Write a five-paragraph character sketch (at least 500 words) on the main character. The five paragraphs should be an introduction ending in a thesis statement, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. In your thesis statement, state three distinct character traits. Discuss each separate trait in its own body paragraph. Start each body paragraph with a topic sentence, stating the trait to be covered, and develop or prove the trait with at least three specific examples from the story. In your thesis statement and selection of traits, also address: Does the character change or develop over the course of the story? The conclusion should repeat and slightly reword the thesis and recap the major points. Use at least one quote in each body paragraph.

1. The main character is the protagonist: a single individual who is the focus of the storys action. He or she is the character most central to the story and most responsible for confronting the antagonistic person or force of the conflict. If you are unsure of the main character, consult the Chapter Notes for the book.

2. A character trait is a natural interior quality of a character expressed in how he thinks, speaks, or acts with himself and others. Natural means intrinsic to the person: something he does not need to struggle to be, like a virtue, but his natural disposition. Character traits are not hobbies, temporary emotions, gender, race, religion, or birthplace, though these can influence personality.

Rather, a character trait is a consistent way a character behaves:

Thinks – absent-minded, clever, imaginative, cynical, distrustful

Speaks – soft-spoken, loquacious, argumentative, candid

Acts – loyal, nervous, affectionate, aloof, outgoing, shy, ambitious, impulsive

Traits are single or hyphenated words. Fearful of crowds is just a general description. Shy, introverted, and reclusive are single words that label definite patterns of behavior, and are traits.  A thesaurus is the perfect tool to help you articulate traits. Select three distinct traits that, when taken together, capture the characters whole personality. Do not select two or more traits that are near synonyms for each other. For instance, saying a character is smart, clever, and intellectual is not acceptable as three distinct traits. They are too similar.

Although you will not be writing a morality essay this quarter, which addresses virtues and vices, students sometimes wonder whether a virtue or vice is acceptable as a character trait. The major difference between a character trait and a vice or virtue, is that one chooses to perform vices and virtues, while character traits are natural, intrinsic parts of ones personality. A virtue or vice can be considered a trait only if it is so prominent that it seems to come naturally to the characters disposition. Thus, it would be impossible to do a character sketch on Heidi, for example, without addressing her charitable nature, or on Ebeneezer Scrooge without addressing his cold-heartedness.

However, the main characters in the books this quarter are believable and flawed characters, neither saintly nor completely immoral. If your character has a pronounced vice or virtue that is central to his personality and seems to come naturally, it should definitely be included, along with discussion of whether it changes (see below); but at least two traits you observe in the character in your book should have nothing to do with vice or virtue. Also, when giving the vice or virtue, refer to it as a trait and analyze it as a personality trait, not as a moral quality.

To prove a trait, you must show that it is consistent by giving at least three specific examples from the story. If a character acts a certain way once, it could be called a whim; if twice, it could be a coincidence; but three separate occasions is a strong argument for a trait. Naturally, four or five times is even more convincing, but at least three are required.

Ruth, from the book of the Bible, while not a literary character, can serve as an example of how to prove consistency. 

A firm part of Ruths personality is her loyalty. A prominent example is her devotion to her mother-in-law, Naomi, after they are both left destitute by the deaths of their respective husbands. Ruths strong attachment to Naomi causes her to follow her mother-in-law to Bethlehem and even adopt her religion. She does this though she might easily have returned with her sister-in-law to their own home country and religion. Even when Naomi herself, in her despair, tries to persuade her to follow her kinswoman, Ruth responds that nothing but death will cause her to depart. Her loyalty continues after arriving in Bethlehem when she offers to glean fallen grain in the local barley fields in order to provide food for her mother-in-law and herself. She is not deterred at the risk to herself from the rough fieldsman, given her great beauty, but works devotedly at the menial, grueling task. When the owner of the fields, Boaz, asks the foreman about Ruth, the foreman reports that she has been working since morning and has not gone home for one moment. Finally, she displays loyalty when she goes to Boaz at the behest of her mother-in-law, and humbly asks for the marriage with him that is her right. She faithfully abides by his decision to confer first with a kinsman who has more of a claim to the marriage, until at last she achieves the desired marriage with Boaz.

Diverse examples from different parts of the book not only show consistency, but the example about Boaz also shows Ruths loyalty is not just to a single person, but a part of her entire personality, a way of relating to all people she trusts.

A character change can be either a development, such as from nominally charitable to self-sacrificial, or a conversion, such as from completely cold-hearted to charitable. Some main characters remain basically the same throughout. If your main character is like this, it is not necessary to address change. Simply indicate in the thesis statement that the three traits you select are consistent in the character throughout, and your examples and arguments in your body paragraphs will help to cement the fact that this is so.

If a trait develops in a significant way, such as a character growing more and more in a trait of self-sacrifice, order this trait as the third in your thesis statement, with mention that it grows into something deeper. You will argue the two consistent traits first, in the first two body paragraphs, and then address the trait that develops in the third body paragraph. Show in your examples and discussion how the character develops in that trait, and what causes the development.

In your book selections, if a main character changes it will be either a development or a conversion. If a trait converts, it is changing from one thing to its opposite: cowardly becomes brave, miserly becomes generous, prideful becomes humble, and so forth. Therefore, order it as the last trait in the thesis statement and include the trait that it changes into. This will mean your thesis statement will contain four traits: the two consistent traits, and the one trait that converts to its opposite. In the third body paragraph, make sure the topic sentence includes the trait, the opposite trait it changes to, and what causes the conversion in the topic sentence. Then, in the paragraph, discuss the initial character trait with one or two examples, then a discussion of what causes the change, and finally one or two examples to prove the new trait. (Note that it is rare for a character to completely change or convert with more than one of his traits).

A quote by itself is not an example, but it can be used to support, confirm, or clarify an example. Refer to the .