Writing a Character Analysis Essay Example: Meg from Hercules

Remember Characterization? What a character looks like (physical description) What a character says (words) What a character does (actions) What a character thinks (thoughts) How other characters react to that character

Review Dialogue: when characters speak. The narrator tells the story. Dialogue: when characters speak. Direct characterization: the narrator explicitly describes the character. Indirect characterization: character’s traits are revealed through their actions.

What is a Character Analysis? Character analysis is when you evaluate a character's traits, their role in the story, and the conflicts they experience. When analyzing, you will want to think critically, ask questions, and draw conclusions about the character by looking at those three areas.

The Parts: Introduction Two Body Paragraphs Conclusion Thesis statement Two Body Paragraphs Direct quotes from the text Writer’s conclusions based on those quotes Conclusion Restatement of thesis statement

Focus of Our Essay: We will be focusing on how a character changes throughout the story because of the events that they experience. You will eventually be able to analyze characters in any novel or story that you are reading. Characterization can be as important as theme or symbolism to a text

Quiz? What distinguishes a strong quote from a weak quote? Explain your reasoning in three sentences.

Example Paragraph Outline: Topic Sentence: Megara is introduced as a villain because she begins as an untrusting person who is only concerned with her own problems and makes judgments about people based on her bad experiences. 1. After she first meets Hercules, she immediately assumes his kindness is a trick, “He comes on with his big, innocent farm boy routine, but I could see through that in a Peloponnesian minute.” 2. When Hades asks Megara to help him trick Hercules, he reminds her of why she doesn’t trust people—men especially. “You sell your soul to me to save your boyfriends life. And how does this creep repay you? By running off with some babe. He hurt you real bad, didn’t he Meg?” 3. The second time Meg encounters Hercules, she is acting as Hades’ slave in order to lure Hercules to his death.

Megara is introduced as a villain because she is an untrusting person who makes judgments about people based on her bad experiences and only cares about her own problems. We know she is acting this way due to past experiences because Hades reminds her that, “You sell your soul to me to save your boyfriend’s life. And how does this creep repay you? By running off with some babe. He hurt you real bad, didn’t he Meg?” (Disney 26). This quote gives the audience a chance to understand why Meg is so untrusting. The audience sees another example of how little she trusts others after Meg meets Hercules and says that, “He comes on with his big, innocent farm boy routine, but I could see through that in a Peloponnesian minute,” (Disney 15). This shows that she sees his kindness as a trick rather than an actual quality. Due to her lack of trust and her desire to earn back her freedom, she lies to Hercules and helps lure him into a trap. At this point in the story Meg is only concerned with getting what she wants, and finds it easy to hurt Hercules because she thinks all people are selfish and dishonest.

Body Paragraphs You’ll have two: one for each idea/argument Each should start with a topic sentence—this acts as your transition between paragraphs. Each paragraph should contain at least one quote to support your argument

Introduction Include Thesis Statement Go over the arguments/ideas you’ll be including Include “why does it matter” statement

Thesis Statement One to Two Sentences Long Lets reader know what your paper is going to be about Contains main arguments/conclusion

What is a Thesis Statement? a short statement, usually only a sentence or two, that summarizes the main point or claim of an essay, research paper, etc., and is developed, supported, and explained in the text by means of examples and evidence.

Other Ways to Think of a Thesis Statement: A roadmap for the paper: tells reader final destination (point) and plan to get there (evidence) The claim you bring before a judge: pretend you’re a lawyer, and you need to prove something is true to a judge (reader) by using evidence (direct quotes)

What Makes a Strong or Weak Thesis Strong: specific, clearly backed by evidence, is a debatable claim Strong Example: Due to her sincere desire to help others, Elle Woods was able to gain powerful allies in the legal world, and thus was able to achieve a greater degree of success than Warner. Weak: general, not clearly backed by evidence, not debatable Weak Example: Elle Woods worked hard and got into law school, where she eventually became a successful lawyer.

Warm Up Out of your thesis statements from yesterday, try to decide which is the strongest. Use this checklist to narrow it down: which statement would be easiest to find quotes for? which statement do you feel best represents the character’s growth? which statement would it take an essay to prove?

Introduction Trusting others is difficult for some people to do, especially if they have had bad experiences in their past and been betrayed by people they trusted. This is true of Megara from Disney’s movie, Hercules. Due to her past experiences, Meg initially thinks that all people are untrustworthy and selfish and she acts in that way as well, but after she spends time with Hercules, she grows to trust people again and becomes an honest and selfless person. Through her journey from villain to hero, the audience can see how Megara overcomes her lack of trust and honesty and makes the decision to trust in others again by sacrificing her own desires in order to help the people she loves. She is able to show that people can truly change for the better if they are given a second chance.

Example Thesis Statement Due to her past experiences, Meg initially thinks that all people are untrustworthy and selfish and she acts in that way as well, but after she spends time with Hercules, she grows to trust people again and becomes an honest and selfless person.

Conclusion Restate Thesis Statement Go over arguments Draw final conclusion (So what statement) Read through the conclusion in the model text and circle the restatement of the thesis statement, underline the arguments/ideas, and underline the “so what” statement. Do Now:

Example Conclusion In the beginning story, Meg believes that all people are untrustworthy and selfish, and acts that way herself, but by the end she has become a person so honest and selfless that she was willing to lay down her life for someone she loved. Her actions in the beginning mark her as a villain, as she helps to lead Hercules to his death without caring very much, but as she spends more time with Hercules, she changes. She begins her transformation by beginning to doubt her beliefs, then she speaks against Hades, giving up her freedom. Finally she takes action and makes enormous sacrifices, even to the point of death, in order to do the right thing and help the man she loves. Megara is proof that people can change for the better, if given a second chance.