Personality
Profile
Describing a Fascinating Person . . .
From Reading to Writing Good descriptive
writing takes the reader inside the writer’s world.
Chaucer’s remarkable character portraits in The
Canterbury Tales, for example, transport the
modern reader to the Middle Ages.
Personality
Profile
Describing a Fascinating Person . . .
Through carefully chosen details, Chaucer creates
living personalities on the page—fascinating as
individuals and for their universal human qualities.
The same techniques are also applied to writing a
personality profile. A personality profile combines
compelling information and vivid language to
describe a person.
Basics in a Box
Personality Profile at a Glance
RUBRIC Standards for Writing
physical
description
anecdotes
writer’s
feelings
towards
subject
MAIN
IMPRESSION
OF SUBJECT
setting
other
details
dialogue
A successful personality
profile should
• use lively descriptions, details,
anecdotes, and/or dialogue to
create a vivid impression
• put the person in a context that
helps reveal the subject’s
personality
• convey why the person is important
to the writer
• paint a word portrait that shows the
person’s character
• create a unified tone and
impression
• capture the reader’s interest at the
beginning and give a sense of
completeness at the end
Writing a Personality Profile
1
Prewriting
How to choose a person you want to
write about
 Make a list of people you admire.
 Write a few words or phrases to describe
each person you have listed.
 Consider writing about someone you
know well.
Planning Your Personality Profile
1. Explore your attitude towards the subject.
How do you feel about the person? Why is
the person important to you? What details or
incidents can you describe that show the
importance of the subject to you?
2. Picture your subject in a typical setting.
Try visualizing your subject in his or her usual
surroundings. What stands out about your
subject?
Planning Your Personality Profile
3. Research or interview to gather
information. You can research a historical or
famous figure using library resources or the
Internet. For a profile of a lesser-known
person, interviewing is the best method of
getting information. Interviewing the subject
and other people who know the subject well
may give you information that is not available
anywhere else.
Planning Your Personality Profile
4. Set your goal for writing. What impression
of the subject do you want to leave in the
minds of your readers? Analyze your subject
to find an angle—a dominant impression or
theme that captures the essence of the
person. Then look for special details that help
a reader picture the person.
Writing a Personality Profile
2
Drafting
Make visible what, without you, might
never have been seen.
Robert Bresson
Writing a Personality Profile
2
Drafting
Start drafting by simply getting your ideas
down on paper. Keep your overall goal in
mind as you try to get into the flow of your
writing. Set down everything you want to
say. Later you can cut what you don’t
need and add what you forgot.
Writing a Personality Profile
2
Drafting
Organizing Your Draft
Once you’ve gotten it all down, look for a
way to organize what you want to say. As
you rework your draft you are beginning
your revision process. Here are some
ways a personality profile might be
organized.
Writing a Personality Profile
2
Drafting
 In Chronological Order. Narrate
incidents in the time sequence in which
they occurred. You might even focus on
a day in your subject’s life.
 By Category. Analyze different aspects
of your subject’s personality—such as
characteristics, actions, and traits—one
at a time.
Writing a Personality Profile
2
Drafting
 By Setting. Show your subject in
various settings or situations.
 In Order of Importance. Begin the
essay with the most important
incident or detail.
Writing a Personality Profile
2
Drafting
Beginnings and Endings
Begin with something that will capture the
reader’s interest—a remarkable detail
about the person or setting, some
dialogue, or a good anecdote. You might
end with a memorable detail or your
personal reflections on the subject. Your
ending should give a sense of
completeness.
Writing a Personality Profile
2
Drafting
Elaborating on Ideas
Work to create a profile of your subject as a
whole person, not just a one-dimensional
figure. Lace your descriptions with details,
specific scenes, and quotations or dialogue
that indicate how the person you portray
interacts with others. It should also be clear
from your writing what things are important
to the person you are profiling.
Writing a Personality Profile
3
Revising
TARGET SKILL
ADDING DETAILS
In descriptive writing, concrete details and
examples help the reader envision the scene.
They show the subject’s personality traits in
action rather than just naming them.
Remember, however, to add details selectively
so that they build a coherent impression.
Writing a Personality Profile
4
Editing and Proofreading
TARGET SKILL
COMMA SPLICES
With elaboration, you often have to link
together several strings of ideas into more
complex phrases and sentences. Commas,
used carefully, add clarity to sentences and
enable the reader to grasp how parts relate.
Writing a Personality Profile
4
Editing and Proofreading
TARGET SKILL
COMMA SPLICES
Used incorrectly commas can be distracting or
confusing. One common error is the comma
splice (or comma fault), in which the writer
separates two sentences with a comma
instead of the proper end mark.