Read the following passage from The Grapes of Wrath and answer the question that follows.
“You was always too busy pulling little girls’ pigtails when I give you the Holy Spirit. You maybe don’t remember, but I do. You come to Jesus ‘cause of the pigtail yanking. Baptized you in the irrigation. Fighting and yelling like a cat.”
Is this passage direct or indirect characterization?
A.
direct characterization
B.
indirect characterization
A. direct characterization
A. direct characterization
To determine whether this passage is an example of direct or indirect characterization, it's important to understand the difference between the two.
Direct characterization refers to when the narrator or author explicitly states the thoughts, feelings, or traits of a character. This means that the author directly tells the reader about the characteristics of the character being described.
Indirect characterization, on the other hand, occurs when the author reveals the character's traits through their actions, dialogue, appearance, or interactions with other characters. It requires the reader to infer or deduce the character's traits based on these indirect cues provided by the author.
In the given passage from The Grapes of Wrath, while there is a presence of dialogue, there is no explicit statement or description about the character's traits. Instead, the author indirectly reveals the character's behavior by recounting an incident from the past. It is through this incident and the character's actions (pulling little girls' pigtails, being baptized in the irrigation, fighting and yelling) that we can infer certain traits about the character.
Therefore, based on the information provided, the passage is an example of indirect characterization (Choice B).