Writing a Character Analysis Essay

For writing a character analysis essay, the writer must possess a complete understanding of the literary work. Apart from this, they must also pay full attention to what the author has to say about the character through its particular dialogue, narrative and the plot. While preparing your analysis for the characters, make sure that you write about each character and its significant role in the literature. The central character of the story is recognized as a protagonist, while the other opposite one as an antagonist. The writers with great expertise and knowledge develop their characters with many layers, so the analysis you prepare for the same should focus on every complexity.

A character analysis is where the writer tries to elaborate those in-depth traits and characteristics of a specific character. The process of the essay goes like – evaluating the traits of character, mentioning its function in the story, and further elaborating the conflicts they experience. The primary purpose of every character in the story is to extend its plot in general. Therefore, most stories employ multiple types of characters to create a better understanding of their theme. There are one or more main characters for every narrative. And these characters are supposed to create a greater impact on the plot of the story.

Types of Characters in a story

The characters of a story are generalized categorized by their roles and quality. When it comes to roles, protagonists tend to play a crucial role in the story. All the other characters bound against this central character of the story. Apart from the protagonist, other types of roles are-

• Antagonist
• Foil
• Tertiary
• Deuteragonist

Types of characters based on quality are –

• Stock
• Rounding
• Changing/Dynamic
• Unchanging/Static
• Symbolic

Writing a Character Analysis Essay

If you are not familiar with the process of writing a character analysis essay, then read this blog further to know more about it-

Select the character for analysis

In most cases, this role is often provided by the teachers to students. But, in case your college doesn’t assign one for writing, then choose an appropriate character for yourself. You must make sure that the character you choose plays a dynamic role in the narrative. Characters that generally play a flat role (someone who is only good or only bad) in the story are not considered to be an ideal choice for analysis.

Take proper notes

While reading the narrative, make sure that you collect all the crucial elements in your notes that help add on the depth intensity to your analysis. You can also keep a notebook for writing while reading narratives. This way, you’ll be able to keep track of things and thoughts that are necessary for your essay.

Pay attention to the main idea

After collecting all the important notes about the character, come up with the main idea of your character and write accordingly as per its analysis. This main idea will further serve as the thesis statement for your character analysis essay. In order to bring out this main idea, you must focus on the motivations of the character and also on the outcome of the storyline.

Prepare an outline for your character analysis

Once you’re done with the main idea selection, now is the time to prepare a brief outline that constitutes all the supporting material for writing. Make sure that you include all the appropriate evidence for the credibility of your content and also to make your character sound more in-depth in terms of narrative. With the help of an outline, you’ll be able to manage all your thoughts and opinions, by ensuring a proper flow of content.

Write the introduction

Keeping your thesis statement in mind, prepare an introductory section for your content about the character, describing its primary traits and quality as per the narrative. The introduction part should highlight the topic of your essay with sufficient background details to support and intrigue the readers with your command.

Present the background of your character

Provide necessary details about the personal history of your character. This helps impact their personality and development, so it is crucial to present all the background details of your character.

Explain the growth of character all throughout the story

The main characters of the narrative tend to experience a kind of conflict throughout the course of their story. This conflict can be either internal or external, depending upon the nature of the story. All you need to do is check the character and its traits at the conclusion of the story.

Collect enough evidence

Make sure that you provide enough examples to actually support the content derived from the narrative about the character. You can add quotations wherever possible to help support your statement.

So, these were all the important steps that can help students compile their character analysis essay for academics. Apart from this, if you need any kind of academic help regarding your college essays and assignments, feel free to contact our online essay writing services for professional help and guidance.