2Writing a Character Sketch

Now put your vision of a character into words. In the first paragraph, cite the story’s author and title, sum up the topic of your essay with a thesis statement. Then, in the next three paragraphs, discuss three personality traits. Use three specific examples from the story to illustrate each trait. End your essay with a good concluding sentence in the fourth paragraph, or write a fifth paragraph that summarizes your character analysis.

Character Sketch Table

Name of the story ____________________

Author ____________________________

Character __________________________

#	Parameters for Character Analysis	Examples from the story
1	In terms of the importance of their roles: a major character or a minor character.
2	In terms of their roles: the protagonist or the antagonist
3	In terms of their complexity: round or flat.
4	In terms of the degree to which they change: dynamic or static.
5	Characterization: direct or indirect
6	Characterization a. by speech
	b. by appearance
	c. by thoughts
	d. by what other people say or think about the character
	e. by actions
7	The thesis statement about the character

12. A story evaluation. Explain your response to the story Doctor in the House. Analyze the language of the story.

1. Background

A response should include our reaction to a story - what we thought of the plot, characters, theme, and WHY. Explaining is most important. You can’t just say, I liked this story because I thought it was funny. You must tell what elements of the story struck you as comical.

You can’t just say, I didn’t like the story because it was boring. You must tell why it bored you: was the plot too predictable? Were the characters unbelievable? Was the story told in language that you found difficult?

When you are asked to respond to a story, you are acting as a critic. A critic doesn’t necessarily find faults with a story. One critic might point out what he or she thinks are a story’s flaws (an unbelievable character, an unsatisfactory ending). But another critic might point out only a story’s strong points.

2. Prewriting

1. To gather material for your response, answer the following questions about the story:

• Is the story chiefly entertainment, or does the writer want to reveal a theme, that is some important truth about life? If the story is told chiefly for entertainment, did it succeed in making you feel suspense or amusement or surprise? If the story is intended to reveal some truth about life, consider what that truth is and why it is - or is not - acceptable to you.

• Who is the story’s central character, and does that character seem believable to you? Does the main character seem like a real person, behaving the way human beings behave according to your experience of them?

• Did you identify with the character in any way? How did this affect your response?

• Is the plot told in a way that keeps you interested? Is the ending of a story believable? Given the nature of characters, is the ending logical?

• What kind of language is used in the story? Are the story’s images fresh and imaginative? Do the characters sound natural when they speak, and does their conversation reveal the kind of people they are?

2. Find at least one example from the story that supports your statements for each question.

3. Choose one of the above questions to focus on in your response.