Best for
Novel study, short stories, drama, film scenes, and any literature response where students need stronger evidence and clearer interpretation.
English • Years 6-10 • Literary response and close reading
Character Analysis
Use this handout to help ākonga move past labels like “nice”, “mean”, or “brave” and into evidence-rich thinking about how a character is built. Strong character analysis asks what a person says, does, values, hides, and changes across a text.
Free literary-response scaffold, premium text-specific path
This page already provides the evidence prompts, writing frames, and response space. Te Wānanga becomes useful when you want the same scaffold rebuilt around a class novel, short film, drama scene, or NCEA-style essay focus.
- Swap in named characters, quotations, and chapter references from your class text.
- Generate a more chunked junior version or a more analytical senior version.
- Save the adapted resource in My Kete and keep refining it in Creation Studio.
Kaiako planning snapshot
- Use length: 30-50 minutes for one close-reading lesson or response cycle.
- Grouping: Whole-class modelling first, then pairs or independent work.
- Prep: Choose one short extract or scene with enough evidence to analyse.
- Support: Highlight one quote together before asking students to infer alone.
Resources already provided
- STEAL evidence prompts
- Character relationship map
- Character arc tracker
- Paragraph frame and write-on space
- Teacher-only curriculum companion
If the lesson mentions character clues, quote analysis, or a relationship diagram, those materials already exist on this page.
Ngā Whāinga Akoranga / Learning Intentions
- We are learning how to infer character traits, motives, and values from textual evidence.
- We are learning how relationships and context shape a character.
- We are learning how to explain our interpretation clearly in writing.
Paearu Angitu / Success Criteria
- I can use a specific quotation or detail to support an interpretation.
- I can explain what the evidence suggests about the character.
- I can write a short paragraph that links evidence to an idea about the character.
Curriculum integration / Te Mātaiaho alignment
The companion page links this resource to English expectations around characterisation, textual and critical analysis, evidence-based interpretation, and literary response in Aotearoa classrooms.
Why character analysis matters
Characters are not just bundles of traits. They are shaped by pressure, choice, relationships, place, and the values a text wants readers to notice or question.
In Aotearoa, character analysis should also avoid flattening people into stereotypes. Through a mātauranga Māori lens, identity can be carried through whakapapa, whānau, whenua, obligation, and mana. Ask what context the text gives a character, not just how “likeable” they seem.
Use STEAL to gather evidence
S = Speech
What does the character say? What tone, word choice, or silence tells you something?
T = Thoughts
What do their inner thoughts, memories, or worries reveal about motive or conflict?
E = Effect on others
How do other characters react to them? Respect, fear, aroha, annoyance, or trust all matter.
A = Actions
What do they actually do when pressure rises? Actions often reveal more than speech.
L = Looks and description
How does the author describe the character? What details seem symbolic or deliberately chosen?
Extra lens = Context
What social, historical, cultural, or whānau context helps explain the character more fairly?
Look wider than surface traits
Motivation
What does the character want, fear, protect, or avoid?
Relationships
Who influences them most, and how does that relationship shape decisions?
Change over time
Does the character learn, harden, soften, resist change, or reveal a hidden side?
Author's purpose
Why might the writer want readers to notice this character in this particular way?
Support, core, stretch
Support
Choose one quotation, one action, and one relationship. Use the sentence starters below or respond through oral explanation before writing.
Core
Track how the character is presented at the start, middle, and end, then write one evidence paragraph about what changes.
Stretch
Compare how two readers might interpret the same character differently and explain which interpretation is stronger.
Students can respond through highlighted notes, labelled drawing, kōrero, bullet points, or a full paragraph. That flexibility helps different learners show thinking without lowering the analytical bar.
Evidence ladder
Use the table to move from detail to interpretation.
| Quote or detail from the text | What does it suggest about the character? | Why does that matter in the text? |
|---|---|---|
Character relationship map
Sketch the main character in the centre, then add people, groups, or forces that shape them. Label each line with the kind of influence involved: support, conflict, pressure, responsibility, aroha, fear, or expectation.
Track the character arc
| At the start | In the middle | By the end |
|---|---|---|
Paragraph frame
Use, adapt, or outgrow this frame:
- Point: This character is presented as...
- Evidence: One detail that shows this is...
- Explain: This suggests that...
- Why it matters: This matters because the author wants readers to...
Hononga Marautanga · Curriculum Alignment
English — Te Reo Pākehā
Level 3–4: Read and interpret a range of texts for meaning and purpose; identify author intent, text structure, and language choices; write clearly for specific audiences and purposes using appropriate conventions.
Social Sciences — Tikanga ā-Iwi
Level 3–4: Understand how texts construct knowledge and perspective; evaluate the credibility and purpose of different sources; communicate ideas and findings effectively in written and oral forms.
Aronga Mātauranga Māori
In te ao Māori, language — reo — is a taonga: a treasure that carries culture, identity, and whakapapa across generations. The ability to speak clearly, to argue persuasively, to read critically, and to write with purpose are not simply academic skills — they are forms of mana in action. Māori oratory (whaikōrero) has always valued precision, evidence, and the ability to locate one's argument within a broader cultural and ancestral context. Students who develop strong literacy skills are developing the same capacities that made great orators powerful: the ability to be heard, understood, and taken seriously in any room they enter.
Ngā Rauemi Tautoko · Support Materials
This handout is designed to be used alongside the broader unit resources available at Te Kete Ako handouts library. Related resources from the same unit are linked in the unit planner. All resources are provided — no additional preparation is required to use this handout in your classroom.
Curriculum alignment
- Reading — Making Meaning: Students will select and use sources of information, processes, and strategies to identify, form, and express ideas across a range of texts.
- Writing — Creating Meaning: Students will select and use sources of information, processes, and strategies to write in a range of text types for a variety of purposes and audiences.