Character Analysis Essay “The Scarlet Ibis” Character Analysis Essay

Assignment Write a three paragraph character analysis paper. Choose which character you want to analyze: Doodle or Brother. Once you have chosen a character, decide what one character trait you want to focus on.

A strong character analysis will: Identify the type of character (protagonist/antagonist/dynamic/static), Describe the character, and Discuss the conflict in the story, particularly in regards to the character’s role in it.

Grading Explanation Your paper will be graded based on the criteria for success. Paper must be typed and have proper formatting, which includes MLA heading & double-spacing. Be sure to avoid all use of the first person pronouns (I, me, my, you, your). Your paper is not about “The Scarlet Ibis”; it is about a character. When writing about literature, try to keep the paper in present tense. (For example, say “Doodle walks closely behind his brother,” NOT “Doodle walked closely behind his brother.”

Detailed Criteria for Success

Introduction (paragraph 1) When writing an introduction, follow ANT. Attention getter Necessary information Thesis

Attention Getter Get the reader’s attention. This must be relevant to the main topic of your essay. Fact or statistic Relevant quote from an outside source Relevant quote from the story Shocking or amusing generalization

Necessary Information Author’s full name – James Hurst Title of the story – “The Scarlet Ibis” (punctuation matters!) Brief plot summary – in two to five sentences briefly highlight the major conflict of the story. Make sure to include the two main characters’ names.

Thesis It should be the last sentence of the introduction paragraph. The thesis should make it clear what character trait you are concentrating on and how this character trait affects the action in the story. Example: In A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, the protagonist Scrooge is portrayed as a cold-hearted individual though the details given throughout the story.

Body Paragraph (paragraph 2) Body paragraph should follow TIQA, and should be 6-8 sentences long. Topic sentence Introduce quote Quote Analysis

Topic Sentence TRANSITION, then a sentence that declares the focus of your paragraph, which would be the character trait you wish to discuss.

Introduce Quote Give some context to the quote. If someone is speaking the quote, you should tell your reader who is talking. Example: As Brother remembers the last time he walked home from Old Woman Swamp with Doodle, he tells the reader, “…” (5).

Quote Provide a quote that supports the topic sentence.

Analysis After the quote, spend about 1 to 2 sentences discussing how this quote proves that the character has this trait. Transition: You must use a sentence to transition into a second quote for support. Example: Another time the reader sees Doodle’s ______, is when he….”

Conclusion (paragraph 3) Reword your thesis. (Begin with transition: thus, therefore, in short, etc.) Tie up all your points together. Then in 1-3 sentences, tell your reader the significance or importance of the ideas you have been analyzing. What should a reader learn from this character’s traits (Warning: do not use you.) Clincher: End your paper with a short sentence that reinforces your argument. This last sentence should try to include some words from your attention-getter. This gives a sense of closure to your paper.

MLA FORMAT

MLA FORMAT: GENERAL GUIDELINES Papers must be typed and printed on standard, white 8x5 x 11 inch paper. Double-space the text of your paper. Times New Roman 12 pt. font. 1 inch margins In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, my name, the course, and the date (double space). Double space between heading and title. Center the title. Do not underline, italicize, or place your title in quotation marks. Double space between title and first line of text. Indent the 1st line of each paragraph (5 space bars). Create a header that numbers all pages consecutively in the upper right hand corner

CITING YOUR SOURCES MLA format for in-text citations is called parenthetical citation. Here you use author-page method. This means that the author’s last name and page number(s) from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear in the text, and a complete reference must appear on your Works Cited page.

The author’s name may appear either in the text itself or in parenthesis following the quotation or paraphrase, but the page number(s) should always appear in the parenthesis, not in the text of your sentence. For example: Woodworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (263). Romantic poetry is characterized by the “Spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (Woodworth, 263).