Assignment: CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Although readers consider plot to be the central element of fiction, writers usually remark that stories begin with characters. You've probably heard the maxim that stories happen only to people who can tell them. By the same token, as the British novelist Phyllis Bottome once observed, "If a writer is true to his characters, they will give him his plot." With this in mind, choose one of the short-stories for this week and analyze how its action grows out of the personality of its protagonist and the situation he/she faces.

Below are some questions to help you develop your analysis:

- Which character do you find most intriguing, and why?
- Which of the first-person narrators is the most unreliable, and why?
- Which of the character's traits (physical, moral, mental, etc.) seem especially significant to the action and outcome of the story? How do they affect the other characters?
- What details (e.g. dialogue, surroundings, symbolism, etc.) are provided to portray the character?
- At which points in the story were your expectations about this character overturned?
- In what ways, or to what extent does the protagonist's internal conflict mirror larger societal conflicts, tensions, or issues of his/her world?

In other words, what is the author exploring with regard to identity, politics, history, and culture?

For a sample character analysis, see pp. 38-40 in LIT, paying particular attention to how the thesis statement is set up and developed throughout. Consider using a similar template for your thesis: "In many ways, X comes across as/plays the part of a ... He/she is/does ... However, a closer look at X reveals ..."

Please draw from your existing knowledge of writing to put forth your best work on this essay. Note that while quotes from the short-short story in question will help provide evidence for your reasons, the idea of this assignment is NOT to summarize the plot (simply tell what happened in the story). Rather, discuss how the elements of fiction work together to portray a memorable, relatable, or intriguing character.

BRASS TACKS

- Your essay must be 2+ pages (600+ words).
- You must use a minimum of three (3) textual references to support your analysis.
- In-text citations should follow MLA formatting (quotation marks around borrowed phrases and page number at end of sentence). We'll use MLA for in-text citations because it's better for the close reading you'll be doing throughout the course. The References section and paper formatting should follow APA, which is the desired format for your discipline. You are not to do any outside research for this assignment.