An Interesting Character Indeed!

"Oh! You're such a Character!" or how about, "He's a character at heart." I'm sure we've all heard these phrases before; whether it was on a cheesy cartoon or in real life. What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of Character? Someone who's funny? Angry? Lively? Well, to me, a character is someone with personality; someone who keeps me interested, you know? Heh...that's my definition at least, but let's see what the real one is...

Character (KARE-ec-ter): A person who is responsible for the thoughts and actions within a story, poem, or other literature. Characters are extremely important because they are the medium through which a reader interacts with a piece of literature. Every character has his or her own personality, which a creative author uses to assist in forming the plot of a story or creating a mood. The different attitudes, mannerisms, and even appearances of characters can greatly influence the other major elements in a literary work, such as theme, setting, and tone. With this understanding of the character, a reader can become more aware of other aspects of literature, such as symbolism, giving the reader a more complete understanding of the work. The character is one of the most important tools available to the author. In the ballad "Edward," for instance, the character himself sets the tone of the ballad within the first stanza. After reading the first few stanzas, one learns that Edward has murdered his father and is very distraught. His attitude changes to disgust and finally to despair when he realizes the consequences he must face for his actions. An example of the attitudes and personalities of characters determining the theme is also seen in the book of Genesis. The proud personality of Cain and the humble personality of Abel help create the conflict for this story. Cain and Abel were brothers, possibly twins, who displayed intense sibling rivalry. God was not pleased with Cain's offerings, but found pleasure in Abel's offerings. Provoked by God's displeasure with him, Cain murdered his own brother out of jealousy

"Wasn't That Ironic?"

"To be? Or not to be? That is the question." Can you remember who made these words? YUP! It was Shakespeare. Still, looking at things like this make me wonder if he had a life beyond writing excellent Literature...guess not. I mean, do you wake up every morning and ask yourself that question...I would hope not. Well, with the exception of saying some wierd yet extraordinary phrases, Shakespeare also made some extraordinary plays. Let's take Romeo & Juliet; the two lovers who died due to their rash decisions and Family Conflict. Let's take a short re-cap: After a night of passion and sex, Romeo runs off(He was definitely a "Player") becuase he is exiled from his city. Juliet wants to free herself from her family and find Romeo, so she takes a potion that will make them think she is dead when she is really under a deep sleep.(Good idea girl, your just lucky they didn't throw your dumb ass in the furnace and put your ashes in a jar) Romeo comes back and finds his true love dead in the tomb, so he kills himself (Can you say "Moron!"). Five seconds after he dies, Juliet wakes up and finds her true love dead, so she kills herself (Stupid...). This whole scene at the end of the play is...Dramatically Ironic...

irony (i-RAH-nee): a literary term referring to how a person, situation, statement, or circumstance is not as it would actually seem. Many times it is the exact opposite of what it appears to be. There are many types of irony, the three most common being verbal irony, dramatic irony, and cosmic irony. Verbal irony occurs when either the speaker means something totally different than what he is saying or the audience realizes, because of their knowledge of the particular situation to which the speaker is referring, that the opposite of what a character is saying is true. Verbal irony also occurs when a character says something in jest that, in actuality, is true. In Julius Caesar, Marc Antony’s reference to Brutus being an honorable man is an example of verbal irony. Marc Antony notes all of the good deeds Julius Caesar did for his people while, more than once, he asks the rhetorical question, “Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?” Antony uses this rhetorical question to try to convince his audience that Caesar is not ambitious, presenting Brutus as a dishonorable man because of his claim that Caesar was ambitious. Dramatic irony occurs when facts are not known to the characters in a work of literature but are known by the audience. In The Gospel According to St. John, the Pharisees say of Jesus, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” This is dramatic irony for the reader already knows, according to the author, that Jesus is the Savior of the world and has already done much good for the people by forgiving their sins and healing the sick and oppressed. The Pharisees are too blinded to see what good actually has come out of Nazareth. Cosmic irony suggests that some unknown force brings about dire and dreadful events. Cosmic irony can be seen in Shakespeare’s Othello.

Who's the bad guy?

Hey! Hey! Hey! What's up everybody? This is your lovely, Literary man, Zaphkiel speaking, and I've got the first Literary word for the week! However, before we get to that, let's talk about something that relates to our word. So, how many of you have heard of The Joker? You know, that crazy villain from Batman that will put a smile on your face whether you like it or not. He really got on Batman's nerves, didn't he? I mean, always escaping from prison and causing terror in Gotham City. You'd think after so many villains escaped from jail somebody would have enough sense to say: "Hey, maybe we should stop walking so close the cells. That way, the prisoner won't trick us, knock us out, or do any other harmful things that will allow them to get our keys." SORRY, NOT GONNA HAPPEN! You know why? It's because if those guards did wise up and learn how to defend themselves, from The Joker's slyness, Poison Ivy's sex appeal, or the Riddler's tricks, then Batman would have no one to fight, which leads to no conflict/problems. Of course, not all books need to have a bad guy, in fact, there are a lot of famous books that don't have one, like Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. So can you guess what our literary term is? TIME'S UP!

Antagonist (an-TAG-uh-nist): a character in a story or poem who deceives, frustrates, or works against the main character, or protagonist, in some way. The antagonist doesn’t necessarily have to be a person. It could be death, the devil, an illness, or any challenge that prevents the main character from living “happily ever after." In fact, the antagonist could be a character of virtue in a literary work where the protagonist represents evil. An antagonist in the story of Genesis is the serpent. He convinces Eve to disobey God, setting off a chain of events that leads to Adam and Eve being banished from paradise. In the play Othello by William Shakespeare, the antagonist is Iago. Throughout the play, he instigates conflicts and sows distrust among the main characters, Othello and Desdemona, two lovers who have risked their livelihood in order to elope. Iago is determined to break up their marriage due to his suspicions that Othello has taken certain liberties with his wife. See Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia. Victoria Henderson, Student, University of North Carolina at Pembroke