Character

Before beginning this assignment, read the following five 10-minute plays on pp. 1061-1083 of your Compact Literature textbook: What Are You Going to Be?, Beauty, Magic 8 Ball, Applicant, and Zombie Love. Choose only one play to use in your response.

Prompt: Choose a character from one of the 10-minute plays listed above. In one or two well-developed paragraphs, write a character analysis, explaining the person’s actions, emotions, conflicts, and motivations. Include examples and at least one quotation from the play as supporting evidence.

Refresher on Character
A reader or viewer of a play can learn about a character in a number of ways.

• Dialogue/monologue – How do the words the character says reveal information about who he/she is? Does the character have a noticeable speech pattern? Does the character’s use of language reveal his/her emotional state? What is revealed through what others say about the character?
• Action – What is shown through the character’s actions or lack of action?
• Stage directions/movement/props – What is revealed through the character’s placement on the stage, movements, and use of props?
• Relationships/interactions – What is understood about the character through relationships and interactions with other characters?
• Development – Does the character grow and change during the play, or is the character static and unchanged? How developed or round is the character?
• Role – Is this character the narrator? If so, is he/she reliable or unreliable?

Tips: Remember to provide evidence for your claims in the form of quoted passages from the play. Quotations, paraphrases, and summaries should be cited according to APA rules of style, including in-text and reference citations. Quoted material should not exceed 25% of the document.