The Piano Lesson Journal Assignment

Journal Assignment for The Piano Lesson

Characterization is the creation of believable fictitious personalities. The basic methods of characterization include these:

• Explicit statement by the author
• The character’s appearance
• The aspects of setting which reflect influence of the character
• The character’s actions including mannerisms
• Reactions of and to the character
• The character’s thoughts
• What the character says
• What others say about the character


Your Assignment:
• Choose one character from The Piano Lesson.
• Trace the above descriptions of characterization for that character throughout the play. How does the characterization of your particular person help develop and shape the story? What is your character’s motivation and how does that motivation influence or effect or conflict with others?
• In the final journal, explain why you believe that character is either believable or not believable.
• Use standard English and correct sentence structure throughout your journals.