Writing Character Analysis Essays

Wow, I am noticing some really great things happening as we draft our Character Analysis Essays.  As I conference with you, I'm really noticing how well you know the plot of your independent book or short story.  When I ask questions about your main character and the events that he/she went through, I always get a detailed answer.  I haven't had one person tell me "I'm not done reading," and what a smile it puts on my face to see you feeling like readers!

Something I am noticing though that I feel I need to address is the "Plot Summary Trap," I see many writers falling into. . .

 As writers, it's important to remember the purpose of the genre in which you are writing. 

As you write your Character Analysis Essay, you should remember why you are writing it and what purpose Character Analysis serves as a piece of writing.  This might mean you read through the mentor text (here) a few times to get a feel for what a Character Analysis Essay is for.  The purpose is not to retell the plot of the text you've read.  It's to analyze a character's significant change over the course of a text. 

If you aren't sure what significant change your character made, use some of the sharing we did in class about it (also in your Reading Journal).  Did your character realize any of these lessons?