You can’t avoid essays if you’re a collegian. Instructors use them to determine your level of comprehension of the course content. One type of essay you’ll encounter is a character analysis paper. An analysis essay assesses your ability to critically analyze characters and their roles in developing the themes in the work of art. Thus, a good analysis essay should capture the important character traits.

If you want to register an impressive academic performance, you must ensure you submit a quality character essay. The specific aspects your instructor will look at include the following:

• Relevance of the content
• Organization of your character analysis composition
• A comprehensive analysis of the character traits
• The language you use to describe character traits

A character analysis task may seem challenging. It could be because you don’t know what is expected from you or the essay prompt is too complicated. But don’t fret! We’ve prepared a guide to make this assignment easy.

What Does a Character Analysis Essay Entail?

Authors who create art pieces (movies, novels, and short stories) intend to convey a message to the audience. They do so by incorporating real or fictional characters in their works. When you have a character analysis essay, you’re expected to look at one or more characters in a given story. The more interesting issues you include about the individual, the easier it is for the professor to award you a good grade. So you should back your claims with enough pieces of evidence from the story.

When composing a character analysis essay, begin with the basic description of the person as explained in the story. It could be the age, education level, social class, and gender of the individual. Then proceed to what makes a good character by highlighting outstanding traits such as loyalty, wisdom, creativity, empathy, and passion, among others. The character’s actions can also show you some bad traits, including callousness, vengefulness, and greed.

Simply put, a character analysis essay only focuses on a given individual in a story. Other issues the professor can direct you to focus on concerning the person include:

• The conflicts that shape the individual
• The special relationship between the individual and other characters
• The motivation for the character’s actions

Making an Outline

The ideas in your character analysis essay should flow seamlessly. To achieve this, you should make an outline for the essay before writing it. An outline is a sketch of how the character analysis essay will be. It should contain the main sections and points you intend to present in the essay, from the intro to the conclusion. You can write it in bullet points, starting with ideas that will appear first in the analysis essay.

How to Begin a Character Essay

Starting an academic paper is often the most challenging part. It is one of the reasons why a student would seek help from a paper writing service. Writing a character analysis essay shouldn’t be that hard. You just need to understand the task you’re working on and prepare adequately. Whether you’re expected to discuss moral qualities distinctive or anything else, the goal should be to present a magnificent analysis essay. So, how should you start your character analysis composition?

Read and Understand the Essay Instructions

Your essay instructions form a crucial part of your good character analysis paper. Failure to adhere to any of the guidelines is a sign that you’re either careless or incompetent. Consequently, you might score lower marks than you anticipated.

Read the prompt carefully before you begin working on your character analysis composition. Take note of the specific character traits the professor wants you to focus on, including the character’s background. For instance, if you’re to discuss a good character, the instructor may want you to read specific sections of the story. Other aspects of the task that you should assess include:

• Length of the essay
• Language guidelines
• Formatting style
• Sources to use

Remember, your audience is your instructor. So you should stick to the language requirements they specify. For instance, the professor can instruct you not to use first-person pronouns. Understand that before you begin explaining the character traits.

Create a Good Writing Plan

At this point, you know the magnitude of the task you’re dealing with. It’s now time to create a good roadmap. Split the task into different stages; research, writing, editing, and proofreading. Allocate enough time for the different processes.

Get Enough Content for Your Character Analysis Paper

The content you present to your professor determines the marks you score. So you should devote enough time to research. In most instances, the instructor will specify the particular character to analyze. So read the story while paying attention to aspects such character’s actions, personality traits, relationship with other individuals, their desires, and mental and moral qualities to the individual.

“What should I do in a case where the instructor allows me to select a character before I write my paper?” Going for a major character or a good person in the story is advisable. You’ll have much to write about such characters, making the work easier.

Prepare for the Writing Phase

After you obtain your content, don’t begin writing immediately. Assess the content you’ve obtained first. Then determine what deserves to be in your final character analysis composition and what you should leave out. Also, you can combine some claims to make them stronger.

Various Types of Characters

A story has different fictional/real characters contributing to the plot. Whether you’re describing their moral qualities distinctive or anything else, you should know these characters. The most common types of characters you’ll find in a story include the following.

Major Characters: Protagonist and Villain

In most stories, there will be a particular character the plot revolves around. Such characters are called major characters. Where it’s a good character, the individual is called a protagonist. A main character who deliberately harms others or opposes the good character is called a villain/antagonist.

Minor Characters: They Don’t Appear Often

While minor characters also contribute to the plot, the story does not revolve around them. Such a person’s actions help the reader understand the major character. You should also take such characters seriously as they have essential mental and moral qualities.

Dynamic Character: Evolves Throughout the Storyline

A dynamic character in a story is a person whose traits keep changing throughout the plot. For instance, the dynamic character could be bad initially and then transform into a good person. On the other hand, a static character maintains the same character traits throughout the story. For instance, the person could be a good character from the beginning to the end of the story.

Character Analysis Questions to Consider

Sometimes, you’ll be given the freedom to choose what individual to analyze. It means that you have to should narrow down your ideas to specific elements that portray the person in a certain way or how they shape the character’s role. Here’re some sample questions to consider:

• Is the individual a good character or a villain?
• How do other individuals view the person?
• How does the individual struggle due to the desires?
• How do the individual’s struggles and desires disclose the author’s message?
• What character traits influence their choices?
• How does the individual influence the story’s mood?
• How does the character’s background shape the storyline?
• What moral qualities distinctive does the individual display?

Tips for Crafting a Well-Structured Character Analysis Essay

A neatly composed essay will give the impression that you took the assignment seriously and motivate the instructor to read it. So let’s explore how you should put all your arguments in a paper to achieve a neat character analysis essay.

Compose a Powerful Intro

Your paper’s opening motivates the reviewer to proceed to other sections. So it should be captivating. You can begin with an intriguing quotation from the individual you intend to describe. This quotation should give the reader an idea about the individual you’re analyzing in your analysis essay.

In the last part of your intro, write a clear thesis statement. It should summarize the exact claim you intend to make about the character in question. This statement could be something like this:

“Owen is a significant character in the novel as he understands how to cultivate friendship, he is empathetic, and his courage is unrivaled.”

From that simple description, the reader already knows you aim to focus on the positive attributes of the character “Owen.” In this case, you’ve picked traits that make Owen a critical part of the storyline; his friendliness, empathetic nature, and courage. The reviewer becomes interested in why you’ve made these claims about the individual and proceeds to review the rest of your analysis essay.

Write an Intriguing Body Segment

The body is the longest part of a character analysis essay. In this segment, you explain your stance on the individual you’ve chosen. While you may be allowed to present your opinion, the most critical part of the task is to give practical examples.

For each of your paragraphs, write a clear topic sentence. Then present evidence by highlighting examples that qualify the character to have the attributes you’ve mentioned. You can pick on different aspects, including the character’s background, what the individual says, how the person associates with others, their actions, and what the author says about this person. Wrap up the paragraphs by briefly summarizing what you’ve presented in them.

End With a Stunning Outro

Wrap up your character analysis essay with an exciting end. Begin by restating the thesis statement without sounding repetitive. Leave the reviewer with the final thoughts on the person you’ve discussed. If you’ve analyzed a good character, highlight their positive contributions to the storyline.

Closing Remarks

Composing a superb character analysis essay begins by understanding the specific requirements of the prompt. Secondly, get adequate content, including the mental and moral qualities of the individual, to analyze in the essay. Craft the piece carefully by including a captivating intro, well-structured body paragraphs with important character traits, and a perfect outro. Lastly, ensure your analysis essay is flawless before you turn it in.