Summer Reading Setting and Character Analysis Worksheets Jeffrey C. Garber, Middle School English Communications

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Character and Setting Worksheets

Dear Upper Academy Students, Parents, and Guardians: Students should complete three worksheets for their chosen summer reading books. However, each worksheet may consist of multiple pages. These worksheets are called Setting Analysis, Character Analysis (Protagonist), and Character Analysis (Antagonist). The Character Analysis sheets are just one page (students may add more pages if needed). The Setting Analysis consists of three separate pages (the extra two may or may not be used). Students should be aware that they will not find all the answers they will need in their books – they will have to use their reading skills to infer many of their responses. Reading.ebc.org says, “Inferring means figuring out something that the author doesn’t actually say. You can use clues that are in the text, and things from your own mind. Sometimes it’s called reading between the lines.” Still other times it’s called an educated guess. The age of a character is often a guess; it is perfectly acceptable to say that a character is “somewhere between 13 and 16” or “approximately 15”. The key is gathering enough information from what the narrator, other characters, or the character him/herself says to make an educated guess. Inferring can and should be used to answer many other questions a reader may have – from character information to details about time, place, locations, etc. Sometimes this is intentional; authors often want their readers to use their imaginations. The worksheets themselves are not essays. They are notes that document important details only. These notes would assist students in writing an essay should that be later required. For this reason, their notations should be brief and to the point. They do not have to use full sentences in completing the worksheets (unless asked for direct quotations) – phrases and highly descriptive words are most important. Nevertheless, whatever they write, they should write enough to be clear. Students should also include page numbers (in parentheses) following any information they include that they may have to find or refer to later. The Setting Analysis Worksheet:

There are basic directions on the worksheet itself, but further clarification can be found in this letter. In general, it is important to first understand the differences between settings and scenes. A setting takes place in a particular time and place (such as London, England in 1843). The setting changes when the story moves from one city or country to another or when a significant amount of time passes (even if the city or country does not change, social conditions may very well change over time). Scenes are specific locations within one setting. There are typically multiple scenes within one setting (for example, a specific doctor’s office, the protagonist’s house, or an antagonist’s bedroom all within the same setting). The top part of the worksheet is devoted to describing the setting and the bottom part examines each scene within that setting. Students should complete the analysis of each scene entirely before moving on to the next scene. This will allow them to know how many lines to skip between chapter and scene numbers, and they can’t know this before they complete their scene descriptions and summaries of action. The Setting Analysis – Continuation Sheet should be used when there is insufficient space to include all a setting’s scenes on the same page. Since some books go back in forth in time or from one city to another, students may find that some settings may skip some chapters and/or scenes only to return to them later. Use the Setting Analysis – Additional Settings worksheet to document each new setting and its associated scenes.

Summer Reading Setting and Character Analysis Worksheets Jeffrey C. Garber, Middle School English Communications

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Explanation of Specific Information Required:

Settings

1. Agent: Note the student’s name.

2. Book: Self-explanatory; the title of the book.

3. Author: Self-explanatory; the name of the book’s author.

4. Year / Period: Note the specific or approximate (inferred) year or period in which the story takes place (for

example, “1843”, the “1840’s”, or “Victorian England”).

5. City / Town / Village: Self-explanatory; may be inferred (“a small town in the midwestern United States”).

6. State / County: The state in which the setting takes place; many countries do not have states but divide territories into counties. In these cases, use the county name. Again, this may have to be inferred or marked as “unknown”.

7. Country: Self-explanatory; the name of the country in which the story takes place.

8. Social Conditions: This block may require a little research, possibly through the internet or other sources. The lives

of people in any setting are greatly affected by the social conditions that prevail in that time and place. A full exploration of these conditions would require volumes, but we only have a few lines. Luckily, we only need a few key points here. Students should focus on any economic, political, religious, and/or technological factors (or the prevailing treatment of a specific class of people) that have a direct impact upon the characters and/or storyline of their book. Students should ask themselves a series of questions to determine what might be important enough to include. For example:

a. “Do my characters live in dire poverty? Do they have contact with people living in a different class? If so, how do they relate to or treat one another? How does this relationship make my characters feel about themselves and others?” (economic factors and class distinctions).

b. “Do my characters live in an oppressive political environment? Does the race or religion of my characters make a difference in their political environment? How do my main characters relate to others of different religions or races? Does the political environment change during the course of the story? Do my characters face any severe humiliations or dangers due to the political powers or society’s beliefs about race or religion?” Think of African-American characters living in the deep south during the civil rights movement or Jews living in Nazi Germany (political, racial, and religious factors).

c. “Do my characters live in a time or place in which they do not have electricity, plumbing, or personal computers? If so, what pressures do these limitations put on their survival or everyday life? How do these limitations impact upon my characters’ ability to cope with the obstacles they face?” (technological factors).

Students should not limit their explorations to these questions – there are many others that may be much more relevant to their characters’ journey through their story. The key is to ask the right questions to reveal the most important factors in understanding the story. Students should attach another sheet of paper should they need more space to cover this block.

Setting Chapters and Scenes

1. Chapter: Reflect the chapter number that contains the scene you are describing. There may be several scenes

within each chapter, so you may repeat the chapter numbers in this column. On the other hand, you may also skip several chapters entirely if your book’s settings change and then return to the same setting. Remember to complete each scene entirely before starting a new one in this section.

2. Scene: Start each chapter with scene number “1” and then add 1 for each new scene within that same chapter.

Summer Reading Setting and Character Analysis Worksheets Jeffrey C. Garber, Middle School English Communications

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3. Season: Note the time of year or season in this column; you may have to infer this.

4. Weather: Describe the weather of each scene in this column – in one word and if known.

5. Time: Reflect the time of day in which the scene takes place, either the specific time or a range (“10:00 AM” or

“morning”, etc.).

6. Scene Description: Describe the precise location (i.e., Mr. Garber’s classroom). Include sensory descriptions (how it looks and smells – what it sounds like and how objects that you touch feels when you touch them). You should also try to describe the mood (how the location makes you or your characters feel when they are there) and tone (the attitude the author took in writing the scene – it may be serious, formal, sarcastic, humorous, etc.). This section will require longer phrases or sentences.

7. Summary of Action: Simply describe what happens in the scene. It is a summary, so stick to the key points, but do

describe each scene. Some scenes may seem pointless to you, but the author included each for a reason. This section may also require longer phrases or sentences.

The Character Analysis Worksheets (Protagonist and Antagonist):

Each book has a Protagonist (the hero or anti-hero of the story) and at least one Antagonist (the characters or forces that create the obstacles the Protagonist must overcome to achieve their goals). Books may also include many other types of characters, either major or minor. Students will only need to focus on the Protagonist and one Antagonist for each of their summer reading books. There are two worksheets for Character Analysis; they are identical except that they are marked as “Protagonist” and “Antagonist”. Please be sure to use the correct worksheet for each character and note page numbers (if appropriate) for future reference.

1. Character: Reflect the character’s name in this space. Repeat the name in large letters directly under the heading “Protagonist” or “Antagonist”.

2. Aliases: Note any other names the character may go by in the book.

3. Book: Reflect the title of the book in this space.

4. Author: Reflect the author’s name here.

5. Description: Describe the character by filling in the appropriate information after each sub-heading (age, height, weight, build, hair, eyes, and complexion). For example, 50-55, 5’8”, 135 lbs, slight, grey, blue, and ruddy. Again, some of this information will have to be inferred.

6. Background: Describe the character by filling in the appropriate information after each sub-heading (nationality,

race, religion, occupation, education, health, and interests). For example, English, white, Anglican, money-lender, High School diploma, fair, and making money. Again, some of this information will have to be inferred.

7. Traits: Yourdictionary.com says that “Character traits are all the aspects of a person’s behaviors and attitudes that

make up that person’s personality. Everyone has character traits, both good and bad. Even characters in books have character traits. They are most often described with highly descriptive adjectives, like patient, unfaithful, or jealous”. Students should list nine descriptive adjectives that best describe the traits of the character they are analyzing under this heading.

8. Values: Yourdictionary.com says that “Core values are the fundamental beliefs of a person or organization. These

guiding principles dictate behavior and can help people to understand the difference between doing right and wrong.” Core values can be expressed in single words that identify what is most important to a person – what they

Summer Reading Setting and Character Analysis Worksheets Jeffrey C. Garber, Middle School English Communications

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value. Examples include, God, faith, love, security, family, honesty, health, etc. Students should list nine descriptive nouns that best describe the values of the character they are analyzing under this heading.

9. Appearance: Students should describe the appearance of the character in this space. How do they dress (i.e.,

neatly or sloppily, expensive clothing or rags)? Is he/she neatly groomed or scruffy? Are they clean or dirty? There are many ways to describe a person’s appearance.

10. Characteristics: Characteristics are specific things that help us to differentiate one person from another. Do they

have any identifying tattoos or scars? Do they move or speak in a unique or peculiar way? Quote descriptions from the book or simply say what characteristics you imagine the character may have.

11. Family, Other Relatives, Friends, Associates, Foils, and Enemies: Stories often includes information that explains

how characters relate to one another. Some are good relationships, others are not. Students should list the names of characters that are either related to of know the character being analyzed under the appropriate headings. Family refers to immediate family (mother, father, spouse, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, etc.). Other relatives refer to aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, etc.). Friends are other close relationships while associates are simply people with whom the character is acquainted. A foil is a literary term that means that the author uses a character to highlight the qualities of an opposite type of character, usually the protagonist. Finally, enemies would be characters that actively try to hurt or hinder the character being analyzed.

12. Record of Conflict: Use this section to describe the various types of conflict the character encounters throughout

the book (be sure to include the page numbers that best describe the conflict – this will definitely be needed in future assignments). Students should track all the conflicts they find for a specific character; this will allow them to select the most important ones once they finish reading the book and begin to analyze the plot structure.

Wikipedia says that “conflict is a major literary element that creates challenges in a story by adding uncertainty to if a goal will be achieved.” There are several conflicts evident within each story and these conflicts can affect each character. While many of these disputes may be important, students should watch for the “central conflict”. This is the one serious disagreement, dispute, argument, or problem that the protagonist alone must overcome to bring his/her story to a resolution. It is usually introduced early in the book and doesn’t end until near the end. It stands above all the other conflicts. Students should also watch for key events in the story that make the central conflict worse. This is known as the “rising action”. Conflict is typically divided into six different types; any conflict, including the central conflict, can be described as one of these forms:

a. “Man Against Man” is when one character is in direct opposition to another. This external kind of conflict

can range from being a violent confrontation (such as a gunfight) to a struggle of will between a child and a parent. It is also evident in competition, such as a contest between two men vying for the love of the same woman.

b. “Man Against Self” is an internal struggle. This type of conflict is seen when a character must overcome

his/her own nature or is “his/her own worst enemy” (such as when a character fights an addiction). The conflicted character typically must make some sort of a choice between such things as doing good and evil, selfless action and self-indulgence, or healthy and unhealthy activities.

c. “Man Against Nature” is an external conflict in which a character struggles to tame, conquer, or survive

against forces of nature (such as the sea, a storm, tornado, or blizzard) or an animal.

d. “Man Against Society” is an external struggle in which a character stands against an idea or prejudice held or practiced by a group of people (such as bullying, slavery, or other discriminatory practices). In such stories, characters find themselves all but alone in their moral position and are frustrated by societal norms or a common selfish desire amongst others.

e. “Man Against Fate” is an external struggle between a character and his/her destiny, fantastic beasts, or

supernatural forces (such as a prearranged marriage, a fire-breathing dragon, or a spirit).

Summer Reading Setting and Character Analysis Worksheets Jeffrey C. Garber, Middle School English Communications

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f. “Man Against Machine” or technology is an external struggle between a character and some sort of man-made device. Examples include a man in danger of losing his job to a computer, a woman threatened by a robot, or a pilot traying to land an airplane with engine trouble.

Understanding conflict is essential to analyzing plot structures, themes, and what is important in a book.

13. Primary Agent Assigned: Students should put their own name in this space. 14. Evidence: This section should be used to document specific quotations (along with the page numbers upon which

the quotations appear) that support the claims made in the earlier sections of the worksheet. It also includes specific questions to which students must respond. Again, quotations and page numbers should be used to answer these questions. Students should feel free to attach a separate piece of paper to this worksheet should they need more space for evidence.

The Essay Requirement:

As outlined in the initial assignment, students must read two books over the summer and complete the worksheets explained in the above for each. They will then choose their favorite of the two books and write a five-paragraph essay (book report) on that selected book. Students should find their completed worksheets exceedingly helpful in organizing and writing their paper. Please feel free to contact me at the email address below should you have any further questions or need any additional clarifications. I hope my students enjoy this project and wish you all a relaxing and enjoyable remainder of your summer! Sincerely,

Jeffrey C. Garber Middle School English Communications Teacher jgarber@lawrencecatholicacademy.org