1. APPEARANCE AND
NAME.
 List the direct characterization of a
character's appearance. Before writing a
character analysis paper, list the qualities
of appearance that the author has given
you. Then try to analyze how the
appearance develops the character.
2. ACTIONS
 We know a lot about a person by the way he or
she behaves.
 If the person cries a lot, we assume something
about his or her character.
 If a man is always breaking up with his
girlfriends, there is something we can assume
about him.
 To begin, list actions of each
characters. Then analyze how these actions
define the characteristics of each characters.
3. SPEECH
 As with action, we know a lot about a
person by what he or she says.
 Also, we know a lot about a person by
how the person says something. Is the
character extremely sarcastic?
 To begin, list some dialogue that shows
some characteristics of the character.
4. THOUGHTS AND
FEELINGS
 Look for thoughts and feelings of a character
that demonstrates to you some characteristics
of the character.

If a character always feels guilty, what does this
say about the person? Does he have a low selfesteem? Is he extremely religious?
 To begin, list thoughts and feelings of each
characters. Then analyze how these thoughts
and feelings define the characteristics of each
characters.
5. CHOICES
 As choices are made, they reveal the
character's value and self-concept.
 If a character decides to help volunteer at the
shelter, what does this say about her? If she
decides to cheat on her husband, what does this
say about?
 List the choices of each characters. Then
analyze what these choices say about the
character. How do they add to the indirect
characterization?
7. COMMENTS ABOUT
OTHER CHARACTERS
 We can learn a lot about a character
when another character or the narrator
says something about him or her.
Analysis Paper:
 After you have figured out what traits you
are going to use as your focus, or limiting
ideas, it is time to write the paper.
 Step 1: write your thesis.
 Step 2: write your topic sentences.
 Step 3: Write your body paragraphs
 Step 4: Write introduction.
 Step 5: Write conclusion.
Thesis:
 Your thesis should consist of a topic and limiting
ideas. It should never be a question. The thesis is the
answer to a question that seems important to you.
 For example, what character traits make it possible for
Viola to be successful with her disguise?
 Thesis – In “Twelfth Night” by William Shakespeare,
the character Viola is successful with her disguise
because of her commitment to the Duke, her similar
appearance to her brother, and her obviously clever
mind.
 The thesis is a road map for your readers to follow your
argument. It should do the organizing for you.
Topic Sentence:
 Since a paragraph is a group of
sentences that share a single idea, the
topic sentence must have two parts:
 Topic
 Limiting Idea
Introduction

Your introduction paragraph is the first paragraph for your essay. It is best to start
with something general. You want to grab your reader's attention. Then you want
to inform your reader about what you writing. You want to finish the introduction
paragraph with the argument for the paper--the thesis.


Follow ANT:
Attention-Getter: First sentence or two should be an attention-getter. There are
multiple ways to have make up an attention-getter.


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Necessary information: Necessary information includes:
Author's full name
Title of the story
Brief plot summary

Thesis: The last sentence of your introduction should be your thesis.
Attention-Getters
 Attention-getter: different ways to write an
attention-getter:
 relevant quote from an outside source
 relevant quote from the story
 fact or statistic
 description of initial response to the work
 shocking or amusing generalization.
Conclusion
 Your conclusion should not merely be a
summary. Rather, it should restate and
reemphasize your thesis.
 It should show the importance of the analysis
that you have been making in the paper.
 You should also try to provide a clincher, which
might come back to your attention-getter.