The document outlines key steps for writing a character analysis essay, emphasizing the need for thorough reading of the literary work prior to analysis. It advises on selecting a character, determining their type (protagonist/antagonist, victim/hero), and encourages formulating personal insights rather than relying solely on external critiques. Finally, it stresses the importance of proofreading and crafting a creative title for the essay.

1. Created by Essay-Academy.com

2. Here you can see
several steps of
writing a good
character analysis
essay.

3. One can’t write a qualitative literary
analysis essay without scrupulous
reading the literary work.
Even if you have already read it some
time ago, it will be not superfluous to
refresh your memory, anyhow.

4. Remember the golden rule of writing a character
analysis essay which says that a brief summary
of the book doesn’t substitute the whole literary
work. You may read a shortened version of it only
after that you have read the whole text, otherwise
you will miss some important details which can
help you to write a good essay.
The same may be said about critical literature.
You should read it only after having read the
literary work (in order to have a chance of
formulating your own thoughts and ideas
concerning with the book).

5. If you wish, you can also
download and watch the
film on this literary work.
The bright pictures,
movies and sounds may
help you to feel the
emotions of the main
characters. However,
watching the film can’t be
instead of reading the
book.

6. 2.1. Choosing a Character You Will Write about
Ask yourself several questions:
1. Who are major characters of the book? Who are
the minor characters of the book?
2. Who are your favorite characters? Why?
3. Are your favorite characters absolutely ideal? If
your answer is positive, prove your point of view. If
your answer is negative, answer on the question:
Can you list their negative and positive traits?
After that, choose one of the characters (which is the
most interesting for you to describe him / her) to
write a character analysis essay.

7. 2.2. Defining the Type of a
Character You Will Write about
You have also to define the type of
this character.
Ask yourself the following questions:
1. Is this character a protagonist or
antagonist?
2. Is it a victim or hero? (and so on).
Remember that a character may
combine the elements of different
types. For example, we may define
Romeo (who is the character of the
play by William Shakespeare, Romeo
and Juliet) as a hero and as a victim
at once.

8. Suppose you have read the play of
William Shakespeare, Macbeth, and
now you are ready to write a
character analysis essay about
Macbeth. The first thing you need to
do now is to define the type of this
character.

9. There is no one correct answer on which type of a
character is Macbeth. If you think that he is a victim,
you have to prove your point of view, writing
something like this: “Macbeth is not a real killer, but
he is a victim. If unfortunate Macbeth hadn’t heard
the predictions of three witches, he would not have
informed his wife about it. If he hadn’t informed
Lady Macbeth about it, she would not have
encouraged him to murder the King. If Lady
Macbeth hadn’t encouraged him to murder the
King, he would not committed this crime. If Macbeth
hadn’t commit this crime, he would not become a
King (as it had been predicted by three witches)…”

10. Read your character analysis essay one or
two more times.
Correct all the mistakes you have done.

11. Give a title to your character
analysis essay when it has been
already written. Try to compose a
creative and unusual title to attract
your potential readers’ attention. It’
s not so difficult as you may think.

12. P.S. Good luck in writing your character
analysis essay!