Analytical Writing Assignment – Character Analysis Essay
Assignment: Select ONE short story that you’ll be working with for this assignment. After you have read your
story, decide which character you want to focus on for your analytical essay. Once you have chosen a character,
decide what three characteristics you want to focus on.
Your paper should have an introduction and a conclusion paragraph. Each body paragraph should focus on one
of the three characteristics. Each body paragraph should have a topic sentence supported with details from the
story. Your analysis should use direct quotes from the story as evidence. Avoid summary of the story at all
costs.
Grading: Paper will be graded based on the three SOL Writing Domains: Grammar, Content, and Written
Expression. See the attached rubric. Your paper is worth 48 points and is DUE on Oct. 24 (A day) or Oct. 25 (B
day).



Paper must be typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12 pt. font.
Your paper should be written in 3rd person point of view. Be sure to avoid the first person and second
person pronouns (I, me, my, you, your, etc.)
Your paper should have a title that tells the reader what it is going to be about. Your paper is not about
the short story. It is about a character and your title should reflect that.
Paragraph 1 (Introduction):
When writing an introduction, follow ANT 
Attention getter (options) – get the reader’s attention:
• rhetorical question
• 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.
Whichever method you decide to use, make sure the attention-getter is relevant to the topic of your
paper. The attention-getter should relate to the topic of your paper.
Necessary information:
• Author’s full name
• Title of story
• Brief plot summary – in two to three sentences briefly remind your readers what happened in
the story. Highlight the major action of the story, especially those parts that are relevant to
your analysis. Make sure to include the two character’s names.
Thesis:
Your thesis should consist of a topic and limiting ideas. It should never be a question. It should be the
last sentence of the introduction paragraph. The thesis should make it clear what characteristics you are
concentrating on and what these characteristics add to the story.
Example:
_______ makes himself an easy target because he is _____________, __________________, and
_________. OR ______________ accomplishes __________________ because he is
_______________, ______________, and _______________. (insert character traits you’re focusing on)
Paragraph 2-4 (Body):
Body paragraphs should flow like this 
• Topic sentence: a topic sentence has a topic and a limiting idea, or a focus. Your topic is the
character you have chosen. And your limiting idea is a character trait.
• Introduce quote: Before you supply the quote that supports your topic sentence, you need to
introduce it. What this means is that you give some context to the quote. If someone is speaking the
quote, you should tell your reader who is talking.
• Quote: Provide a quote that supports the topic sentence.
• Analysis: After the quote, spend about 2 to 3 sentences discussing how this quote proves that the
character has this trait.
• Transition: Use a sentence or half a sentence to transition into a second quote for support.
Paragraph 5 (Conclusion):
• Reword your thesis. (You may want to start the rewording of your thesis with a signal word: e.g., thus,
therefore, in short, as one can see, it is obvious then, and then.)
• Tie all your points together. Then in 1 – 3 sentences, tell your reader the significance or importance
of the ideas you have been analyzing. You might want to tell your reader what they should learn from
the ideas you analyzed in the body paragraphs.
• Clincher: try to end your paper with a short sentence that reinforces your argument. This last
sentence should do one of two things. It should either include some words from your attention-getter or
it should include some words from your title. This gives a sense of closure to your paper.
1
Little or
No
2
Inconsistent
3
Reasonable
4
Consistent
CATEGORIES
COMPOSING
* Generally unified, all of the parts contribute to a
dominant idea.
* Sharply focused central idea is elaborated with
key examples, illustrations, reasons, events, or
details, layers of elaboration are present.
* Transitions logically connect the whole paper.
* Strong organizational plan is apparent. Minor
organizational lapses do not detract from writing.
* Consistent point of view (e.g., not switching
from "I" to "you"), a lack of digressions.
* Appropriate transitions -within paragraphs and
entire piece.
* Strong lead and closure.
* Clearly focused, central idea.
* Elaborated with key examples, illustrations,
reasons, events, or details.
* Organizational plan is apparent. Minor
organizational lapses do not significantly detract
from writing.
* Consistent point of view (e.g., not switching
from "I" to "you"), a lack of digressions.
* Appropriate transitions -within paragraphs and
entire piece.
* Apparent opening and closing.
* Inconsistent control of several features of
composing
* Major digression occurs
* Competing ideas with no central idea emerging
* General, underdeveloped statements or skeletal
plot
* Little elaboration or organization
* Inconsistent use or lack of transition
* Lack of logical elaborated central idea
* Little or no control of features in domain
* Lack of a central focus
* Jumps from point to point with no unifying idea
* No apparent, overall organizational strategy
* Haphazard writing with poorly or loosely
constructed responses
* No purposeful elaboration
COMPOSING  ____ / 4
WRITTEN EXPRESSSION
* Purposefully crafted message that causes reader
to remember it
* Highly specific word choice and information
creates tone and enhances voice
* Purposeful metaphors, similes, and figurative
language, if used
* Varied sentence structure
* On the whole, specific word choice and
* Demonstrates basic understanding of
information cause message to be clear
usage/mechanics specified in VA SOLs
* Occasional vivid, purposeful language
* For the most part, appropriately applies rules of
* Vague words or general statements flatten tone
capitalization, punctuation, usage, sentence
and voice
formation and the structural principles of spelling
* Some sentence variation, but also some awkward
construction which may diminish rhythm
* Some specificity in word choice, but lacking in
cohesive, strong language
* Voice emerges only on occasion
* Selection of information may be uneven or may
be a deluge of all known information
* Lack of sentence variety creates a monotonous
piece
* Awkward, distracting construction
* Inconsistent control with significant weakness in
usage/mechanics—frequent errors noted
* Inconsistent application of rules of capitalization,
punctuation, usage, spelling, and sentence
formation
* The number of errors outweighs the correct
usage
* General, vague, and repetitive word choice and
information
* Lack of sentence variety
* Presence of several very awkward constructions
* Lack of control over vocabulary and information
prevents tone and voice from emerging
* Little or no control over domain of
usage/mechanics
* Frequent and severe errors occur, distracting the
reader and making the piece hard to understand
* Even when meaning is not significantly affected,
the number of errors is overwhelming
WRITTEN EXPRESSION  _____ / 4
TOTAL: ____ / 12 x 4 =
USAGE & MECHANCIS
* Demonstrates thorough understanding of usage
and mechanics in VA SOLs
* Uses capitalization, punctuation, usage, sentence
formation
* Few careless errors in usage and mechanics
USAGE & MECHANICS  _______ / 4
FINAL SCORE  _____ / 48 POINTS