Crafting a Character

I did my first character description activity in my memoir seminar today! Since memoirs are stories about our lives, they often include people with whom we are close. Capturing character essence requires tons of practice.

The Character Activity Prompt I did in class:

In one or two paragraphs, describe yourself through another person's eyes...

My attempt (written in the perspective of my little bother, Luke) :)

Ellie takes care of me. When we were little, we would play family. Ellie was always the mom, I was her son, and our sister Mary was her daughter. She dressed us, fed us snacks, and picked us up. Whenever I need help, Ellie is always there. She cares about me and our family. When she goes to the grocery store, Ellie always remembers to buy me a sourdough baguette (my favorite food). Ellie is very busy, though, so we don't get to play as much as we did when we were little. It seems like Ellie is always studying for a test. She works very hard at school. Whenever I am stuck on my math homework, I ask Ellie and she explains it to me.

Before Ellie got sick, soccer took over most of her life. When my parents took me to her games, sometimes in between Modern Family episodes on my iPad, it was fun to watch her play. She played center-mid and made a lot of assists. I remember hearing Ellie's voice a lot in the games because she constantly motivated her teammates or told them where to go on the field. Ellie is also a leader at school. She tells me about the fundraisers and school events she plans. I'm sure they work out because Ellie is extremely organized. She had a whole planning book for our family vacation to Turks and Caicos last summer! I'm sad Ellie is leaving for college next year, but I know she will always continue to take care of me and buy me bread at the store:)