Final answer:
What a character says is an example of indirect characterization, which reveals traits and relationships through dialogue. Dialogue helps readers infer personal attributes and dynamics between characters, making them more vivid and real.
Step-by-step explanation:
What a character says is an example of indirect characterization. This form of characterization allows readers or audiences to infer details about a character’s traits, relationships, and internal states through their speech patterns, word choices, and manner of speaking. Dialogue is a crucial tool in literature that can reveal the emotional or professional attributes of a character, as well as their relationships with other characters. Thoughtful character development will often include varied ways characters express themselves, whether that be through more sophisticated language or simple, gesture-based communication.
When analyzing a narrative or a play, observing how characters react to each other, the words they use, and how they carry themselves in conversation can highlight essential aspects of their personal traits and dynamics with others. An example from a work of fiction might show a character using formal language to establish themselves as authoritative, while another might use colloquialisms to appear friendlier or more approachable.
Overall, good dialogue serves as a window into a character's world, affording us the ability to distinctly imagine them as fully-fledged individuals with unique personalities and ways of interacting with their surroundings.