Question

Which parts of this excerpt from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The House of Seven Gables provide direct characterization?

"Had he been told of a bad air, it might have moved him somewhat; but he was ready to encounter an evil spirit  on his own ground. 

Endowed with commonsense, as massive and hard as blocks of granite ,  fastened together by stern rigidity of purpose , as with iron clamps,  he followed out his original design,  probably without so much as imagining an objection to it.  On the score of delicacy, or any scrupulousness which a finer sensibility might have taught him, the Colonel, like most of his breed and generation, was impenetrable. He therefore dug his cellar, and laid the deep foundations of his mansion , on the square of earth  whence Matthew Maule, forty years before, had first swept away the fallen leaves.  It was a curious, and, as some people thought, an ominous fact, that, very soon after the workmen began their operations, the spring of water, above mentioned, entirely lost the deliciousness of its pristine quality."

Answer 1

Direct characterization in the excerpt includes vivid descriptions of the character's commonsense, purposefulness, and personality, expressed through explicit and concrete imagery.

Step-by-step explanation:

The parts of the excerpt from Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The House of Seven Gables that provide direct characterization include descriptions of the character's traits, such as 'Endowed with commonsense, as massive and hard as blocks of granite' and 'fastened together by stern rigidity of purpose, as with iron clamps'. These phrases directly describe the character's commonsense and purposefulness using concrete imagery. Additionally, the statement 'the Colonel, like most of his breed and generation, was impenetrable' suggests a general trait of his personality, again providing direct characterization. Direct characterization occurs when the author explicitly tells the audience about the traits of the character.

Answer 2

"Endowed with commonsense, as massive and hard as blocks of granite, fastened together by stern rigidity of purpose, as with iron clamps, he followed out his original design, probably without so much as imagining an objection to it. On the score of delicacy, or any scrupulousness which a finer sensibility might have taught him, the Colonel, like most of his breed and generation, was impenetrable."

This part provides direct characterization.

Direct characterization is where the narrator tells the reader about the character. The narrator specifically told the readers the traits of the Colonel. Traits like endowed with common sense, as massive and hard, The Colonel was impenetrable.