Character Sketch

A good character sketch captures the personality and appearance of a person and can be a part of almost any writing genre, from poetry to fictional narratives to biographies and news stories.

Creating a Portrait with Words

Character Sketch at a Glance

Standards for WritingA successful character

sketch should• present a vivid picture of the

personality and physical appearance of a person

• establish a dominant, or main, impression of the person

• reveal the writer’s response to the person

• include dialogue, mannerisms, description, and other devices that show rather than tell what the character is like

• place the character in a context that contributes to the reader’s understanding of the character

• have a clear organizational structure and a strong conclusion

physical description

person’s action and

speech

mannerisms of person

writer’s feelings about

the person

other people’s reactions to the person

surroundings

MAIN IMPRESSION OF SUBJECT

MAIN IMPRESSION OF SUBJECT

Planning Your Character Sketch

1. Explore your feelings. How do you feel about the person? What tone will you use to convey your feelings—detached, admiring, humorous, serious?

2. Create mental images of the person. Mentally replay scenes in which your character speaks, moves, and interacts with others. Which details stand out?

Planning Your Character Sketch

3. Place your character in a setting. Describe the person in a time and place that will reveal his or her personality. Which setting will best show how your character interacts with others? Which setting will reveal your character’s inner self?

4. Create a dominant impression. What is the main impression you want to give? What descriptions and incidents involving the character will best create this impression?

Writing Your Character SketchRevising

WORD CHOICE

In a character sketch, carefully chosen words add clarity and vigor to description. Specific verbs can bring the action to life. Specific modifiers can paint vivid pictures of how things look, smell, sound, taste, and feel.

Your task:Create a character sketch of Elie Wiesel from the beginning of the novel to when he first arrived to Auschwitz (sections 1-3). Show his emotions, physical attributes, beliefs, values, mannerisms, his surroundings, family life, what your personal opinion is about him at this point in the novel, and any other important quotes or information that will help others understand who Elie was as a young boy.

This should be at least one full page of in depth analysis along with a small illustration of what you think he looked like at the beginning of the novel (11 point, Times New Roman, single spaced).

Use your creativity to make an esthetically pleasing illustration and your knowledge to make an interesting and accurate written piece.