66. Character Sketch:

Definition: An expository essay which incorporates description, dialogue, action, and illustration to underscore a dominant trait or a series of dominant traits in an individual.

Assignment: Write a two page, double spaced, descriptive character sketch in which you illustrate at least one dominant trait in an individual. Describe the physical attributes of the individual (incorporating 3 out of the 5 senses), develop dialogue that contributes to the character's dominant trait, provide at least one illustrative incident that develops the character's dominant trait.

Native Character Sketch Assignment:

YOUR NATIVE

Part of becoming native in your societal and natural community is the ability to recognize the signs in your life and in nature that guide you. As is always the case with signs, their effectiveness depends on the viewer’s ability to see the signs and follow their direction. Each person will see different signs in his lifetime and each person will read these signs differently according to his innate or native perspective.

In David James Duncan's The River Why, the narrator Gus defines native and native intelligence as:

A native is a man or creature or plant indigenous to

a limited geographical area-a space boundaried by mountains,

rivers, or coastline (not by latitudes, longitudes, or state and

county lines), with its own peculiar mixture of weeds, trees,

bugs, birds, flowers, streams, hills, rocks, and critters (including people),

its own nuances of rain, wind, and seasonal change.

Native intelligence develops through an unspoken or

soft-spoken relationship with these interwoven things:

it evolves as the native involves himself in his region.

A non-native awakes in the morning

in a body in a bed in a room in a building on a street in a county

in a state in a nation. A native awakes in the center of a little cosmos-

or a big one, if his intelligence is vast-and he wears this cosmos

like a robe, senses the barely perceptible shiftings, migrations,

moods, and machinations of its creatures, its growing green things,

its earth and sky. (Duncan 53-54)

He says that native intelligence is “developed through long intimacy with an intelligent native, or with your native world...” (Duncan 54) If a native is a person who is aware of and content with his place in the natural and human worlds, then who are your natives?

Create a character sketch in which you show how your native exhibits characteristics you would like to possess. Use an illustrative moment or moments in this person’s life to develop and comment upon this person’s native qualities and native intelligence. Include why you would like to possess the qualities native to this person and why you think possessing these qualities will help guide you on your own journey toward native intelligence.

Sample “Native Character Sketch”:

Jimmy: My Protector

Hands down, my brother knows me better than anyone. From the minute I was born to this day, he has always had the best grasp of what I am feeling, thinking, and wanting. Jimmy, as I lovingly call my brother who was born Theodore James, has always had insight into my mind that neither of my parents of any of my friends could ever dream of seeing. Standing at 6'3, his over dominating presence is scary to most. With his abnormally large head, course spiked hair, and bulky body, he can be seen as intimidating. But, despite my brother’s rather large stature, I feel as if he defies all presumptions about adolescent boys. Not only is he not scary or thick headed, he is intuitive and genuinely kind.

My brother’s intuitive nature first showed through when I was four. Our family was in the Chicago O'Hare airport trying to catch a plan to Palm Springs, California to see my grandmother. Because we were running late, I was haphazardly flung over my mother's shoulder, and Jimmy, who was eight at the time, was being violently tugged by my father's hand as we raced through the C concourse of the airport. With me bouncing up and down as my mother ran and Jimmy being flung all about by my father, we painted the perfect picture of just utter chaos. After what I am sure seemed like an eternity to my parents and Jimmy as well, we arrived at the gate. Once we got into our seats, me in the middle seat and my mother and brother on either side of me, one would think that the mayhem was over. But, it was then that Jimmy said, “Momma, baby girl gonna throw up.” My mother, just wanting to reassure my brother that nothing was wrong replied, “No no honey, baby Caroline is fine.” But Jimmy wouldn’t have it. From what my mother has told me, within the next 10 minutes Jimmy in essence chanted “Baby girl gonna throw up,” at such a rate that the flight attendant asked my mother to quiet him down. Within seconds after my mom yelled at Jimmy to be quiet, I did in fact throw up. It was then that my mother realized that Jimmy saw something that she couldn’t. He understands a part of me that to this day no one else can. I like to think of myself as a person who can hide their emotions quite well when trying. But, whether I am sad, angry, upset, or frustrated it is and always will be Jimmy who notices it first.

Whether it is from boys who, “just wanna break your heart” or from friends who are a bad influence, my brother has always tried to protect me from any harm that can come to me in the world. Although he wouldn’t openly admit it, my brother has always been very concerned with my well being. Although it can be annoying at times, I can honestly say that I almost feel invincible when he is around. It is as if his very presence puts a shield around me that makes it so nothing and no one can hurt me. My mother still remembers when I was born and Jimmy came to see me at the hospital. My mother said, “This is your baby sister. It’s your job to watch over her, and keep her safe."

The night that I came home from the hospital, my mom spent hours in my room rocking me back in forth into I fell asleep. Once I did, she went to her room right next door and fell asleep. In the middle of the night, my father awoke to hear a rustling in my nursery. When he got up, he saw Jimmy hunched over my crib watching me sleep. When he got closer he saw that Jimmy had put all of his Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles in my crib. One must keep in mind that these figurines were my brother’s pride and joy. Jimmy was convinced that they were what protected him from everything in the world. When my father asked Jimmy what he was doing my brother replied, “The Ninjas protect people. Now they can protect baby.” From then on, Jimmy made it his sole responsibility to protect me and make me feel safe.

I have always felt that whether he is walking into the room or running onto the hardwood of a gym floor to play basketball, you can feel my brother's presence before you ever see him. Misunderstood at times, my brother is the kind of person who has layers upon layers of personality. To some, he is “Big Bad Jimmy,” a tough guy who doesn’t let emotion touch him. To others he is an intelligent, young man whose wittiness is only surpassed by his cockiness. To some he is considered simple and one- sided. To me he is none of the above. To me, he is the guy who can make you laugh when you are down and the guy that can make a serious situation seem like nothing in less than a second. He is the guy who can read a situation and understand it completely before anyone else even knows what is going on. He has had more influence on me than any friend, teacher, family member, book or song ever could. Without him, I can honestly say that I don’t make sense.

-Commentary: Notice how the writer employs multiple moments to show us how her brother Jimmy protects her, “gets” her, and loves her. Jimmy’s dominant trait is kindness.