Question

Read the passage below from "Everyday Use" and answer question.

In real life I am a large, big-boned woman with rough, man-working hands. In the winter I wear flannel nightgowns to bed and overalls during the day. I can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man. My fat keeps me hot in zero weather. I can work outside all day, breaking ice to get water for washing. I can eat pork liver cooked over the open fire minutes after it comes steaming from the hog. One winter I knocked a bull calf straight in the brain between the eyes with a sledge hammer and had the meat hung up to chill before nightfall.
This description of Mama is an example of which type of characterization?

indirect based on the character’s thoughts
direct based on the narrator’s description
indirect based on the character’s actions
indirect based on other character’s reactions

Answer 1

Direct based on the narrator’s description

Answer 2

Answer: I would contend that the characterization is indirect based on the character’s actions.

Explanation: Since it is the character, Mama, the one that is talking about herself, option B should be discarded, because those are not the narrator's words. The character is mostly referring to what she is capable of doing, or, in other words, to her actions: "I can kill and clean a hog [...] I can work outside all day [...] I can eat pork liver [...] One winter I knocked a bull calf." For that reason, because the characterization is showing features of the character by what she is saying and doing, this description is an example of indirect characterization.