How to Analyze What You Read

Character Analysis ~ Who’s Who?  Draw a connecting line, write a descriptor, draw a symbol, or write a quote under the character’s name.

Skills Assignment – DUE FRIDAY Write a character analysis paper about our book. Your paper should include…  A thesis statement about a character (underline it in your introduction)  Analysis of that character (include inferences!)  Quotes from the text to support your analysis  Analysis of literary devices that tell us things about that character

Character Analysis 1 1. Find words the author uses to describe the character. 2. What are the character’s ethics/morals? 3. What is the character’s motivation? 4. What are the effects of the character’s behavior on other characters? 5. What items are associated with the character? 6. “Read between the lines” – what the character DOES NOT say is just as important as what s/he does say! 7. Consider the historical time period of the character. Does this have any impact on what you know about them?

Character Analysis 2 – AP Students Character’s CONFLICT with / RELATION to…  SELF (internal conflict, values, motivations, desires)  OTHERS (doppelgangers, foils, rivals, allies)  ENVIRONMENT (setting, forces of nature, socio-economics, politics, biology)  DESTINY (purpose, aspirations, transcendence, self-actualization)

Character Analysis 3 – AP Students What kind of character is it?  Protagonist?  Or Antagonist?  Dynamic/round character?  Or a static/flat character?  Does s/he fit a particular archetype? (see Joseph Campbell’s list of archetypes)  Foil character?

Inference When we read, we can make inferences about what we read.  Making an inference is sometimes called “reading between the lines.”  Observations occur when we can see something happening. In contrast, inferences are what we figure out based on an experience.  Sometimes in books, information is implied, or not directly stated, and we have to make an inference to figure it out for ourselves.

Literary Device Analysis Questions to answer: 1. What is the literary device? 2. Quote from the book (page) 3. Make an inference: why does the author use it?

Literary Device Analysis: Remember some of these from our creative writing unit?  Metaphor  Calling something another thing in a figurative way  “She is gold”  Simile  Calling something another thing using “like” or “as”  “She is like gold”  Alliteration  Repeating the same letter again and again  “Peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers”

Literary Device Analysis: Remember some of these from our creative writing unit?  Onomatopoeia  Sound words  “Boom, bang, crash, pow.”  Personification  Giving an object or animal “person” qualities  “The alligator was smiling at me” “The wind whistled”

Literary Device Analysis: Here are some NEW ONES to learn!  Hyperbole  Overexaggeration  “I was so hungry that I could eat a horse!”  Foreshadowing  When the author hints that something is about to happen later in the story

Literary Device Analysis: Here are some NEW ONES to learn! Symbol  An object or item that represents something deeper  Example: A red rose might symbolize love or beauty Figurative Language  When an author means something figuratively, not literally  “It was raining cats and dogs outside.”

Literary Device Analysis Questions to answer: 1. What is the literary device? 2. Quote from the book (page ) 3. Make an inference: why does the author use it? In other words… How does is affect the reader emotionally? What exactly does it tell the reader? What does it show about the theme of the story? Etc…

Literary Device Analysis: Example 1. Literary device: simile 2. “The deadly influenza that killed almost as surely as man’s bullets” (page 69) 3. The author uses this simile to show readers how fatal the disease of influenza was. The disease spread during WWI, and the fact that it kills just like soldier’s bullets do makes the characters (and the readers) feel afraid of this deadly illness. The author wanted to use an threatening simile to show us the very real threat of that illness.

Writing a THESIS STATEMENT for an analysis  Any analysis that someone writes should have a thesis statement in the introduction  The thesis statement shows readers the main point you’re going to make in your paper

Writing a THESIS STATEMENT for an analysis Examples of a thesis for a reading analysis paper:  In A Worn Path by Eudora Welty, the character Phoenix Jackson’s determination, faith and cunning show the strength of the human spirit.  In Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, we learn that we can never escape the past from looking at the way the character Amanda is trapped by it.  See source for more examples: ions/literarythesis.pdf ions/literarythesis.pdf

Writing a THESIS STATEMENT for an analysis Example of a thesis for a reading analysis paper:  In A Worn Path, the character Phoenix Jackson’s determination, faith and cunning show that the human spirit is stronger than we think.  Structure: In (story) by (author), (character name) (has these characteristics) to show (message or lesson the author is trying to show).

Skills Assignment – DUE FRIDAY Write a character analysis paper about our book. Your paper should include…  A thesis statement about a character (underline it in your introduction)  Analysis of that character (include inferences!)  Quotes from the text to support your analysis  Analysis of literary devices that tell us things about that character