Character Analysis Essay
- 2. Here you can see several steps of writing a good character analysis essay.
- 3. One can’t write a qualitative literary analysis essay without scrupulous reading the literary work. Even if you have already read it some time ago, it will be not superfluous to refresh your memory, anyhow.
- 4. Remember the golden rule of writing a character analysis essay which says that a brief summary of the book doesn’t substitute the whole literary work. You may read a shortened version of it only after that you have read the whole text, otherwise you will miss some important details which can help you to write a good essay. The same may be said about critical literature. You should read it only after having read the literary work (in order to have a chance of formulating your own thoughts and ideas concerning with the book).
- 5. If you wish, you can also download and watch the film on this literary work. The bright pictures, movies and sounds may help you to feel the emotions of the main characters. However, watching the film can’t be instead of reading the book.
- 6. 2.1. Choosing a Character You Will Write about Ask yourself several questions: 1. Who are major characters of the book? Who are the minor characters of the book? 2. Who are your favorite characters? Why? 3. Are your favorite characters absolutely ideal? If your answer is positive, prove your point of view. If your answer is negative, answer on the question: Can you list their negative and positive traits? After that, choose one of the characters (which is the most interesting for you to describe him / her) to write a character analysis essay.
- 7. 2.2. Defining the Type of a Character You Will Write about You have also to define the type of this character. Ask yourself the following questions: 1. Is this character a protagonist or antagonist? 2. Is it a victim or hero? (and so on). Remember that a character may combine the elements of different types. For example, we may define Romeo (who is the character of the play by William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet) as a hero and as a victim at once.
- 8. Suppose you have read the play of William Shakespeare, Macbeth, and now you are ready to write a character analysis essay about Macbeth. The first thing you need to do now is to define the type of this character.
- 9. There is no one correct answer on which type of a character is Macbeth. If you think that he is a victim, you have to prove your point of view, writing something like this: “Macbeth is not a real killer, but he is a victim. If unfortunate Macbeth hadn’t heard the predictions of three witches, he would not have informed his wife about it. If he hadn’t informed Lady Macbeth about it, she would not have encouraged him to murder the King. If Lady Macbeth hadn’t encouraged him to murder the King, he would not committed this crime. If Macbeth hadn’t commit this crime, he would not become a King (as it had been predicted by three witches)…”
- 10. Read your character analysis essay one or two more times. Correct all the mistakes you have done.
- 11. Give a title to your character analysis essay when it has been already written. Try to compose a creative and unusual title to attract your potential readers’ attention. It’ s not so difficult as you may think.
- 12. P.S. Good luck in writing your character analysis essay!