Characterization
AGENDA:
View Oates Master Class
http://learn.lexiconic.net/characters.htm
https://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Realistic-Fiction-Character
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtin70TxRvM
READ AND ANNOTATE JOYCE CAROL OATES PREFACE. POST A COMMENT IN RESPONSE TO HER ESSAY.
GHOST GIRLS: What are some of the ways Oates characterizes Ingrid in "Ghost Girls"? Post comment referring to the text.
Writing: Continue to work on synaesthesia/deja vu exercise.
If you have done this exercise, choose either exercise 12 or 14 to work on today--characterization!
http://learn.lexiconic.net/characters.htm
https://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Realistic-Fiction-Character
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtin70TxRvM
READ AND ANNOTATE JOYCE CAROL OATES PREFACE. POST A COMMENT IN RESPONSE TO HER ESSAY.
GHOST GIRLS: What are some of the ways Oates characterizes Ingrid in "Ghost Girls"? Post comment referring to the text.
Writing: Continue to work on synaesthesia/deja vu exercise.
If you have done this exercise, choose either exercise 12 or 14 to work on today--characterization!
Oates characterizes Ingrid through the perspective the story is told. It's first person past tense, so our narrator can speak on her child self with more detail and maturity as younger Ingrid explores the world and situation around her.
ReplyDeleteOates characterized Ingrid in "Ghost Girls" as the protagonist and the story was told through her perspective. Oates narrates Ingrid as looking back into her past and childhood and describes her as being a "smartass," or very intellectually gifted. Ingrid was from Marsena but would be flying to Wolf's Head Lake in the Chautauqua Mountains to escape the war and her father. Eventually, she would also escape her mother, and this story envelopes her talking to her past youth.
ReplyDeleteIn the short story "Ghost Girls" Ingrid is the only child in the story besides the ghost of the two dead teenage girls that show up towards the end of the book. The behavior of the adults around her and herself is one way the author characterizes her. While Ingrid is in the other room, she can hear the sounds of the adults next door drinking and smoking. Towards the end of the book after Brownlee slaps Maude, Ingrid runs from the house and hides underneath the porch with the ghost girls and says "I was used to hiding" (500). This represents Ingrid's childhood and her desire to run away and hide from the unstable and troubling nature of her childhood.
ReplyDeleteOates reveals Ingrid's character in "Ghost Girls" by portraying her actions and thoughts from the first person perspective. For example, Oates writes: "I was five years old and sharp for my age, smartass." By telling the story in past tense and including wise statements like "some things you know without asking. Other things you can't ask. And you never know," indicate that many years have passed between when Ingrid experienced the events in the story and her current self--she is reflecting on the past. It is revealed that Ingrid has a complicated home-life and a potentially dangerous father from her question "Daddy had enemies who wanted to hurt us or if it was Daddy himself who was the danger." Oates characterizes Ingrid as submissive--"Just let myself go limp, a rag doll, boneless." Ingrid's views of her mother--"even if we crashed and died I would be safe in Momma's arms--reveal how much she values her love. When Ingrid exclaims "and there was a road!" it reveals her curiosity and excitement. Because the story is set in the past, the last line reveals that she is a survivor.
ReplyDeleteOates characterizes Ingrid as an intelligent, bright, and able young girl. However, due to the circumstances of the present, Ingrid reveals darker information about herself. For example, in the beginning of the short story, Ingrid describes herself as being "sharp for [her] age" (488). The beginning also mentions the idea of hiding, specifically from her father, but the story concludes with Ingrid hiding from her mother instead. This is because it is revealed that "[she] was used to hiding and some times [she'd] hidden nobody had even known [she] was gone" (500) and this included her mother. Ingrid reveals that her mother would be angry, so she kept to her safe space. Throughout the entire text, moments of her childhood are presented in an eerie and troubling way. The presentation of this information as well as how the story begins describing Ingrid paints her character to be a well-rounded character with many aspects to her despite being a child.
ReplyDeleteIngrid is the protagonist in "ghost girls", she speaks about her past, her childhood. Ingrid is reflecting on her past life, she lets us know how troubling her youth was. "I was used to hiding" (500) This indicates that Ingrid would run away at times to get away from any danger that could have been coming her way. Ingrid is a survivor and that is how she is characterized.
ReplyDeleteIn "Ghost Girls" Oates depicts Ingrid as “Five years old and sharp for her age." She's smart, wise, and extremely observant. Her observative nature carries throughout the entire short story, noticing things like how her mother, "Ran her fingers through her hair in that way of hers, angry, but like she’s about to cry” (Oates, 493). Ingrid is also shown to be a bit picky or a bit high maintenance because she inserts a comment from her older self, about how she finds pink meat and gross, and threw an entire fit because she didn't want to sleep on the "nasty bed."
ReplyDeleteTo comment more on Ingrid's life experiences, it is insinuated that her father is in some sort of trouble or situation that may hurt her and her mother. Ingrid seems that she was close to her father or admired him, whereas she felt the exact opposite about her mother even saying, "Momma, I hate you" (Oates, 495). However, her mother keeps her safe and she feels safe with her mother.
This is KYLA!
Oates characterizes Ingrid to be very smart and aware for her age. She is described as "Five years old and sharp for her age" and talks about her past often "I was used to hiding." This could mean that Ingrid is used to this type of thing which could also be the cause for her maturity.
ReplyDeleteOates characterizes Ingrid as curious, perceptive, and innocent. Ingrid claims "somethings you know without asking" is just one way Oates shows her awareness for being so young. However, despite her sharpness, Oates reminds you of her youth
ReplyDeleteIn Ghost Girls, Ingrid is characterized as being intelligent. “Five years old and sharp for her age." She also references traumatic events that she went through in her past. This often creates a sense of maturity in people, since they have to "grow up" and be stronger because of the trauma.
ReplyDelete