When taking time to focus on character analysis for secondary students, English teachers often seem to fall into the essay camp. Not that there is anything wrong with formal writing assignments, but we can definitely offer more fun and engaging character analysis activities to our secondary students. I’m excited to bring you a few fresh ideas to add to your teaching arsenal. Let’s get to it.
Why Focus on Character Analysis?
Often I find students just want to identify the major players of a work and some very basic information when working on character analysis, but there is so much more to understanding characters and the roles that they play to drive a story forward. Students can make predictions when they begin to understand the relationships between characters. When students understand a character deeply, they can make inferences about changes a character is going to go through (i.e. when something is “uncharacteristic” and they can identify growth). Themes and messages from an author can be understood by understanding a character and their motivations and reactions to situations.
Character analysis is just one part of understanding literary elements as a whole and how they work together to make up the art of storytelling. At the secondary level, we should be helping students move past simply identifying terminology and using basic vocabulary to applying these concepts into deeper study. Check out some of my favorite engaging activities and resources that are as rigorous as they are fun.
Start with the Basics
It’s easy to forget that not all students come in with the same understanding of literary terminology. If you suspect that your students need a refresher, be sure that you take time to teach character analysis specifically before committing to any larger projects with a presentation and notes that students can refer to as they work on any of these character analysis projects. I have a premade mini-lesson that not only teaches character analysis but also includes activities for practice. Students can work together with different interactive activities to solidify their basic understanding. There is also an incredibly engaging “Who Am I?” character analysis game that students love.
Character Autopsy Body Map
In this activity, students “pick apart” a character from any text and analyze them while focusing on various body parts. It’s a really engaging and hands-on way to help students analyze characters. Find the full resource ready to use here. You can also see how to use this lesson in your classroom in this post.
You can use this resource for individual projects for character analysis or convert it to a group project. Students could also become “experts” on one character’s anatomy and share with others. Your students can prepare a “medical report” to present to the class or for peers to review in a gallery walk.
Character Analysis Puzzle Project
Character exploration becomes an engaging journey that encourages students to delve deep into the narrative, unraveling the intricate web of character relationships and traits over the course of the text. By incorporating puzzle pieces, we can bring character standards to life in an innovative and interactive way.
All files in this resource are editable for seamless printing or as slides for digital use. This project is designed to ignite critical thinking and lively discussions about characters, making learning a truly meaningful experience. Students are challenged to explore characters in a whole new light.
This is a really great activity if you’re looking for something group-related, as several students can work together on the puzzle project and discuss characters together to see what fits together better. It’s also a project that would make a fun gallery walk for students to compare some of the connections that other groups did. You can even use the final puzzle project as classroom décor when the work is done.
Character Soundtrack Analysis
This versatile character analysis activity can seamlessly integrate into your curriculum, creating maximum flexibility. It’s an innovative and imaginative approach to instruct character analysis. By linking literary characters and song titles, students work on bridging the gap of understanding specific characters and traits. My resource includes hassle-free evaluations and graphic organizers to keep information tidy.
Your soundtrack character analysis can take on a variety of options. Students might create a playlist for a character as they develop throughout the text. You could make comparisons between different relationships within the text by having students create the mixtape one character would give to another. If you have a longer work like Jane Eyre which follows the character throughout her life, students might create different playlists for her different ages and compare.
Or Use Them All!
If you’d like to mix and match your options for fun and engaging character analysis activities, I have this great mega bundle available in my shop. These activities are CCSS standard aligned, engaging, and ready for print or digital use. Your students will love the variety and you’ll love the thoughtful reflection.
Try any of these engaging character analysis activities to add some fresh resources to your own teaching arsenal. What’s your favorite way to teach character analysis? Sound off in the comments below or follow me on Instagram for more!
Happy teaching!
