Ohio 8th Grade English Language Arts (ELA) OST Practice Test

Which term means the author tells about the character directly, without inference?

Indirect Characterization Protagonist Direct Characterization Antagonist

Correct Answer:

Direct Characterization

Explanation:

Direct characterization happens when the author tells you about a character’s traits directly. The narrator might state that a character is kind, brave, or stubborn, giving explicit descriptions that don’t require you to infer anything. This is different from indirect characterization, where you learn about a character’s traits from actions, dialogue, thoughts, how others react to them, or appearances, and you have to read between the lines. This question asks for the term that means the author tells about the character directly, so the correct term is Direct Characterization. For example, if a passage says, "Maria is generous and patient," that’s direct characterization.

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