Getting started
Who is the main character of The Open Window? Framton appears in almost every paragraph, but the person who controls everything is a fifteen-year-old girl. She does most of the talking in part 1 and then appears only briefly at the end. In this lesson you analyse the three main characters and learn how to write a characterisation.
Auf Deutsch: Eine characterisation ist eine Charakterisierung. Du beschreibst eine Figur und belegst jede Aussage mit dem Text.
Explanation
Direct and indirect characterisation
Authors show what a character is like in two ways:
- Direct characterisation: the narrator or another character says it openly. "a very self-possessed young lady of fifteen" (paragraph 1).
- Indirect characterisation: the reader has to work it out from what the character says, does and how others react. Vera never says I like playing tricks. We see it in her actions.
Saki uses a lot of indirect characterisation. That is why the reader has to read closely.
Useful words for characters
| character | adjectives |
|---|---|
| Vera | self-possessed, clever, imaginative, calm, manipulative, mischievous, a good actress |
| Framton | nervous, anxious, shy, polite, self-centred, gullible (easy to trick) |
| Mrs Sappleton | cheerful, talkative, busy, polite but bored by Framton |
Auf Deutsch: Verwende Adjektive nicht ohne Beleg. Eine Behauptung über eine Figur braucht immer eine Textstelle als Beweis und eine kurze Erklärung.
Writing about a character: statement, evidence, explanation
Each point in a characterisation has three steps:
- Statement: Vera is very good at reading other people.
- Evidence (quotation or reference): She first asks Framton, "Then you know practically nothing about my aunt?" (paragraph 8).
- Explanation: She only tells her story after she has made sure that he cannot check it.
Quoting correctly
- Put the exact words in quotation marks and give the paragraph: (paragraph 14) or (para. 14).
- Keep quotations short and build them into your own sentence: Vera's voice becomes "falteringly human" (paragraph 14) at exactly the right moment.
- Leave out words with […] if a quotation is too long.
Examples
Example 1: Framton Nuttel
Framton Nuttel is a nervous and rather self-centred man. He has come to the country for a "nerve cure" (paragraph 2), which shows that he is not well. He is also shy: his sister fears he will "not speak to a living soul" (paragraph 3). When Mrs Sappleton arrives, he talks about his illnesses, because he believes that strangers "are hungry for the least detail of one's ailments" (paragraph 21). The narrator calls this belief a "delusion", which makes Framton look slightly ridiculous. His nervousness and his readiness to believe Vera make him the perfect victim for her story.
Example 2: Mrs Sappleton
Mrs Sappleton is a cheerful and busy woman. She "bustled into the room" (paragraph 16) and "rattled on cheerfully" (paragraph 20) about shooting. She is polite to her visitor but not really interested in him: she answers him "in a voice which only replaced a yawn at the last moment" (paragraph 22). Ironically, she thinks Framton is strange, while she does not know that her niece has made her the heroine of a tragic story.
Rule
Direct characterisation: the text says what a character is like. Indirect: you work it out from words, actions and reactions. Each point: statement, evidence, explanation. Short quotations with paragraph numbers, built into your sentences.
Exercises
Grundlagen
- Direct or indirect characterisation? a) "a very self-possessed young lady of fifteen" (paragraph 1) b) Vera invents a second story at once when the men come home. c) Framton grabs his stick and hat and runs out of the house.
- Find a quotation for each statement. a) Vera is calm even after Framton's escape. b) Framton is very frightened when he sees the men.
Weiter
- Write one paragraph about Vera with at least two points. Use statement, evidence and explanation for each point.
- Choose two adjectives from the table for Framton and prove each with a quotation.
Knobeln
- Vera never explains why she plays her tricks. Write three possible reasons and say which one you find most convincing. Support your view with the text.
Lösungen
- a) direct (the narrator describes her) b) indirect (we learn from her action that she is imaginative and quick) c) indirect (his action shows his panic)
- a) "I expect it was the spaniel," said the niece calmly (paragraph 29). b) "In a chill shock of nameless fear Framton swung round in his seat" (paragraph 24) or "Framton grabbed wildly at his stick and hat" (paragraph 26).
- For example: Vera is clever and plans her lie carefully. Before she starts her story, she asks Framton whether he knows "practically nothing" about her aunt (paragraph 8). Only when she is sure that he cannot check her words does she begin. She is also a skilled actress. When she tells the sad part, her voice becomes "falteringly human" (paragraph 14), and she ends with "a little shudder" (paragraph 15). These effects make her story believable.
- For example: nervous: he is on a "nerve cure" (paragraph 2); gullible: he believes Vera's story at once and "shivered slightly" when Mrs Sappleton sees the men (paragraph 24).
- For example: She is bored in the quiet country house and wants some excitement. She enjoys the power of controlling other people. She dislikes formal visits and wants to get rid of a boring guest. The first reason is convincing because the story shows a "restful country spot" (paragraph 11) and the last sentence calls inventing stories her "speciality" (paragraph 30), so she seems to do it for fun.