Practise tracing how a character is built and changes. Attempt each before revealing; all characters and quotations here are our own invention, not from a set text.
1In our original story, a character called Nadia is introduced 'apologising before she had done anything wrong'. Write the opening of an analysis of how she is characterised.
Show plan, model opening & checklist
Plan: Form a reading of the character from the detail; plan to trace development. Focus on how the writer builds her.
Model opening: From her first appearance, Nadia is characterised by anxious deference: the writer has her 'apologising before she had done anything wrong', suggesting a habit of self-blame that shapes how she moves through the story.
Checklist:
- Clear reading of the character
- Uses a specific detail as evidence
- Focuses on the writer's method
- Signals development to be traced
2Write a paragraph analysing how a character changes, using our original before-and-after lines: early, 'he never asked questions'; later, 'he asked, and waited for the answer'.
Show plan, model opening & checklist
Plan: Contrast the two moments; explain what the change reveals; link it to the writer's purpose.
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Model opening: The writer marks the character's growth through a small but telling shift: the boy who 'never asked questions' becomes one who 'asked, and waited for the answer', signalling a new willingness to engage rather than avoid.
Checklist:
- Traces a clear change
- Uses contrasting evidence
- Explains what the change means
- Connects to the writer's intention
3Write about how a writer uses a minor character to reveal the protagonist, using our original figure, a neighbour who 'noticed everything and said nothing'.
Show plan, model opening & checklist
Plan: Explain the minor character's function; show what she reveals about the protagonist by contrast or reaction.
Model opening: The writer uses the watchful neighbour, who 'noticed everything and said nothing', as a mirror for the protagonist's secrecy, making his own silences feel more deliberate by comparison.
Checklist:
- Explains the character's function
- Links the minor to the major character
- Uses a precise detail
- Focuses on the writer's craft
See the worked annotated model response for character analysis, or the method in our character analysis skills guide.