Tony Soprano The Sopranos

1. Tony Soprano The Sopranos

2. Walter White Breaking Bad Don Draper Mad Men

3. Dexter Morgan Dexter Shane Walsh The Walking Dead

4. Nicholas Brody Homeland Jack Sparrow Pirates of the Caribbean

5. Emily Thorne Revenge Barney Stinson How I Met Your Mother

6. The Anti-Hero Understanding the Anti-Hero A protagonist who is as flawed or more flawed than most characters; he disturbs the reader with his weaknesses yet is sympathetically portrayed, and who magnifies the frailties of humanity.”

7. Your Task…. Create a character sketch for an imagined anti-hero. a) In what way(s) is your character imperfect and at times unlikable? b) In what ways is your character sympathetic? c) What motivates your character? d)What does your character value? e) What does your character seem to be fighting against? Your purpose here is two-fold: 1) To inform the reader and 2) To understand writing as a process

8. What is a character sketch? Character Sketch: The character sketch, sometimes called a characterization or profile, blends physical characteristics and actions to focus on one or two dominant traits of a real or imaginary person. The character sketch is a type of writing that involves the skills of observation, description, recollection, choice of fact and opinion, and arrangement of details. When you write a character sketch, you are trying to introduce the reader to someone. You want the reader to have a strong mental image of the person, to know how the person talks, to know the person's characteristic ways of doing things, to know something about the person's value system. Character sketches only give snapshots of people; therefore, you should not try to write a history of the person.

10. The Character Character is revealed in different ways: speech, actions, gestures, dress, beliefs. However the question that helps us best understand someone’s character is a simple one: What does this person want very badly? All sorts of questions begin to emerge from this question:

11. What does this person want very badly?

12. Miss Duling dressed as plainly as a Pilgrim on a Thanksgiving poster we made in the schoolroom, in a longish black-and-white checked gingham dress, a bright thick wool sweater the red of a railroad lantern--she'd knitted it herself--black stockings and her narrow elegant feet in black hightop shoes with heels you could hear coming, rhythmical as a parade drum down the hall. Her silky black curly hair was drawn back out of curl, fastened by high combs, and knotted behind. She carried her spectacles on a gold chain hung around her neck. Her gaze was in general sweeping, then suddenly at the point of concentration upon you. With a swing of her bell that took her whole right arm and shoulder, she rang it, militant and impartial, from the head of the front steps of Davis School when it was time for us all to line up, girls on one side, boys on the other. We were to march past her into the school building, while the fourth-grader she nabbed played time on the piano, mostly to a tune we could have skipped to, but we didn't skip into Davis School. What does this person want very badly?

13. Sample: Diligent Definition: characterized by steady, earnest, and energetic application and effort Synonyms: persistent, industrious, assiduous Antonyms: lazy, laggard, slow, leisurely Example: Shown by how I always strive my hardest on my work and get it done without procrastination Origins: Originated from the good example my sister set by going all out on her work (and showing me how stressed out you can be when you procrastinate!) 5 Adjectives Write down five adjectives that describe your character Include the definition for each word Write down an antonym and synonym for each word on the list Include an example of each character trait from your own life Identify the origins, causes, or consequences of each trait

14. By Weldon Kees Robinson at cards at the Algonquin; a thin Blue light comes down once more outside the blinds.    Gray men in overcoats are ghosts blown past the door.    The taxis streak the avenues with yellow, orange, and red.    This is Grand Central, Mr. Robinson. Robinson on a roof above the Heights; the boats Mourn like the lost. Water is slate, far down. Through sounds of ice cubes dropped in glass, an osteopath,    Dressed for the links, describes an old Intourist tour.    —Here’s where old Gibbons jumped from, Robinson. Robinson walking in the Park, admiring the elephant.    Robinson buying the Tribune, Robinson buying the Times. Robinson Saying, “Hello. Yes, this is Robinson. Sunday At five? I’d love to. Pretty well. And you?” Robinson alone at Longchamps, staring at the wall. Robinson afraid, drunk, sobbing Robinson In bed with a Mrs. Morse. Robinson at home; Decisions: Toynbee or luminol? Where the sun Shines, Robinson in flowered trunks, eyes toward The breakers. Where the night ends, Robinson in East Side bars. Robinson in Glen plaid jacket, Scotch-grain shoes,    Black four-in-hand and oxford button-down, The jeweled and silent watch that winds itself, the brief- Case, covert topcoat, clothes for spring, all covering    His sad and usual heart, dry as a winter leaf. What does this person want very badly?

15. Aspects of Marks Marks driving on a Friday night. The music’s on. Friends are laughing. Everyone’s happy. We see other drivers. Some we know so we honk or wave. Others not. Red lights last eternity, waiting to go. Buildings reflect. Marks at the edge of the world. What does he do? Turn back? Jump off?---ease down. All kinds of people. A new environment. Interest. a new way of info. change. People watch the emerging rookie. Marks at night on Haight street. 3 friends. Marks talking, observing, wondering. Marks curious,Looking for something, yet unknown. “Can ya spare a quarter?” “Yeah.” Marks respecting. Marks at home. Sleeping. Watching, Reading and eating. Marks peaceful in state of mind. Marks ready to go. Start the car. Turn on the radio. Speed off into the city. Marks coming home at midnight tired. Marks in t-shirt and jeans. Adidas shoes. NY Yankees cap. Pro-fitted. Blue and red stripes, athletic shoes. Flannel in mind. Buttoned up. Old Navy, burgundy, black, Cold with no jacket. Happy with life. What does this person want very badly?

16. What does this person want very badly?

17. Examples Nervous Norman Mr. Elmo Norman, my elementary school principal, was the most nervous man I have ever met. He was a short, pudgy man, always over-dressed. In fact, he didn't just wear his clothes--he hid inside them. His uniform consisted of a neatly pressed pin-striped suit, a thin black tie over a starched white shirt, and a pair of brightly polished brown Oxfords. His receding gray hair was always neatly trimmed, and his fat, wrinkled head always darted about like a radar blip on his neck. He paced the school hallways in a perpetual motion of twitching, fidgeting, and twiddling. In the space of a minute, he would wrinkle his little nose, scratch his plump chin, shrug his shoulders, straighten his tie, and glance at his watch, never once looking directly at the person he was with. As he spoke in his lackadaisical drawl, he would glance at the ceiling, inspect his knuckles, and check the floorboards for dust. When the conversation was over, he would dash back into his office like a frightened bunny, probably praying that he could lock himself in there forever. And for all I know, he may still be hiding there in his office today. What does this person want very badly?

18. "My friend Judy Schoyer was a thin, messy, shy girl whose thick blond curls lapped over her glasses. Her cheeks, chin, nose, and blue eyes were round; the lenses and frames of her glasses were round, and so were her heavy curls. Her long spine was supple; her legs were long and thin so her knee socks fell down. She did not care if her knee socks fell down. When I first knew her, as my classmate at the Ellis School, she sometimes forgot to comb her hair. She was so shy she tended not to move her head, but only let her eyes rove about. If my mother addressed her, or a teacher, she held her long-legged posture lightly, alert, like a fawn ready to bolt but hoping its camouflage will work a little longer."(Annie Dillard, An American Childhood. Harper & Row, 1987) What does this person want very badly?