Analytic Essay #1 – Character Trait Analysis
What will we write for our first analytic essay? Analytical Essay #1 will focus on the
author’s characterization and specific character traits of a chosen character. The handwritten
rough draft is DUE Friday, October 3 at the start of class. The final typed copy is DUE
Wednesday, October 8. In between those times, I will be guiding you through some revision
lessons, peer conferences, and editing methods you will use to improve your essays.
About the novel you choose:
1. You may choose either a pleasure reading novel you have read within the last year, or
you may choose Ungifted. Whatever novel you choose, you will need to find and bring a
copy of it to school the rest of this week, because you will be using page numbers and
text quotes as evidence.
2. The novel you choose must be a single story, rather than collection of little incidents.
For example, Diary of a Wimpy Kid is a collection of little funny moments the main
character encounters. It and other books like it are not appropriate for this essay.
3. Your novel must be fictional. That means you may not use biographies or other kinds of
non-fiction. If you do not understand your options, ask your parent or your L.A. teacher.
About the character and the traits:
1. Select any important character from your chosen novel. It does not have to be the main
character, but she(he) must be featured in the story for long enough that you get an
understanding of his(her) traits. For Ungifted, you may NOT choose Donovan.
2. You will then look closely at the author’s writing to figure out two major character traits
the author is revealing to the reader throughout the book. We have learned that author
can use six major ways (called characterization) to reveal these traits.
3. To avoid just a “surface” review of the writing, you must stay away from traits that are
commonly chosen. DO NOT use: brave, courageous, or other synonyms for those
words. Avoid also all of the crossed out words on your character trait notes page and
any synonyms for those words. (Examples: nice, supportive, helpful, mean, hateful,
smart, stupid, dumb, or any of the other simpler, non-specific character traits you may
see on your current list.)
I want you to stretch yourself and look for more sophisticated traits you find in the
character. To do this, you’ll want to steer clear of those traits that could apply to just “any
ol’ character” in “any ol’ book.” Dig for one that may be rare and that you find interesting.
About proving the traits with text evidence: For each trait you identify in the character
from your chosen novel, you will provide excellent text evidence demonstrating that quality.
 TWO pieces of evidence are required for EACH trait (a total of FOUR text examples).
 The text examples you choose must cover a variety of the six characterization methods
we know authors use. In doing so, you will show me your understanding of the author’s
characterization process. Your four text evidence examples must be broken out in the
following way:
- One example must be in the form of comments or reactions from ANOTHER
character that prove the trait of your chosen character.
- One example must be in the form of something your character says that
demonstrates he(she) has this character trait.
- Your other two examples may fit any of the remaining four methods of
characterization (narrator’s comments to the reader, the character’s actions, the
character’s appearance, the character’s thoughts or feelings).


Your chosen two must be different from each other.
Your chosen methods must be different than the two types I assigned above
(character’s speech and other characters’ comments/reactions)