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Course: 2nd grade reading & vocabulary > Unit 1
Lesson 3: Close reading: fiction; Granny the HeroCharacters' thoughts and feelings | Reading
Understanding the thoughts and emotions of characters in a story: it's essentially mind-reading, and it's just as magical!
Want to join the conversation?
- Why do you need to know what they are thinking?(17 votes)
- It is important in understanding why character's act the way they do, make the decisions they will make, and perhaps you will find yourself relating to some characters and feel inspired by them.(11 votes)
- Why do we have to do this?(11 votes)
- If you want to write a book yourself, you should know how to do this to influence your reader’s feelings, otherwise use it for when you read yourself.(24 votes)
- How do I identify narrators in texts?(10 votes)
- if someone in a book says: I walked through the woods... that book does not have a narorator.
If it says: Hollyleaf padded through the woods... then the book does have a narorator.
Glad i could help.(8 votes)
- Why is there more than 1 story??(11 votes)
- To set multiple examples for those who don’t understand(4 votes)
- is it possible for a character in a story to have more feelings at once? like sad and worried?(4 votes)
- Of course! If your brother pulls the head off your favorite doll, you could be sad that your doll is broken but also mad that your brother did that to your doll. Does that make more sense?(5 votes)
- How can we tell their emotions if they don't say or talk about their emotions?(3 votes)
- Normally, the writer would have included hints in speech from the character. For example the sentence:
I screamed, "GET OUT!". You will know instantly that "I" am likely to be angry or scared.
Environment also shapes the character's emotion. For example the sentence: Slowly wandering through the streets, rain rolls down my face. Rain represents sadness, sun represents the polar opposite. Along with the action phrase "slowly wandering", you probably will guess that "I" am tired, sad, disappointed etc.
In conclusion, there's just a lot of details that aren't shown clearly, but you kinda understand it. English isn't my first language but I tried my best hope this helps.(4 votes)
- Kakav420 is not good?(2 votes)
- I like this so much! David is very kind!
THANK YOU DAVID!(2 votes)- Who is David?¿💖.(1 vote)
- Why do you want to watch frustration(1 vote)
Video transcript
[Instructor] Hello, readers. Today, we're going to
talk about Mind Reading. Ooh! Also known as understanding characters' thoughts and feelings. I'm kinda serious, here. One of the things that I think is magical about reading books and stories is that they let you see what characters
are thinking and feeling. Sometimes a story takes
you inside the mind of a character in a story. Here's what it sounds
like when a character tells you the story herself. - [Narrator] It was a
rainy, miserable night in the town of Roseville.
(rain falls) My coffee cooled rapidly
in the evening air. I watched Johnny Flamingo,
the Duke of Crime, walk confidently across the parking lot. I hated him. "I'm gonna get you, Johnny", I muttered. "I'm gonna get you for
doing all those crimes." - [Instructor] So how
does this character feel about Johnny Flamingo? She hates him. How do we know? She told us so. Sometimes it's not a
character who tells you what they're thinking
or feeling, but instead, it's a narrator who knows
how those characters feel. And that can sound like this. - [Narrator] Standing on a hill
outside her little village, Lana looked to the sky,
and the dragons that flew through the clouds in lazy circles. "I will learn to ride
a dragon", she thought. "I promise." - [Instructor] What does
Lana want to learn to do? Ride dragons. Did she tell us? No, not exactly, but the narrator did, by listening to her thoughts. Do you see what I'm saying? It's magical, this ability
to read a character's mind in a story. If I had the power to fully
hear my friends' thoughts, I don't think we'd ever have any kind of misunderstandings ever again. How a character thinks
or feels about something is important evidence that
helps explain why they act the way they do. Now, it's possible to have
a feeling or a thought, but still do something opposite. Like, a character could
be afraid of heights, but still climb a tree to rescue a cat. Or, it's possible for a
character to feel multiple conflicting emotions or
thoughts at the same time. Just like it's possible
for you or me to feel embarrassed and proud at the same time, or happy and regretful. Let's take a look at this example. - [Narrator] "It's not so bad", said Zeke, examining it closely when he saw my frown. "It's a bowling pin, right?" I tried to remain calm, but
I was totally frustrated. I spent all that time,
and Zeke thought my statue was a bowling pin? I gritted my teeth as I forced a smile. "Um, no, not exactly, but
it's not quite done yet." I grabbed the sculpture
and headed to my room. I was determined to make
Lady Liberty recognizable. I decided to watch a video on how to make realistic faces in clay. It was helpful. Although it took me a while, I finally made some
improvements to my work of art. - [Instructor] See how the
narrator says they're frustrated, but they don't show it to Zeke. They force themself to smile, and not display their frustration. They're trying to be calm, but inside, they're totally frustrated. So I guess the lesson
here is that the magic of mind reading is only part of the story. You have to go by how characters
in the story act, too. But we'll talk about
that in another video. You can learn anything. David out.