Is the text or passage narrated in 1 st , 2 nd, or 3 rd person? Is the narrator omniscient (does he or she know all of the characters’ thoughts and actions)? Is the narrator’s perspective limited to one character’s experiences and thoughts? Is the narrator an impartial observer, a fly on the wall who simply relates the events of the text or passage without giving insight into characters’ thoughts and feelings?

1st person narrator: the narrator is a person in the story, tellling the story from their own point of view. Pronouns used: I or We. The character who tells the story might be in the middle of the action or more of a character who observes the action from the outer limits, but in either case you are getting that character's reconting of what happens.

-> impressions and descriptions are colored by that character's opinions, mood, past experiences, or even their warped perceptions of what they see and hear. -> necessary to check the narrator's reliability

3rd person narrator:

In third-person narration, the narrator exists outside the events of the story, and relates the actions of the characters by referring to their names or by the third-person pronouns he, she, or they.

3rd person limited:

In third-person limited narration, the narrator still exists outside the events of the story, but does not know the motivations or thoughts of all the characters. Rather, one character is the driver of the story, and the reader is given a closer peek into that character’s psyche than the others.

Does the narrator seem to make any judgments regarding the characters or events of the text? Is the narrator completely reliable? If the narrator may be biased, how does that influence the text? What biases might the narrator possess? Is he or she possibly insane, lying, or mistaken?

The following questions may also guide your characterization.

1. Who are the characters?

2. Is there one protagonist (main character), in the text?

3. Is there an antagonist (a character or force which opposes the protagonist)? If so, how does the conflict influence the text?

4. Which characters are focused on and which characters are treated as secondary?

5. How do we learn about the characters? Does the narrator tell us about them explicitly through description?

6. This is called direct characterization. Do we learn about the characters through their actions and dialogue? This is called indirect characterization.

1. What types of words are used in the text or passage?

2. Are the words formal or informal, simple or complex, monosyllabic (short) or polysyllabic (long)?

3. To what aspect of life do the words relate to?

4. Do the words carry any other connotations beyond their literal meanings which may be relevant to your reading of the text?

1. Where is story set geograpically? Country, city, etc. ? How do you know? What implications does the setting have? What is the culture like?

2. What is the social setting? Lower, middle, upper class.

3. In which locations are the characters in the story? What influence do the locations have on the characters? Does the behaviour change?