Book Group Assignment #2

Book Club #2: Focus on Character

Write a brief literature letter describing the main character of your book, and your reflections about him/her.

Letter: Character

For this assignment you will be writing a letter to the members of your Book Club, introducing the book you are reading and its main character. In your letter explain why you selected this particular book. Describe the main character of your book and your thoughts about this character so far. In writing about the character you might consider the following questions:

•What are some of the character’s weak or strong qualities?

•What are the character’s motives, desires, intentions?

•How does the author/narrator describe the character?

•What is something you learned about the character through what s/he says, does, or things?

•What is something you found out about the character through his/her interactions with other characters?

•What is something you learned about the character through what other characters think or say?

•Does the author associate certain images or symbols with the character?

Note: You may want to flag passages with sticky notes as you read so that you can share examples with your Book Club.

SAMPLE BOOK CLUB LETTER: CHARACTER

Dear Book Club,

The book I have chosen to read is Wicked by Gregory Maguire. I selected this novel simply because it had been lying around I needed something read. It took me some time to get into it, but once I did, I was hooked. I spent the entire weekend engrossed in the land of Oz. The main character of this book, Elphaba, or as she is more commonly known, the Wicked Witch of the West, struggles with issues of identity and the nature of good and evil. She changes and evolves throughout the novel, but throughout, questions the nature of mankind and strives to understand the world around her. We see Elphaba from the time before her birth and through her childhood up to her maturation as an adult and individual. To me, Elphaba represents the struggles we all go through to find our own identity, apart from our family and friends. The author uses vivid, colorful imagery to describe Elphie, incorporating symbolic elements reminiscent of witches as she evolves into her evil namesake.

Happy Reading!

Erin