Character Essay Writing

Throughout this writing unit, students will think deeply about the types of people the characters they are reading about are. They will take notice what characters say, do and or think to come up with a thesis, an idea, about their character. They will identify a trait word that best fits their character and place post-its across a book to be sure that they can prove their idea with at least three pieces of text evidence. 

It is important that during this writing unit, students keep in mind that in order to say a character is a certain way, they must look at the character as a whole and form the strongest idea they can about them. Characters can sometimes be complex, act more than one way, under different circumstances or towards different people. Therefore, students have to choose a strong trait that can be proven across a book. 

Additionally, this unit requires students to include voice throughout their essay. Specifically, during this unit, voice is seen as reaction sentences. Reaction sentences are what a reader felt when he or she came across the action a character portrayed. As a writer, being able to express the feelings you had when your character said, did or thought something pulls your reader in and makes them more interested in your ideas and or feelings.