Week 5 SS - Character II - 25&26 March

ASSIGNMENT for WEEK 5 – CHARACTERISATION II

·        Read ‘Real Estate’ by Rivka Galchen and ‘Surrogate’ by Tessa Hadley

·        Make notes on the questions below

·        Read the section entitled ‘Identity’ in the chapter on ‘Character’ by Uri Margolin  (pp. 72-75; The Cambridge Companion to Narrative). If you have the time, I recommend that you read the entire essay. 

Read the two new short stories and pay attention to the following points, making notes as you read. In many cases, the same or similar questions were asked about the texts assigned for week 4. We will also go back to Dickens's Great Expectations and discuss how representation of space coincides with characterization and talk about foils, confidants etc. 

1.      Find examples of implicit and explicit characterisation in both Galchen and Hadley. Does one of the two methods prevail in any of the two short stories?

2.      Does block characterisation play an important role in either of the two texts?

3.      Identify any distinguishable individuals that you can find in both texts (see Margolin on ‘identity’ and ‘qualitatively different individuals’ on pp. 72-74).

4.      Make a list of major and minor characters for each of the texts.

5.      If there are examples of self-characterisation, can the character be considered a reliable source of information about themselves?

6.      What kind of narrator do we encounter in each of the texts? Would you consider them a reliable narrator? Why?

7.      Does space play an important role in characterisation in either of the text?

8.      Can any of the characters in either of the texts be described as a confidants or ‘foils’? Explain their function in the narrative.

9.      How would you describe the characters you have identified in question 3? Are there any ‘types’ / round / flat characters among them? How about the protagonists? Would you describe them as static/dynamic/mono-/multi-dimensional? 

10.   Are there any examples of ‘dramatic characterisation’ to be found in either of the short stories?

"What is an Unreliable Narrator?": A Literary Guide for English Students and Teachers (Oregon State University; School of Writing)