Experience 6.1 
Character Development: Using Questions as Leads

Backstage, actors do research to get ready for their roles. In preparation for their festival presentation, students begin exploration of their character’s physical surroundings and inner thoughts through a series of writing experiences. When actors comprehend their character’s environment as well as how their character thinks and feels, they will better understand how to move and speak.

The following experiences in developing a medieval character utilize writing techniques described in Barry Lane’s book, After the End. Students practice writing about the physical world of their medieval character in close detail called “snapshots.” Students also learn how to write “thoughtshots” by reflecting and interpreting the world through the thoughts and feelings of their medieval character. This intellectual and creative journey is based on the art of asking questions that lead students to develop a more convincing and compelling medieval character of their own creation.

In this lesson, students examine books and period art to study what medieval dress was like and design a costume appropriate for their character in a rendering or sketch. Costume design helps to create the mood for a play and can reveal a great deal about a character. Costumes provide visual clues about characters’ station in life, where they are from, the time period of the play and even what characters belong together. Clothing also influences how characters feel and move. Designers consult with the director of the play to decide if the costumes should be realistic or just to suggest an article of clothing. Some costumes can be hired or borrowed while others are made from scratch. Costume designers research suitable clothing from books and paintings and then draw costume renderings and attach fabric swatches. Makeup, wigs and accessories (like jewelry, gloves, hats and shoes) help complete the look.

Being an actor is difficult work. First, there are more actors than there are parts to play. Many actors have other jobs to earn money to live on while they go to auditions. Actors are very lucky if they have an acting job even one third of the year. Once actors get a part, they must research their character, learn their lines, spend all day in rehearsals, perform under sometimes nerve-racking and exhausting conditions, and when the play has finished its run, actors must look for work all over again. Acting takes talent, luck and discipline, but for those who genuinely love the theatre, the hard work is worth it. Fortunately, for people who do not want to become professional actors, there are many opportunities to act in community groups. Many schools also put on plays to give students a chance to make theatre.

The Mental Joust: How do actors prepare for their roles? What questions can I use as leads to help me develop my medieval character? What are my character’s name, occupation, age, physical appearance, family situation, goals, and life challenges? What else do I need to know to develop my medieval character?

Time: 45 minutes

Materials: The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman, Book of Days, pens, a variety of picture books with examples of medieval clothing and colored felt-tip markers, pens, or pencils.

Worthy Words: character development, costume, leads, snapshot

Snapshot Procedure: 

1. I have a survival story to tell you. It’s a great adventure story! A long time ago there was this young girl. She was cold, she was alone and she had to find a place to sleep. She found a warm, but very dirty place. Then a woman came and took her away. Okay, that’s it. Any questions? Would you like to know more?
2. Encourage students to ask many questions and write them quickly on the board. (Why was she alone? Doesn’t she have a home to go to? How old is the girl? Exactly where did she sleep? Who was the woman? Was the woman good or evil? Why did she take her away?)
3. Every story (and play) begins by answering questions for the reader/viewer. Some questions make the reader want to read more and the writer want to write more. For writers, the best questions are leads (or interesting ideas) for what comes next. 
4. Read the first chapter of The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman to the class. Ask students to listen for answers to their questions and identify what other questions emerge. Great writers have a way of answering reader’s questions while posing more questions that beg you to read on. 
5. What do we know about the young girl? (Her name is Brat. She is homeless. She lives during the Middle Ages. She is hungry, cold and desperate. She is frail and small. When she sleeps she looks like she could be alive or dead. She is 12 or 13. Boys tease her. She is resourceful, smart, and is a survivor even to the point of sleeping in a dung heap.)
6. What questions can we ask when developing our medieval characters? Write the questions on the blackboard. Name? Occupation? Age? Physical appearance? (What color are your skin, eyes and hair? Is your body strong or frail? Are you clean or dirty? Do you wear a smile or frown? Do you walk straight or slightly hunched over?) What are your character’s likes and dislikes? What is your family situation? (For example, are you an orphan or do you have a family? Are you married or single? Do you have children? Do you have any special friends that take the place of family?) What are your goals/ambitions/hopes? What are the problems in your life? (Are you hungry, sick, lonely, lost or misunderstood? Are you trying to help someone who is hungry, sick, lonely, lost or misunderstood?) 
7. Have students write "A ____'s Quest" at the front of their Book of Days. (The blank could be their character's occupation or name.) This section of students' Book of Days, is devoted to the development and analysis of the medieval character that the student will portray during the final festival presentation. Ask students to record at least ten characteristics about their character that answer some of their questions.


Tip to the Teacher: You may suggest that students begin their list on the second page and reserve the first page of their Book of Days for a drawing of their character.
 

8. In teams of two, have students read each other’s list of character descriptions. Ask teammates to write down at least five more questions that occurred to them from reading the list. 


Tip to the Teacher: Encourage students to ask "What" questions rather than questions that begin with "Is" that can be answered with yes or no.)
 

9. Students circle those questions that make them want to write more and use the questions as leads to add more details to their character descriptions. 

 
10. Optional Challenge: Costume design can reveal much about a character. Have students look through picture books of medieval life for examples of clothing. Be sure to include actual art from the period. Have students draw a picture (a costume rendering) of their character in costume in their Book of Days. Students can draw more than what they wrote about and then add extra details to their character list.

 
11. Assignment: Brainstorm problems that people faced in medieval times and write the possibilities on the blackboard. Ask students to think about and write down a problem their medieval characters need to overcome. Then, in class, write a description of that problem in their Book of Days. 


Tip to the Teacher: Assure students that they can change characters with the teacher’s permission. Developing a character is a process and some ideas prove to have more potential than others.

Exhibit Connection: 
Try on some costumes at The Children's Museum and design one using a computer program. Learn how costumes can make acting easier or harder.