What is the primary difference between direct and indirect characterization?

The primary difference between direct and indirect characterization lies in how the author presents information about a character. Direct characterization provides explicit details conveyed by the author to describe a character’s traits, appearance, feelings, and motivations directly. This helps readers gain a clear understanding of who the character is without needing to infer or interpret the author’s intentions.

On the other hand, indirect characterization involves revealing a character's qualities through their actions, thoughts, dialogue, and interactions with other characters. This method requires readers to interpret the information and draw conclusions based on what they observe in the text, making the engagement with the character more active and nuanced.

Therefore, the correct option accurately captures this distinction by stating that direct characterization presents information straightforwardly, while indirect characterization necessitates reader inference to understand the character's qualities.