How to Write a Character Analysis The Crucible

A strong character analysis will Identify the type of character it is dealing with Describe the character Discuss the conflict in the story, particularly in regards to the character’s place in it Explain how the author uses the character to develop his/her theme

Identify the type of character Protagonist (see notes) Tragic Hero (see notes) Antagonist (see notes) Major/minor Dynamic (see notes) Static (see notes) Stereotypical/Stock (see notes) Round (see notes) Flat (see notes)

Consider if he/she is static or dynamic Was the change gradual or rapid? Was it subtle or obvious? Are the changes significant to the story or are they a minor counterpoint? Are the changes believable or fantastic? What was his/her motivation to change? What situations or characters encouraged the change? How does the character learn from or deal with the change?

Describing a character for analysis Consider Name Consider Appearance Is their name significant? Is it a word that means something, like Honor or Hero? Does it come from a particular place or time and make reference to that? Appearance and visual attributes are usually far less important factors, unless their appearance is the point- such as in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Psychological/Personality Traits Do these characteristics aid in the characters being consistent (in characters), believable, adequately motivated and interesting? Do the characteristics of the character emphasize and focus on the character’s role in the story’s plot?

Motivation Is the character ethical? Is he/she trying to do the right thing, but going about it the wrong way? Is the motivation because of emotion (love,hate) or a decision (revenge, promotion)?

Behavior/Actions Does the character act in a certain way consistently? Or is the character erratic? Could one pluck the character from the story, put them in another story, and know how they would react?

Describing Character With other characters in the story Relationships Weaknesses/Faults With other characters in the story How others see/react to him/her Typical tragic weakness is pride Could be anything: lying, talking to strangers, etc.

Conflict in the Story Man vs. society/religion Man vs. man/antagonist Man vs. machine Man vs. nature Man vs. animal Man vs. fate/destiny Man vs. self

Paragraph Structure Review Two-Chunk Body Paragraph Sent. #1 -Topic Sentence – TS Sent. #2 – Concrete Detail CD– Introduce QUOTE (Give context, speaker, etc) & include quote. You can always shorten it – see additional notes) Sent. #3 – Commentary CM - (This shows that…) Sent. #4 – CM – (It also indicates…OR …This is because…OR… This is important because…) – SO WHAT!? Connect back to author’s purpose/theme. REPEAT with 2nd CD (#5) & 2 CMs (Sentences 6 & 7) Sent. #8 – Concluding Sentence – CS – Sums it up and ties back to the thesis (As a result,…)