or the storyteller can let the characters in his story reveal themselves through their own action and thoughts, as the American novelist Henry James dose in the ambassadors. Alternatively,one character may comment on the motives and behavior of another in the form of conversation, perhaps, or as private thoughts that only the reader can "overhear". A storyteller need not, of course, confine himself to only one of these methods of presenting his character but may use a mixture of them to achieve the effect he desires.