freshman, is the protagonist in laurie halse andersons speak.
Throughout the book, melinda watches as heather desperately tries to fit in with the other students at her school, only to fail over and over. When an author uses a foil, they want to make sure that the reader is picking up on important attributes and characteristics of a. Study guide for the novel speak by laurie halse anderson. He or she must usually overcome some opposing force. Shes important to the story because shes important to melinda. He is the main antagonist of the book, and spends much of the narrative harassing melinda in various read full character analysis melindas mother. Many kinds of characters populate fictional narratives. Arthur leander is the first character we are introduced to in the novel, a famous actor. It focuses on a 9th grade girl who suddenly finds herself without friends after an incident that occurred at a high school party. Staticdynamic character auggie pullman is a dynamic character because he changes overtime due to occurring events in the story. Also known as it or andy beast to melinda, andy is the primary antagonist in speak. Static and dynamic characters english quiz quizizz. A static character is one who doesnt undergo any significant change in character, personality or perspective over the course of a story. She also does poorly in school, and doesnt socialize very easily with other students.
Well, there are static characters and there are dynamic characters. The monster this is one of the most important characters, second only to frankenstein. Speak by laurie halse anderson by sophia khalaf on prezi. Lampshaded in prince caspian by trufflehunter the badger. We do not know her thoughts and feelings and she does not change during the novel. Static character definition, a literary or dramatic character who undergoes little or no inner change. In the book and movie holes, a character named zero starts off as a quiet character who cant read, but eventually he transforms into a character who begins to speak up and learns to read, thanks to his friend, stanley. Static character definition and examples litcharts.
A static character will stay just as they are throughout the entire story. For you to have a better grasp of the development of the characters, we advise you to analyze them in couples. No one, however, knows melindas biggest secret, the reason she dialed 911 over the. Such characters do not undergo substantial change or growth in the course of a story. Analyzing the characters of speak by thuong nguyen on prezi. Melinda lists the cliques that the ninth grade class has broken into. How to craft positive character arcs for your novel. Although melinda is a round character, she is also static. Jocks, country clubbers, idiot savants, cheerleaders, human. Ivy used to be a plain jane along with melinda, nicole, and rachel.
All that crap you hear on tv about communication and expressing feelings is a lie. Just because a character is static does not mean that they are bad or overly simplistic. Speak tells the story of melinda sordino, a high school student who stops speaking after she is raped by a classmate at a party. I see a few friendspeople i used to think were my friendsbut they look away anderson 8. Mar 09, 2009 who are static and dynamic characters in laurie halse andersons book speak.
Static character definition of static character at. He could be described as pretentious and selfabsorbed. Jocks, country clubbers, idiot savants, cheerleaders, human waste, eurotrash, future. A dynamic character is one that undergoes a significant change. Melinda is a round dynamic character and develops through the story. Melinda needs to come to terms with her rape and andy evans and let that part go, or chop it off, in order to begin to recover.
Static character, developing character, flat character, round character, symbol, symbolism vocabulary terms. The protagonist of a story is the main character who traditionally undergoes some sort of change. But shes not exactly bubbling over with friendly overtures either. They are also known as twodimensional characters or static characters. Define each term, include part of speech, and provide sentence from the novel where the word is located with page number. Most likely, your favorite character in that story is the protagonist, or the main character. The protagonist in this novel is melinda sordino, a ninthgrader at merryweather high school who must find some way to deal with being raped and labeled an outcast among the students of her school. This characters conflict may be an inner one within himherself, or a conflict with. Melinda called the police at a summer party because a boy she didnt. A character that exhibits opposite or conflicting traits to another character is called a foil. She is terribly unhappy, because she is the victim of a vicious rape, and so spends her entire ninthgrade year trying to come to. The character of heather in speak from litcharts the creators of.
A character is a person, animal, being, creature, or thing in a story. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it each theme is indicated by. Speak, published in 1999, is a young adult novel by laurie halse anderson that tells the story of high school freshman melinda sordino. Speak is set in syracuse, new york, in the specific neighborhood and schoolmerryweather high schoolof melinda sordino in the present day. Hamlet the prince of denmark, the title character, and the protagonist.
Writers use characters to perform the actions and speak dialogue, moving the story along a plot line. He is the antagonist of the book and ruins everything in frankensteins life. After accidentally busting an end of summer party due to an unnamed incident, melinda is ostracized by her. Likewise some characters, be they round or flat, will end a story with pretty much the same personality and traits they began with. Anderson uses symbolism to illustrate melindas struggle and her eventual emotional growth as she begins to move. Hamlet is melancholy, bitter, and cynical, full of hatred for his uncles scheming and disgust for his mothers. The crucible, static character abigail 1061 words bartleby. Majorminor character auggie pullman is definitely a major character, because august is mentioned in every part of the book. Since shes also the narrator, everything we learn about the other characters is filtered through her. A dynamic character, in contrast, undergoes a major transition in one or more of these ways. Understand a character s traits and motivations more clearly. Hans, because in the beginning of the story he shows integrity, bravery, and kindness and he still has it at the end of the book.
Both the protagonist and the antagonist are often found to be dynamic. Static character examples and definition of static character. He would be nice but because everyone is afraid of him he tries to take revenge on his creator by killing everyone victor loves. She is depressed, does not enjoy company of others, and has a lot of internal conflicts going on in her head. One example of this would be lenny from steinbecks novel of mice and men.
Guy montag, mildred montag, captain beatty, professor faber, clarisse mcclellan, granger, mrs. Throughout the novel you will find whether or not they will ever make up. Who are the static characters in the giver answers. Its found as much in what we dont say as we do, in our body language as the words we speak. In a nutshell, it allows us to empathize with the protagonist and secondary characters, and thus feel that what is happening to these people in the story is vicariously happening to us. Melinda is very perceptive and bright, but her vision is s. About thirty years old at the start of the play, hamlet is the son of queen gertrude and the late king hamlet, and the nephew of the present king, claudius. At its most basic, a foil is a character used to reflect the characteristics of a protagonist. Due to her trauma and inability to tell anyone about what happened, melinda spirals into a dark depression. Static characters are characters that remain unchanged throughout the story.
As a coming of age novel, speak has a strong focus on adolescence and the problems and desires associated with it. Necks poor behavior as a teacher and thus serves as both a role model and friend for melinda. The character may be entirely fictional or based on a reallife person, in which case the distinction of a fictional versus real character may be made. We know she is concerned with being popular but that. Speak study guide contains a biography of laurie halse anderson. Birds appear multiple times in the text of speak the most memorable of these appearances, of course, being the doomed turkey that melindas mother attempts to cook on christmas. The character of the psychiatrist is relevant for the way in which. Essentially, a static character is largely the same person at the end of the story as he was in the beginning. Any character in a compelling story experiences some life changes and variation in his environment, but what distinguishes a static character. We are not sure who it is, and pulls you in, so you want to keep reading to find out who or what it is. Jul 21, 2017 laurie halse andersons youngadult novel speak is rich with symbolism.
Ivy wasnt at the party where melinda called cops and doesnt seem to have any reason to be mad at melinda. Speak by laurie halse anderson is an ageappropriate novel for teens with believable characters and situations. A story can have only one character protagonist and still be a complete story. They are also known as twodimensional characters or. After melinda calls the police at a party in august, her former friend group ditches her and disintegrates. Andy evans itandy evans is the antagonist in speak. The character of melinda sordino in speak from litcharts the. Sometimes, foils will even be other characters alongside the protagonist.
Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. The main characters of the short story the veldt by ray bradbury are george, lydia, wendy, peter, and david the psychologist. I have seven new note books, a skirt i hate, and a stomachache. The summer before starting high school, she was raped by a senior student, andy evans. Speak by laurie halse anderson rising action the rising action is when melinda starts saying how she sees it looking at her, or she passes it in the hallway. So i think, mother, father, lily, asher, fiona, and gabriel are static characters. These static characters can go entire seasons or books without changing or experiencing the character development that a more dynamic character does. Usually the main characterswe know more about their thoughts, feelings, and motivations. Despite melindas unusually traumatic experiences, almost every reader can connect to the world she lives in. A popular and handsome upperclassman, andy evans raped melinda at a party the summer before speak begins.
That broken, repetitive quality mimics exactly the way we speak. Speak characters from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. Thus, a static character could be the protagonist too, and a flat character, on the other hand, only plays a side role in the story. The protagonist of speak, melinda begins high school and the novel traumatized by a rape that. Static characters can be protagonists, antagonists, or other minor characters, and a narrative can have more than one static character. Also considered the protagonist, she is the character that readers watch bloom from the tormented, quiet girl at school into a strong defender of.
Reviewed for prism book alliance is gender really important. They often do not learn anything from their experiences, or they are simply in the story to fulfill a role. Melinda sordino is the main character of the book speak. Andy is a static flat character who does not develop and stays the same for the entire story. A static character is a character that remains unchanged throughout the whole entire story. Those rules will make writing dialogue easy turning it from something static, heavy.
Melinda sordino she is a sophomore in merryweather high school, syracuse, new york. How to define your characters unique voice wellstoried. Speak symbols from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. Rachel and melinda have been best friends since grade school at least. Static definition is exerting force by reason of weight alone without motion. Typical for you to ask questions at the last minute jeremy, what i know is this. Types of characters in fiction what does characterization do for a story. Get to know the different types of mystery novels before pitching your book.
A flat or static character is a character in a story that lacks depth and complexity, and tends to remain in a fixed mindset. But how do you go about defining your characters unique voices. Static characters do not develop or change beyond the way in which they are first presented example, pg. Collins, pride and prejudice by jane austen the first example of a static character is mr. In fiction, a character sometimes known as a fictional character is a person or other being in a narrative such as a novel, play, television series, film, or video game. All characters in a story are either dynamic or static.
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