ENG4C – English, Grade 12 College Preparation
Unit One – A Matter of Justice
Ms. Linklater, 2012
Character Analysis Assignment Whenever we read a novel or story, the writer ensures that characters unfold for us in such a way that we begin to know what motivates them, what affects them, how things affect them, and how they feel. This is accomplished in five ways: •
•
•
•
•
the character’s appearance what the character says and how he says it the character’s actions what other characters say about him through direct statement by the narrator In order to write a good literary analysis, it is important to look at the original text carefully. To begin your assignment, you must choose a character from any one of the short stories we have read in this unit, and make a record of the dialogue, action, and description that tell you about the character. Record the information in the charts provided as you read (re‐read) the text. In your chart, provide a direct quote or paraphrase and reference it with a page number. Use the example below as a guide. Quotations said by the character “I think we ought to start over…I tell you it wasn’t fair. You didn’t give him enough time to choose.” (pg 6) “If I could free my hands,” he thought, “I might throw off the noose and spring into the stream. By diving, I could evade the bullets and, swimming vigorously, reach the bank, take to the woods and get away home.” (pg 2) “Oh, man, you fuckin’ trashed the fucker…You scrambled his sorry self, look at that, you did, you laid him out like Shredded fuckin’ Wheat.” (pg 173) “Jack, I’ve got an idea. What if I tried it alone? Maybe a man would stop for me. I mean, for a girl…?” (pg 15) Character Name What does this quote tell you about the character? Tessie Hutchinson in “The Lottery” Tessie is beginning to see the lottery in a new light when it appears someone in her family will be chosen. She is afraid and looking for a way out. Peyton is optimistic while he faces certain Peyton Farquhar in death. He hopes to escape and free “An Occurrence at himself, and rejoin his family at home. Owl Creek Bridge” He is imaginative, living (dying??) in dream world. Azar in “The Man I Killed” Gail in “The Lug Wrench” Azar is praising Tim for killing the Vietnamese soldier. He is excited – seems to like the war and death. He is not sympathetic to his friend’s sense of guilt and remorse. Gail is intelligent and comes up with a plan even though she is worried about being stranded in the middle of nowhere. She does what needs to be done to get out of the situation they are in. ENG4C – English, Grade 12 College Preparation
Unit One – A Matter of Justice
Ms. Linklater, 2012
Character Analysis Charts Story Title:
Character Name:
Quotations said by the character:
What does this quote tell you about the
person?
ENG4C – English, Grade 12 College Preparation
Unit One – A Matter of Justice
Ms. Linklater, 2012
Story Title:
Character Name:
Quotations said by OTHER
characters:
What does this quote tell you about the
person?
ENG4C – English, Grade 12 College Preparation
Unit One – A Matter of Justice
Ms. Linklater, 2012
Story Title:
Character Name:
Actions performed by the character:
What does this tell you about the person?
For this next part of this assignment, you will write a five paragraph character analysis on your chosen character. Use the information you gathered in your character charts to help you. Remember to use quotations in the body of your essay in order to support your point of view on the character. Quotations must appear within quotation marks and the page numbers on which they appear must also appear in your essay. This is your way of acknowledging the author’s words. At the end of your essay, you must provide a works cited. This lists the story you used in your essay. The style of documentation to be used is MLA (Modern Language Association). Feel free to use the link provided on our class website to aide you in including proper documentation.