We wait, we hope, we trust, we know?

Today's impossible dream: helping my students apply characterization to a story in an age-appropriate, culture-appropriate, down-to-earth, [insert own catch-phrase hyphenated description here] manner.

"Describe John Wilson's characterization at the beginning of the story."

"He was in Vietnam."

"Yes, he was a Vietnam veteran, but what was he like as a person?"

[pause]

"Armless."

"Okay, armless. Add that to the list."

"Yeah! He was ugly too!"

"Maybe, but we're focusing on what he was like on the inside."

"But he WAS ugly. He had that nasty hair and dressed like a homeless man!"

"Personality, folks. Inside."

"Ooh! OOOH! He was unemployed!"

"Okay, good descriptions, BUT still failing to answer the original question. Remember back to the first days of school. Your parents maybe asked you what your teachers were like, and you said, "Mr. Correll is AWESOME, Ms. Deaver is weird [lots of heartfelt 'uh-huhs' in the background], Mr. Bailey is loud, Mrs. McKinney is strict but cool, and Mr. Long is incredible. Now pretend like you have to describe John Wilson like that. I'm asking you, what is John Wilson like?"

"Nice."

"Okay, that's a start."

And so it goes.