Below is a link to Philip Lopate’s essay “Turning Oneself into a Character.” After you read it, respond to the questions below in the Comments section.
Writing Personal Essays – Turning Oneself into a Character
- After reading this essay, what do you think is one of the most crucial steps in creating a compelling narrator/character in a personal essay?
- Name one character–from a book, movie, TV show, etc.–that you particularly like, then assess and what about this character is so appealing to you.
1. After reading Lopate’s essay, I think the most important steps in creating a compelling character in a personal essay is the use of “I” and the tactic of having a conflict. The reason I think these two are important is because, as a reader myself, I notice that I tend to be more interested when someone is speaking about their personal experiences, especially a conflict that one had to decide between. It keeps the audience engaged and wanting to know what the main character, the “I” in the story, has decided to do in their conflict, internal or external.
2. One character that I am a fan of is Harvey Spector from the TV series “Suits.” I am a big fan of his because, as stated earlier in the way that one can compel the audience, he is all about the “I.” Many say that he has a big ego, but that’s what makes people love him. Additionally, also as I said before, he has a lot of decisions he has to make. His everyday life is a conflict: should he take the law suit? Should he settle/sue/…? I dont want to stop the show until I know what he decides. The audience watches his everyday life with his ego, conflicts, and gets amused by him.
1) One crucial step to a personal essay would be to express it in the first person. The letter that helps the audience know that you are the character is the letter “I”. Lopate says that “…the writer needs to build herself into a character.” Even though the letter “I” don’t give us a clear picture of the character but it’s one way to build up a character in a first-person essay/story.
2) There is a movie called “Forest Gump” because the main character is Forest Gump and he tells strangers his life stories. He tells them about his struggles, how he found love, how he joined the war, and other things that Forest accomplished throughout his life. But the important thing about this movie is that he told it through his perspective and only his.
-After reading the essay it seems that having conflict is what drives a compelling narrative. It helps build your character to the reader so that they better understand you. I feel that conflict drives great stories and that it should be no different in a personal essay since it is a story we are trying or tell the reader. Conflict grabs my attention the same way it does to people who watch action movies.
-Tony Soprano from the hit HBO show The Sopranos was an odd character as a young child. He was a job boss in New Jersey with a thick Jersey accent. He’s a powerfulguy who gets arrested and has marital problems. It’s the two side to him. The family man and the mob boss that gets me to watch the show. He has common people problems but also gets mad at Paulie for messing something up.
1. Reading Lopate’s essay, I believe the most important steps in making a compelling character in a essay is when using I and conflict, one must build the blocks for quirks (and maximizing such quirks) and to select good topics for internal and external conflict(s). As Lopate would like me to say, these help to create characters that aren’t flat and dull. It helps make them the characters much more relatable and not feel robotic.
2. I am a fan of Stefan Butler from the interactive film Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. The fact that he also happens to suffer from a mental disturbance makes me like him. I also share his frustrations regarding overseers and all. And just like me, he is also a loner. And I’m a programmer (albeit a very amateur one), just like him! It’s as if Netflix thought of people like me!
1. The most crucial step in creating a compelling character is including amusement and the inclusion of quirks. The issue is not that we do not have a story to tell that is interesting enough, instead having a method of connecting with the reader in a way that’s keeps them interested in wanting to read the text you made as if they are living through the real eyes of the character. The amusement would allow a emotional connection as this feeling would be responsible for helping writing a Personal Essay on any topic.
2. Leonardo Di Caprio’s role in the movie Blood Diamond, which sets upon Somalia which recounts real events is a diamond smuggler during a time of civil conflict in the country. In this movie he goes on to have love, war and life problems as if it can associated to us, the viewers in some way. He initially tries to use a African father to look for a rare diamond he had found, however the father wanted to find his son in which had been captured as a child soldier by the rebels. His character developed from wanting to milk him for the diamond he had seen to sacrificing himself at the end so that the father and the found boy can escape out of the war and go on to tell his story about the brutality of Blood Diamonds. This movie was so compelling to me as even the worst of us still have some good left in being able to help others for what is right.
1) The most crucial step in creating a compelling character is conflict the twist in the story that starts the roller coaster of excitement that gets readers interested in what happens with the character and their life. Without conflict I see no real reason to get interested in a story you can’t be a character without struggles. In a personal essay conflict is what will make a reader stick around till the end of the essay with hope of a satisfying conclusion to said conflict.
2) Steven Universe is a someone I like a lot as a person as a character he demonstrates the conflict and how it can drive a story. Steven deals with the insecurities of himself and others helping however he can trying to be as positive as he can be. His determination to continue helping others and being the bigger person at times of conflict is what makes his character and story awesome.
1. From reading Lopate’s essay, the most crucial steps for becoming a compelling narrator is the use of “I” to portray your experiences and to include conflict inside of those experiences. With the use of “I” you get to show that you’re engaged in a situation that you’ve probably took something away from to further your real life personal progression. Conflict for a personal narrative is probably the most driving aspect that will help a person get across whatever point they’re making. When the conflict is eventually resolved clarity will come to the audience to help them see your point.
2. In the Netflix series, “You”, Joe is the main character who is quite literally crazily in love with a girl named Beck. The most appealing part of Joe’s character that I enjoy is the fact that he explains his thought process every single step of the way in the series. Even though Joe’s thoughts can get very extreme, I feel as if every viewer can relate because people can find his thought process similar to theirs.
1. While there are plenty of crucial steps in writing a compelling character for a personal essay, I think one of the most crucial steps is to acquire some distance from yourself as a person to a certain extent. Like Lopate explains, a good piece of writing can’t be built on focusing on your flaws or justifying yourself. You need enough space to evaluate yourself as a person; your quirks, habits, genuine traits etc, in order to build a specific, credible character with meaning that the audience could understand and relate with instead of boring them.
2. Spencer Reid from Criminal Minds is a character that really peaked my interest. He’s a highly intelligent, young FBI agent working for a unit that asses the behaviors of criminals. I think I liked how specific his character was. His storyline was based off of his trait of eidetic memory, something that is noted and heavily used to solve problems during the duration of the show. It was an unforgettable detail, something that people would remember about the series. He also has a reoccurring conflict of possibly receiving Alzheimer’s or schizophrenia given his very ill mom, which could possibly end his career, thus giving him substance as a character in a show with a big cast.
1. After reading this essay, I believe the most important part in creating a compelling character in a story is to make sure that they are well explained and have background information on them somewhere in the essay, whether it be before or after introducing them into the story. On page 41, Lopate’s states, “In one essay you may decide to make a big thing of your religions training and very little of your family background; in another, just the opposite; but in each new essay, it would be a good idea to tell the reader both simply because this sort of information will help to build you into a character.”
2. In the television show “The Office,” I like the character Creed, mainly because unlike all the other characters, there is not much information given about him or where he comes from. He is by far the most mysterious character in the show, and while the essay written by Lopate states that one must give characters a background, the producers of the show did the exact opposite with Creed in The Office, which is something that I found interesting.
-After reading this essay written by lopate I believe the most crucial step in creating a compelling character is to be able to dramatize ourselves. If anyone has ever read a good book or comics the characters almost always go into much deeper thoughts and put so much more meaning into their ideas. This is always portrayed in drama tv shows as many people who have watched them can easily say many pleasing episodes are usually made out of a small issue through dramatization. I truly believe what makes a character so interesting is being able to hear their thoughts, seeing the world as they see it and being able to understand their choices. Sure, its extra writing, but it allows you to really learn from the character and understand them, making the read or show such a good one.
-One of my most favorite characters of all time is the superhero Batman. What I particularly like about this character is no matter how bad things get he always makes the morally right decisions. What I find so appealing about him is the way he lives his life. His parents left him with billions of dollars and the biggest company in America. No one could ever match his wealth and industrial power. With all this wealth one would think he would easily choose to live the high life as many with this level of money choose to. However, instead of being a party boy he chooses to get injured and usually brutally beaten every night just so others don’t have to. He has everything from the most luxurious mansions to the most exotic super cars, so he always has a choice in his lifestyle but, he still chooses to endure pain and be a hero just to give others an opportunity in the world.
1. I think the most crucial step in creating a compelling character or narrator in a personal essay is taking a step back and analyzing patterns and personality traits. Lopate explains how to do this you must describe yourself and embrace your flaws as well as your quirks. By quirks he specifically means, “things that set you apart”, meaning thinking about the traits that are unique and unpredictable. (39) These unpredictable traits are what make characters appealing to the reader, and become essential to developing a successful character once a conflict and plot comes into play.
2. Chandler Bing from the tv show “Friends” is my favorite character. His character resonates with me because he uses humor and sarcasm as a coping mechanism for his depression and loneliness. He would always know how to cheer up his friends and make a bad situation light hearted by making a sarcastic comment. I like his character because he is relatable, and I see myself in him.
1. After reading Lopate’s essay, one of the most crucial steps in creating a compelling character is to recognize our quirks and use them to analyze how it effects us. We may think that we are nothing special and believe ” I am so boring, nothing ever happen to me out of the ordinary, so who would want to read about me?” without recognizing that what we think of as boring is peculiar to someone else (Lopate 40). Analyzing your peculiarities leads you to expressing your opinions and the flaws within them, which further develops the “I” character.
2. In the series “The Office” one of my favorite characters is Dwight Schrute. He’s a very weird character who makes rational and sometimes violent decisions that are humorous without him knowing. His peculiarity makes him one the shows most loved characters because it is so unexpected. But as we continue to watch the series we get to relate to him emotionally.
1. Although Lopate claims that the usage of “I” doesn’t give us a clear idea of who is speaking, I think I have to disagree because the fact of who is speaking is most often times specified early into the piece of writing, or later on. I think the use of “I” is something that makes a piece of writing more personal and therefore can appeal to a reader more because it is as if you are talking to a friend and they are telling you about an experience they had. I think using the first person form of speech can be an effective way to express first – hand feelings or experiences in a piece of writing.
2. One character that I really enjoy is Cristina from Grey’s Anatomy. I like her because she is one of the best intern doctors on the show and although she can seem like a know-it-all sometimes, she is a great role model for simply displaying to be an independent woman who won’t take no for an answer.
1. After reading the essay, I think one of the most crucial steps in creating a compelling personal essay are making sure you are able to look at yourself from the outside, in order to view your actions from another perspective while making sure you aren’t underrating yourself. In the essay the author said you should “look at yourself from the ceiling” which is important, because if you write an essay about yourself fully engaged in only your views and thoughts, it probably won’t be that interesting. However, while tweaking somethings about yourself from this outside perspective, you want to make sure that you aren’t pulling out important characteristics.
2. I like Monse from a Netflix series named on my block, because she is very reasonable and caring. There are times when she can be dramatic, but in reality everyone has their moments so its okay.
In general, the most important aspect to being able to turn yourself into a character is the ability to examine yourself objectively in all aspects of your personality or in other words “Acquire some distance from yourself” What this allows a person for is the ability to notice their own character flaws, quirks, and traits that we otherwise don’t because of the mental walls we subconsciously put up to block them out. We, as people don’t want to see the negative sides of our personalities but they exist and if you want to create a good character they need to be taken into account.
One of my favorite characters from all of cinema would have to be M. Gustave played by Ralph Fiennes from “the grand budapest hotel”, mainly because of the type of character he is. I tend to enjoy characters that I would call quirky and eccentric.