Analyzing Characters
Stories focus on people, animals, or humanlike objects called characters. You can analyze a character by describing the person physically and mentally.
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Name
Coup, the most sensible car at the dealership
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Physical description (gender, age, appearance, health, strength, speed)
He is a new car, “blue, midsized, economical, with a ten-year warranty;” he’s not the fastest, the largest, or the most stylish.
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Mental description (intelligence, personality, confidence, attitude)
He is practical and shy. He knows the kind of owner he wants but rarely sees one. He’s picky. He also seems discouraged and closed off.
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Motivation (what the character wants)
Coup wants to find a practical owner. He wants to be driven away from the dealership, but he seems afraid to let people try him out.
Read for character.
Pay close attention to the main character and what she wants.
Glenda of the Giraffe People
By Leslie Fields
Glenda liked to hang around. Literally. Every recess, she hung from the monkey bars until the line of kids barked her down. Then she would hang from the side braces of the swings. At home, she had a favorite tree to hang from. People called her a monkey because she liked to climb so much, but she didn’t climb. She hung. That’s because she wanted to get taller. Glenda was the shortest girl in the sixth grade.
Every morning, her mother measured her on a giraffe height chart. Glenda had heard that people are tallest in the morning, before gravity crushes them. “How tall today?” Glenda asked, stretching.
“Same as yesterday,” her mother said, “four foot even.”
“I’ll probably have a growth spurt today,” Glenda said cheerily, though she wished for just an eighth inch more. “If I hang out a bit.”
But it was not to be. The rain came down all day, so instead of outdoor recess, everybody had to stay inside. Glenda tried to hang from a coat rack, but the recess lady yelled at her, and she had to sit down for the rest of the recess. She could just feel herself crunching down, shorter.
The rain stopped by the time she got home, so she ran out to hang from her favorite branch. No sooner had she grabbed on, but a stray dog came barking into her yard and ran right toward her. Glenda lifted her feet and wrapped them around the branch. “Go away!”
The dog growled and jumped, nipping at her back.
Glenda scrambled up onto the branch. Still the stray jumped at her, its teeth flashing white. Glenda climbed higher to get her feet away. “Stupid dog! Find somebody taller to attack!”
She scrambled higher. He couldn’t reach her now. Glenda looked out. She was already above her neighbor’s garage. Two branches up, and she could see over the roof. Higher still, and she could see over the houses. So that’s what a giraffe felt like!
“I can’t make myself grow,” Glenda said, “but I can sure climb.”
After ten minutes, the dog wandered off, but Glenda stayed at the top of the tree. She wasn’t a hanger anymore. Now she was a climber.
It didn’t matter how tall she was, only how far she climbed.
Analyze the main character.
Describe the main character of “Glenda of the Giraffe People.”
- Name
- Physical description (gender, age, appearance, health, strength, speed)
- Mental description (intelligence, personality, confidence, attitude)
- Motivation (what the character wants)