Character Character Sketch Essay

What is a Character Sketch? Character sketches can take many forms. The most common is the Character Trait Essay. Character Trait Essays can be longer than 5 paragraphs, but are structured the same way: Introduction, main body, and conclusion.

What is a Character Sketch? A character sketch is a write-up about a specific character. It should include the following: 1. Identifying the Character (1 paragraph) 2. Physical Description (1 paragraph) 3. Personality & Characteristics (1-2 paragraphs) 4. Importance of the Character to the Story (1 paragraph)

1. Identify the Character This paragraph could be the introduction. Tell who the character is by naming the character and what role he/she plays in the story. Give the title of the novel/story/play. Tell whether he/she is a major, secondary, or minor character. Include your thesis statement and what your essay will cover and in what order.

2. Physical Description Tell what the character looks like. Use evidence from the novel – be specific! Look for the best quotes you can – note characterization methods!

3. Personality and Characteristics Explain what the character “is like”. This could include: His/her likes and dislikes His/her good and bad qualities His/her strong and weak points His/her attitude and opinions Basically, any personality characteristic that is shown through characterization.

3. Personality and Characteristics cont. IMPORTANT: Whatever statements you make about a character, they MUST be backed up (proven) by evidence from the story! Give examples, quotations, and references from the story to prove what you say.

4. Importance of the Character to the Story Explain the importance of this character and his/her role in the story. Consider how he/she added to the story and speculate on how the story might have been different had he/she acted differently.

Personality Words Aggressive Ambitious Anxious Bitter Boastful Cautious Clumsy Concerned Confident Considerate Courageous Courteous Cowardly Cruel Curious Dependable Disorganized Easy-going Eccentric Excitable Faithful Friendly Generous Gentle Gloomy Greedy

Personality Words Grouchy Gullible Helpful Honest Humble Hypocritical Ignorant Ill-tempered Imaginative Impatient Independent Ingenious Insecure Insistent Intelligent Inventive Irrepressible Jealous Lazy Lonely Loving Loyal Miserly Moody Nervous Obnoxious Optimistic Outgoing Outrageous Pessimistic Polite Proud

Personality Words Relaxed Reliable Romantic Rude Sarcastic Scatterbrained Secretive Sensitive Shy Sly Sneaky Sophisticated Spontaneous Stubborn Superficial Suspicious Tactful Timid Tiresome Treacherous Uninhibited Unintelligent Unpredictable Unreliable Vague Vain Vitruous Vital Vulnerable Witty