Group Classwork: Alice Munro: Analysis of Characterization

In groups, write a thorough character analysis of one of the four main characters (Doree, Lloyd,
Maggie, or Mrs. Sands) in “Dimension” by Alice Munro. Make sure to follow the 3 steps
for Analyzing Characterization below. Please do a thorough job and try to absorb the methods
of characterization as they will be on the exam. Make sure to use literary terms.

ANALYZING CHARACTERIZATION

Remember that analysis involves breaking down a subject, making observations, and then
evaluating the relationship between the parts and the whole to come up with a deeper
interpretation. To analyze characterization, you break down the methods of characterization
that an author uses, and then evaluate how those methods relate to each other, as well as how
they relate to the end result: the character as a whole.

Step One: Choose your character. Briefly summarize the role the character plays.

Step Two: Tracking, which means that you will pretty much be stalking your character
throughout the work of fiction.

Go back and skim the story you have chosen for references to your character. As you skim,
make a note of the methods of characterization and write down at least 2 examples for each
method:

 What your character says. How does the character talk to others? What does the
character say out loud?

 What your character is known to think. It might be tempting to guess at their thoughts
if they aren’t provided in the work of fiction, but stick to what’s there. What does the
character think but not say? What are the character’s thoughts like?

 What your character does. How does the character behave? What does the character
do? How does the character react in situations? Where do they go and what do they do
when they get there?

 How your character interacts with others.

 How your character is described both by the narrator and other characters in the
book.
Step Three: Now that you’ve looked closely at all the methods an author might use to
characterize the character you are analyzing, it’s time to begin sorting through the information
you’ve gathered and come up with an evaluative statement about the methods and a final
statement about the character as a whole. Step Two produced a breakdown of the methods of
characterization; now it’s time to evaluate how they are related. Ask yourselves the following
questions. Consider which ones are most relevant to an understanding of the character and talk
about them before writing your final statements. Do not write down the answers for each one.
Just discuss them.

 What is your first impression of the character? What gave you that impression? Did your
impression of that character change before the end? Why or why not? (Look back at the
descriptions and the character’s thoughts and behavior)
 How does your perception of that character compare with the narrator’s perception? Do you
agree with how other characters perceive your character? (Look back at the interactions and
descriptions)
 How does the narrator want you to feel about the character? Support your answer: how do
you know? (Look back at the narrator’s descriptions; if it is in first person, write about how
the character perceives him or herself.)
 What do the physical descriptions reveal about the character, and the one giving the
description?
 What role does the character play in the story? Major or minor? Protagonist or antagonist?
Dynamic or static? Round or flat? How do you know? (Look for any changes in the
descriptions, interactions, and behaviors of your character)
 You might want to think about what motivates the character to behave as he or she does.

Evaluative Statement: Create an evaluative statement, a claim, about how the methods of
characterization relate to each other and present the character.

FINAL STATEMENT: Write a claim about how the methods of characterization lead to your
interpretation of the whole character in the context of the story. Explain that claim with details.
EXAMPLE: Edgar Allen Poe’s “Tell Tale Heart”

Step one: Choose character: Narrator/main character (unnamed). Story is in First Person and is
the main character thinking back on the murder he committed.

Step Two:
What the character says: no direct dialogue until the very end of the short story. Mostly,
narrator gives second-hand accounts of what he has said to others.
o To the old man across the hall (whom he murders): The narrator says that he talks
“courageously” to the man across the hall, calls him by name, uses a “hearty tone,” and asks
about how the old man sleeps at night
o To the police investigating a shriek heard from the old man’s apartment: Narrator says he
was calm, confident, had nothing to hide, and talked warmly and openly with the officers,
although everything he said was a lie.
o As the sound of the heart beat in the floor increases, the narrator admits that he talked
louder, faster, and began to rant and rave violently at the police officers.
o Direct dialogue: his confessional outburst to the officers.
“I admit the deed!—tear up the planks!—here, here!—it is the beating of his hideous heart!”

What the character thinks: most of the short story is the narrator’s thoughts. The narrator
thinks that we (as readers) think he’s crazy. He also thinks…
o paranoid thoughts about the old man’s “vulture eye”
o the police are on to him, that they already know what happened and are just mocking him
o he can hear the old man’s heart beating in under the floor boards
o of himself as Death, determining when someone shall die
o he is extremely clever and sane, that a crazy person wouldn’t be able to do as good of a job
murdering his neighbor as he did

What the character does: The narrator admits that he creeps into the old man’s apartment at
night (for seven nights in a row) and then murders the old man on the eighth night. He then hides
the old man’s body under the floorboards of his apartment.
o He invites the officers to look in the old man’s apartment to see that nothing has been
disturbed
o He invites the officers into his own apartment for a rest

How the character interacts with others: The character is kind to the old man but then stalks
and murders him. He is calm and helpful to the officers until driven mad by the heartbeat he
thinks he hears.

How the character is described: The narrator describes himself as a smart, cunning, patient,
and sane individual. We do not get any descriptions about him from any other characters. We, as
readers, can only see him through his own perception. It doesn’t seem like these descriptions can
be trusted.
o Narrator provides a detailed description of stalking the old man, but the murder is quick:
pulls the bed on top of the old man.
o Narrator repeatedly describes the old man as “stone dead”
Step Three: Evaluative Statement: From his opening words, the character seems disturbed
immediately, and his mental state only gets worse as the story continues. The narrator is
unreliable and all of the characterizations are shown through his eyes. For example, we see his
description of the old man that he kills. The narrator wants readers to agree with him, and
believe that he is not insane. Much more was happening than what is presented in the story: was
the character/narrator always like this, or was it the “disease” mentioned in the beginning?
Through the narrator’s characterization, the story shows the unhinging of a man. The events that
lead to the condition are a mystery. We are left to analyze an inaccurate account of bizarre
behavior, and the narrator’s reaction to it all.

FINAL STATEMENT: Had we not been privileged with a first-person account, we might have
needed additional information to understand the climax of the story. It is the characterization
through first person perception that creates the suspense and paranoia of this short story. We can
see the madness in the narrator’s thoughts, actions, interactions, and dialogue, and are left to
conclude that sometimes the criminally insane are convinced their behaviour is justified.