English 102 Ess

English 102
Essay Character Development for “The Gilded Six Bits” by Zora Neale Hurston
Authors want their readers to understand the characters they
create. Well developed characters can help to shed light on the universal human
condition. According to Edgar V. Roberts, “In literature, a character is a
verbal representation of a person as presented by an author through depiction
of actions, conversations, descriptions, reactions, thoughts and reflections.”
In daily life things ‘just happen’ but in literature nothing is accidental. All
that appears in a creative work is deliberate, included by the author for a
reason, to advance the plot or to develop character. Choose a character from one
from of selections of works of fiction read thus far and compose an essay that
explores the development of a character. Identify his or her outstanding traits
and then support that with evidence from the text. Some questions to ask
yourself that you may find helpful are: Who is the main character? What do you
learn about the character from his or her own words and actions? From the words
and actions of others? How else do you learn about the character? Does the
setting provide any information? Who or what is in opposition to the character?
What do you learn about the protagonist from other characters? Refer to the essay template you were given at
the beginning of the semester and make sure your essay includes all of those
elements.
Template for Essay
I Introduction
A Capture the reader’s interest –
open with a grabber sentence! Introduce the title, author and characters.
B Background
C Current Situation
D Thesis Statement – a clear direct
statement of your controlling idea
II Body
A Topic Sentence
Support
B Topic Sentence
Support
C Topic Sentence
Support
III
Conclusion Topic sentence,
could be a restatement of your thesis worded differently.
Summarize the main points.
Revisit introduction and tie your ideas together.