"What is a Flat Character vs a Round Character?": A Literary Guide for English Students and Teachers

What is a flat character and a round character in literature? Senior Lecturer Gilad Elbom answers this question using examples from Star Wars and Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood. The short video is designed to help high school and college English students to not only identify flat and round characters in stories and films but also to analyze their structure and purpose.

This video now includes Spanish as well as English subtitles. To switch between languages, click on the "settings" button in the video.

The video is sponsored by the School of Writing, Literature, and Film at Oregon State University. For more discussions of literary topics and essay writing tips, please subscribe to the free SWLF YouTube Channel or visit https://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/w...

Thanks to Soner Uzun for suggesting that we create this video!

Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction
0:30 Flat Character Examples
2:05 Rounds Character Examples
4:10 How Narratives Combine These Characters

Below are a few more videos in the series. Please drop us a comment letting us know what literary terms you would like us to explore in future videos!

"What is a prologue?":    • "What is a Prologue?": An Introduction to ...  
"What is a stanza?":    • "What is a Stanza?": A Literary Guide for ...  
"What is stream of consciousness?":    • "What is Stream of Consciousness?": A Lite...  
"What is figurative language?":    • "What is Figurative Language?": A Literary...  
"What is irony?':    • "What is Irony?": A Literary Guide for Eng...  
"What is a metaphor?":    • "What is a Metaphor?": A Literary Guide fo...  
"What is a simile?":    • "What is a Simile?": A Literary Guide for ...  
"What is hyperbole?":    • "What is Hyperbole?": A Literary Guide for...  
"What is a imagery?":    • "What is Imagery?": A Literary Guide for E...  
"What is a sonnet?":    • "What is a Sonnet?": A Literary Guide for ...  
"What is metonymy?":    • "What is Metonymy?": A Literary Guide for ...  
"What is synecdoche?":    • "What is a Synecdoche?": A Literary Guide ...  
"What is enjambment?":    • "What is Enjambment?": A Literary Guide fo...  
"What is satire?":    • "What is Satire?": A Literary Guide for En...  
"What is juxtaposition?":    • "What is Juxtaposition?": A Literary Guide...  
"What is foreshadowing?":    • "What is Foreshadowing?": A Literary Guide...  
"What is understatement?":    • "What is Understatement?": A Literary Guid...  
"What is rhyme?":    • "What is Rhyme in Poetry?": A Literary Gui...  
"What is an unreliable narrator?":    • "What is an Unreliable Narrator?": A Liter...  
"What is a genre?":    • "What is a Genre?": A Literary Guide for E...  
"What is a narrative arc?":    • "What is a Narrative Arc?": A Literary Gui...  
"What is a flashback?":    • "What is a Flashback?": A Literary Guide f...  
"What is personification?":    • "What is Personification?": A Literary Gui...  
"What is a narrator?":    • "What is a Narrator?": A Literary Guide fo...  
"What is a flat character vs a round character?":    • "What is a Flat Character vs a Round Chara...  
"What is symbolism?":    • "What is Symbolism?": A Literary Guide for...  
"What is a graphic narrative? (Part I)":    • "What is a Graphic Novel? (Part I)": A Lit...  
"What is a graphic narrative? (Part II)":    • "What is a Graphic Novel? (Part II)": A Li...  
"What is epistrophe?":    • "What is Epistrophe?": A Literary Guide fo...  
"What is poetic meter?":    • "What is Meter in Poetry?": A Literary Gui...  
"What is a portmanteau?":    • "What is a Portmanteau?": A Literary Guide...  
"What is anaphora?":    • "What is Anaphora?": A Literary Guide for ...  
"What is an oxymoron?":    • "What is an Oxymoron?": A Literary Guide f...  
"What is a zeugma?":    • "What is a Zeugma?": A Literary Guide for ...  
"What is free indirect discourse?":    • "What is Free Indirect Discourse?": A Lite...  
"What is a vehicle and a tenor?":    • "What are Vehicles and Tenors?": A Literar...  
"What is the uncanny?":    • "What is the Uncanny?": A Literary Guide f...  
"What is a point of view?":    • "What is Point of View?": A Literary Guide...  
"What is deus ex machina?":    • "What is Deus Ex Machina?": A Literary Gui...  
"What is a frame story?":    • "What is a Frame Story?": A Literary Guide...  
"What is ekphrasis?":    • "What is Ekphrasis?": A Literary Guide for...  
"What is blank verse?":    • "What is Blank Verse?": A Literary Guide f...  
"What is an epistolary novel?":    • "What is an Epistolary Novel?": A Literary...  
"What is allegory?":    • "What is an Allegory?": A Literary Guide f...  
"What is tragedy?":    • "What is a Tragedy?": A Literary Guide for...  
"What are euphony and cacophony?":    • "What are Euphony and Cacophony?": A Liter...  
"What are assonance and consonance?":    • "What are Assonance and Consonance?": A Li...  ​​
"What is a setting in literature?":    • "What is a Setting?": A Literary Guide for...  ​​
"What is onomatopoeia?":    • "What is Onomatopoeia?": A Literary Guide ...  ​​
"What is theme in literature?": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5KZc...
"What is a conflict in literature?":    • "What is Conflict in Literature?": A Liter...  ​
"What is persona?":    • "What is a Persona?": A Literary Guide for...  
"What is a dramatic monologue?":    • "What is a Dramatic Monologue?": A Literar...  
"What is an allusion?":    • "What is an Allusion?": A Literary Guide f...  
"What is alliteration?":    • "What is Alliteration?": A Literary Guide ...  
"What is an epic?":    • "What is an Epic?": A Literary Guide for E...  
"What is an ars poetica?":    • "What is an Ars Poetica?": A Literary Guid...  
"What is a motif?":    • "What is a Motif?": A Literary Guide for E...  
"What is a protagonist?":    • "What is a Protagonist?": A Literary Guide...  
"What is literature?":    • "What is Literature?": A Literary Guide fo...  
"What is a foil?":    • "What is a Foil?": A Literary Guide for En...