Animal Farm George Orwell

Character/theme Analysis Research Paper Graphic Organizer

Complete each sentence prompt to build the elements of a complete character analysis.
You must include the following in your essay:
1. Five to seven vocabulary words from your various lists
2. Several of all types of syntax sentence structure: simple, compound, complex and compound-complex.
3. Lead-ins and parenthetical documentation for every quote from the primary and secondary text.
Thesis Statement

You cant begin a quality essay without establishing a guiding statement from which all ideas extend.
Within the statement name the character, his beginning personality and/or behaviors, changes and ending traits in broad terms. Those
three things will be the foundation of your body paragraphs.

You MUST use phrases and key words from the prompt or assignment.
Thesis
Claim
Statement /

Orwell takes Napoleons terrible leadership to demonstrate how too much power can lead to corruption.

Your response in each row should contain ONE SENTENCE. You will combine the sentences later to create a
cohesive analytical paragraph.

Introduction
1. Make a general
comment about the
subject matter of your
thesis stmt / claim

Use key words from the

prompt or topic.
2. Relate your general
subject matter to what
the author addresses in
the literature.
You must include the
authors name and the title
of the literary work here.
3. Brief description of the
character you are
analyzing and who they
are, what happens to
them in life in general
terms. Explain some
part or his or her life that
relates to the first three
sentences of this
introduction. .

4. Explain why it is
essential that this
character be analyzed
along with this theme.
Psychological, emotional,
physical results, etc. Be
broad but specific to your
chosen character

Leaders will strive with honesty and commitment, but will fail with too much control.

George Orwell, an English writer, illustrates how too much leadership can lead to
corruption in his novel, Animal Farm.

Napoleon started out as an uneducated pig who took footsteps of a leader, but he soon
turns into the leader and gets taken over by power and corruption.

After the death of Old Major, Napoleon had to take place as leader and the animals trusted
him but that trust quickly faded away.

5. What happens to this

character in the literature
that relates to the theme
you have chosen?

Napoleon takes his place as the next great leader of the farm and tries to make the farm
thrive; However, his selfishness and careless attitude tears the farm apart.

What point are you trying to

make?
Connect all of the previous
information to what it is you
want the reader to see in
your character.

Orwell takes Napoleons terrible leadership to demonstrate how too much power can lead
to corruption.
6. Thesis Statement / Claim

Body Paragraph 1 Character/Theme Analysis

1.

Topic Sentence
Make a statement
about what this
paragraph will
contain.

2.

Expand on the topic

sentence with a
description of the
character in general
terms but more
specific than in the
introduction

3.

Include a primary
source quote to
support your analysis

4.

Describe what your

primary source quote
does to support your
analysis. Why is it
important for the
reader to understand
your analysis?
5. Include a quote from
your secondary
source the
research.
This quote should
support your analysis
and back up your
primary source quote.

Napoleon used his power to satisfy his own wants, disregarding the well-being of the other
animals.

Napoleon was characterized as incredibly selfish and greedy throughout the entire story.

When he realized the farm had a storage of food, Napoleon acted swiftly and ruthlessly.
He ordered the hens' rations to be stopped, and decreed that any animal giving so much as
a grain of corn to a hen should be punished by death (Orwell n. pag.).

Napoleon didnt care about the hens starving or losing another animal off the farm, the
only thing that mattered was having food for himself.

Critics Gillespie and Naden state that Napoleon becomes better and better at satisfying
his own goals and needs and in duping the other animals into believing that he is doing it
all for them. Each new project that takes all their energy keeps them from questioning
whether their lives are truly improved (n. pag.).

6. Why is this
statement important
to include in your
analysis? What
further insight does it
provide? How does it
relate to your topic?

7. Describe /

summarize the
characters
personality,
behaviors, etc. as
you have analyzed it
from the first several
chapters of the
novel.

Napoleon takes advantage of the fact that the animals are not very educated and tricks
them into believing all of his avaricious actions are for the welfare of the animals on the
farm.

Napoleon uses heartless tactics that eventually makes the farm the same thing they
revolted from.

Body Paragraph 2 Character/Theme Analysis

8.

Topic Sentence
Make a statement
about what this
paragraph will
contain.

9.

Napoleon will do anything to become the absolute leader of the farm and will not let
anyone stand in his way.

Expand on the topic

sentence with a
description of the
character in general
terms but more
specific than in the
introduction
10. Include a primary
source quote to
support your analysis

Napoleon is a ruthless and selfish pig who enforces fear on the other animals to get what he wants
on Animal Manor.

11. Describe what your

primary source quote
does to support your
analysis. Why is it
important for the
reader to understand
your analysis?
12. Include a quote from
your secondary
source the
research.

After the animals see what Napoleon did, they become more afraid of him and they realize
they should not contradict anything he says.

This quote should

support your analysis
and back up your
primary source quote.
13. Why is this
statement important
to include in your
analysis? What
further insight does it
provide? How does it
relate to your topic?

The dogs Napoleon trained dashed straight for Snowball, who only sprang from his place
just in time to escape their snapping jaws. In a moment he was out of the door and they
were after him (Orwell n. pag.).

Brockington analyses Napoleon: He is cynical, brutal, and above all pragmatic. Once in
power, he will do whatever is necessary to keep his position. The propaganda and lies, the
whip, and the vicious dogs are all part of the corruption of the dream. Ultimately, the
animals have even less than before (n. pag.).

Napoleon takes on the same characteristics as a dictator and ruins the dream for all of the
other animals who worked so hard to get that far.

14. Describe /

summarize the
characters
personality,
behaviors, etc. as
you have analyzed it
from the first several
chapters of the
novel.

Napoleon only cares about his own well-being and the power he gets out of this rebellion
rather than the welfare of the others.

Conclusion
1.

Restate the thesis

statement/claim
See the first
sentence of the
sample essay.

2.

Include a secondary
source quote to
support your overall
ideas of character
development and
change within the
novel.

Napoleon makes evident that absolute power will ruin the unity and trust within the
environment.

One critic says Lies and terror now rule "Animal Farm." In the ultimate reversal of Old
Major's words, "all animals are created equal, but some animals are more equal than
others." One form of repression has been replaced by another (Byrne n. pag.).

Napoleon was covetous and did everything to make sure he was always the most powerful
on the farm, even if it was cold-blooded.
3.

Write one sentence

that summarizes the
analysis in your body
paragraph.

4. Describe /

summarize the
characters
personality,
behaviors, etc. as
you have analyzed it
in this essay.
Describe what the
result is from the
characters transition
or changes. What
happens to him in
the end?

Napoleon was so caught up in the idea of autocratic power that he let the farm revert back
to what the animals worked so hard to purge, Manor Farm.

Ideas to Consider
www.globalpost.com How to Write a College Character Analysis Essay

Defining the Role

Whether youre putting together an analysis of a main character or a minor character, it is important that your essay address the
role she plays in the story. Some roles, such as the protagonist and antagonist, may be obvious. Main characters can also serve
more complex roles than the simple protagonist definition. A lead character can be an underdog, an anti-hero, a tragic hero or
even an unwilling hero.
Discovering the purpose of a minor character often takes closer examination. Minor characters may be flat, two-dimensional
people who remain unchanged throughout the course of a story, or three-dimensional, rounded characters who experience their
own metamorphosis. These characters might serve as foils for the main characters, as older and wiser advisers, as sidekicks or
even as obstacles the main characters must overcome.

Finding Motivation
Everyone wants something, especially a character in a literary work. Whether a hero desperate to complete a quest, a villain
determined to stop him or a minor character along for the ride, each character in a story will have identifiable wants and needs.
Quite often, though, what a character wants is in direct opposition to what he really needs. For example, a man longing for the
attention of a woman out of his league might need to realize that hell only find true love when he sees his female sidekick in a
romantic light. At the college level, character analysis essays should go beyond simply identifying the wants and needs
motivating the characters; they should also address how the characters affect one another.

Addressing the Arc

While some minor characters are unchanging, most characters will be markedly different at the end of a story than they were at
the beginning. While main characters, such as the protagonist, often make the most dramatic, obvious changes, minor
characters also have a story arc. They might make only subtle changes, such as a sidekick quietly letting go to allow the hero to
find love or finish her mission alone. The arcs of unchanging characters should also be addressed, as they will most likely have
encountered situations in which theyve made the choice not to change.
http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Character-Analysis

Describe the physical appearance of the character and explain what the appearance reveals about the person.
Discuss the language that the character uses throughout the work. Does the character use the same language throughout or
does his or her choice of language change from the introduction to the conclusion?
If provided, include details about the background of the character (some of these details may have to be inferred).
Where/when was the character born and raised? What kind of education does the character have? How does the character's
past experience influence what he or she does or says?
Write about the personality of the character. Does the character act on emotions or reason? What values does the character
exhibit through words or actions? Does the character have goals or ambitions?
Describe and analyze the relationships that the character has with others in the story. Does the character lead or follow
others in the story? Does the character have close friends and family?
Explain the struggle or conflict that the character faces beyond the obvious what are the internal struggles as well as the
external conflicts.
Describe the important actions of the character. What do these actions tell the reader about the character and how the
character faces the conflict?