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SingaporeEnglish LiteratureQuick questions
Analysing Character and Theme
Quick questions on Methods of characterisation explained: O-Level Literature in English
5short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is the full toolkit of characterisation?Show answer
Writers build characters in many ways, and across forms the toolkit is broadly the same:
What is the views of others, handled carefully?Show answer
What other characters say about a figure, and how they react to them, shapes our impression, but it must be handled carefully, because those views may be biased or wrong. Sometimes a writer deliberately gives us a false impression through others' words, then corrects it ("people mistook his quiet for slowness; they were wrong"). Analysing how a writer uses, and sometimes overturns, others' views is a subtle characterisation point.
What is q1?Show answer
Name four methods a writer can use to build a character. [2 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
What is a foil, and how does it characterise? [2 marks]
What is q3?Show answer
Why is it stronger to show how several methods combine than to analyse just one? [3 marks]
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