Character Analysis Paper Assignment

The following assignment idea is to teach analysis with a literary focus. Students will be
analyzing one character from the short story The Most Dangerous Game. Begin the character
analysis paper with the following steps:
I.

Read the short story.

Read the short story thoroughly the first time to formulate a basic opinion.
Upon the second reading highlight every reference to the character that you choose to
analyze.
Now read through the highlighted sections and label each section according to direct and
indirect characterization: speech, thoughts/feelings, effect on other characters, actions,
looks.
As a prewrite, now make a list of each of the six areas (each on a separate sheet of paper),
writing down the quotes you highlighted and the page # for each.
Review the pages and select those elements with the most detail for your paper (of
course, the short story may not exhibit all six of the characteristics, or you may only
find one or two examples for a characteristic that will not be used in the paper).
Of the selected character analysis traits, read over them carefully and at the bottom of the
page write your interpretation of this characteror what these examples tell us about
the character.
Now use the interpretations you wrote as the topic sentences of your body paragraphs and
use the examples from the text (which should now be paraphrased as much as possible)
to support your interpretations.

II.

The Intro and Conclusion of the paper:

The intro should of course give the name of the short story and the author.
It should give an overall impression (your interpretations) of the character.
It will also need background information as well, which can be a summary of the story or
the importance/purpose of this character in the story, or it could be a general discussion
of the personality type of this character.
Of course, the claim will be a specific interpretation of the chosen character. There should
be NO first-person analysis in this paper.
The body of the paper should develop 3-4 characteristics chosen from the prewrite in
order to prove your thesis (your interpretation of the character based on your examples
from the story).

 The conclusion will be a simple summary of your interpretations followed by some

insight into the story or the character, such as how the character relates to other
elements of the story. It can even involve your opinion of the character.
III.

Logistics

Of course, the paper should be typed in MLA format and use citations for every example
either paraphrased or quoted from the book used to support your interpretations. A MLA
Works Cited page is required and the paper should be a minimum of 2 pages and five
paragraphs.

CATEGOR
Y
Sources

Amount
of
Informati
on

Quality
of
Informati
on

Mechanic
s

Organiza
tion

Paragrap
h
Construc
tion

4
All sources are
accurately cited
in the desired
format.
There are at
least three
examples of
characterization
with at least
one paragraph
for each.
Information
clearly relates
to the main
topic. It
includes several
supporting
details and/or
examples.
No
grammatical,
spelling or
punctuation
errors.
Paper has an
introduction
with a strong
claim, body
paragraphs,
and a
conclusion.
All paragraphs
include topic
sentence,
explanations or
details, and
concluding
sentence.

3
All sources are
accurately cited,
but a few are not
in the desired
format.
There are at least
two examples of
characterization
with at least one
paragraph for
each.

2
All sources are
accurately cited,
but many are
not in the
desired format.
There is at least
two examples of
characterization
with at least one
paragraph for
each.

1
Some sources are
not accurately
cited.

Information clearly
relates to the
main topic. It
provides 1-2
supporting details
and/or examples.

Information
clearly relates to
the main topic.
No details and/or
examples are
given.

Information has
little or nothing to
do with the main
topic.

Almost no
grammatical,
spelling or
punctuation errors

A few
grammatical
spelling, or
punctuation
errors.
Paper has an
introduction with
no clear claim,
but has body
paragraphs, and
a conclusion.

Many
grammatical,
spelling, or
punctuation
errors.
Paper has no
introduction,
body paragraphs
or conclusion.

Paragraphs
included related
information but
were typically
not constructed
well.

Paragraphing
structure was not
clear and
sentences were
not typically
related within the
paragraphs.

Paper has an
introduction but a
weak claim, body
paragraphs, and a
conclusion.
Most paragraphs
include topic
sentence,
explanations or
details, and
concluding
sentence.

There are at least

three examples of
characterization
but not a full
paragraph.

Transitio
ns

Introduct
ion
Paragrap
h

Strong and
varied
transitions are
use between
ideas,
sentences, and
paragraphs.
Introduction
includes name
of story, author,
and the
character being
analyzed. There
is a brief
summary of the
plot and
importance of
the character to
the story.

Transitions are use

between ideas,
sentences, and
paragraphs, but
they do not vary.

Some transitions
are use between
ideas,
sentences, and
paragraphs.

Very few
transitions are
used.

Introduction
includes name of
story, author, and
the character
being analyzed.
There is not a brief
summary of the
plot and
importance of the
character to the
story, or the
summary is too
long.

Introduction
includes name of
story, author,
and the
character being
analyzed. There
is no brief
summary of the
plot and
importance of
the character to
the story.

Introduction does
not include name
of story, author,
and the character
being analyzed
or, a brief
summary of the
plot and
importance of the
character to the
story.