Character Analysis: Traits*
Methods/techniques of characterization. Places to look for analysis. Before writing a
character analysis paper, you need to list the characteristics that you will analyze.
1. APPEARANCE AND NAME.
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
names of the characters.
List the direct characterization of a character's appearance. Before writing a
A possible place to look for analysis is in the
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.
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To begin, list the actions of each character. Then analyze how these actions
define the characteristics of each character.
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
ironic?
 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 demonstrate 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 self-esteem? Is he extremely religious?
 List thoughts and feelings of each character, then analyze how these thoughts and
feelings define the characteristics of each character.
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
her?
 List the choices of each character. Then analyze what these choices say about the
character. How do they add to the indirect characterization?
6. PAST/BIOGRAPHY
 We are often told that we are the products of our early environment and our past
experiences. If a character comes from an abusive family, does this make sense out
of how he is today?
 Examine family history, nationality, education, and significant life experiences.
Remember that when writing a character analysis paper you are thinking like a
psychiatrist or a detective. You are trying to figure out what makes the character
tick.
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:
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Step
Step
Step
Step
Step
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.
1: write your thesis.
2: write your topic sentences.
3: Write your body paragraphs using TIQA
4: Write introduction.
5: Write conclusion.
Thesis:
Your thesis should consist of a topic and limiting ideas. It should never be a question. The
thesis is an answer to a question that seems important to you.
For example, what characteristic traits make it possible for Montresor to be successful with
his revenge?
Thesis -- Montresor is successful in getting his revenge because of his vengeful nature,
his ability to use reverse psychology and manipulation to get people to do what he wants,
and his intelligent choices.
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
Examples:
1. Fortunato is easily duped into his own murder because of a blinding sense of pride.
Topic = Fortunato Limiting Idea = blind sense of pride (and how this makes him
vulnerable).
2. Because Madame Louisel is superficial, she misses the deeper appreciation of most things
in her life.
Topic = Madame Louisel Limiting Idea = superficiality
TIQA*:
Your body paragraphs should provide a topic sentence. The rest of the paragraph should
provide context for a quote or a paraphrase example. Then you should provide that
example. After you provide that example, you should explain how it supports your thesis
statement. DO NOT merely tell your reader what the quote means; this can lead to
summary. You need to analyze.
Follow TIQA:
Topic sentence
Introduce quote: put the quote into context.
Quote: provide your quote
Analyze: explain to the reader the importance of the quote and how it supports your topic
sentence.
Transition sentence: transition from the first example to your second example.
Introduce quote: introduce your second piece of evidence.
Quote: provide your second quote.
Analyze: analyze your second quotes, and if possible, tie the two pieces of evidence
together to make a
larger argument.
Example:
Topic Sentence: In her school without walls, Miss Moore provides a hands-on
education that forces the students to discover new knowledge.
Introduce Quote: After sitting around for a while in the impoverished neighborhood,
Miss
Moore tells her students to get into a cab, which delivers them to the classroom for the day:
FAO Schwarz. While in the cab, Miss Moore
Quote: "hands [Sylvia] a five dollar bill and tells [her] to calculate 10 percent tip
for the driver" (2).
Analysis: Miss Moore uses the cab ride as a teachable moment. This is a sign of a
great teacher. Miss Moore does more for Sylvia in those few moments than probably most
of Sylvia's math teachers at school. Typically American education assumes that knowledge
can be jammed into a student's mind. Miss Moore provides a practical basis for the
knowledge and allows the student to come to it on her own.
Transition: Using teachable moments and hands-on education works for Miss Moore
more
effectively when she applies these teaching strategies to greater life lessons, such as the
lesson on dispelling the American dream.
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’re 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.
Necessary information: Necessary information includes:
1. Author's full name
2. Title of the story
3. Brief plot summary
Thesis: The last sentence of your introduction should be your thesis.
Attention-getter: different ways to write an attention-getter:
1. rhetorical question (students often misuse this)
2. relevant quote from an outside source
3. relevant quote from the story
4. fact or statistic
5. description of initial response to the work
6. shocking or amusing generalization.
**Example from a student's paper on "The Cask of Amontillado."
Murder! Is this a right way to get back at someone? Montresor believes it is in Edgar Allan
Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado." In the story, Montresor tells the reader that he was
insulted by Fortunato. It is because of this insult that Montresor has vowed revenge. He
finds Fortunato on the streets during carnival and lures him into his family's catacombs
under the pretense of having Fortunato test wine. Once they are in the catacombs,
Montresor chains Fortunato to a wall of granite and buries him alive. He was able to achieve
this murder because of his ability to manipulate and his intelligence.
Attention-Getter
Necessary Info (author's full name, title of work, and brief plot summary)
Thesis
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 attentiongetter.