“The Voluptuary”                  [See "The Voluptuary" Portrait]

Character Sketch Assignment

After studying and discussing “The Voluptuary” by Gillray, imagine that you actually have an opportunity to meet the Prince of Wales yourself.  Decide for yourself now:  How will you portray the Prince?  Is he as irresponsible and disgusting as Gillray portrays him?  Or has Gillray over-exaggerated and misrepresented the Prince?  Is he really a nice, thoughtful leader?  Is he purposefully bad or just a sad man?  Is he someone who has just made a few mistakes, but is trying to make up for them? 

(Keep in mind that the picture is an exaggeration, NOT a total lie, so you can’t make the Prince look like a handsome Prince Charming; however, perhaps he isn’t as ugly, disgusting, and lazy as he appears in Gillray’s drawing.)

 

YOUR OFFICIAL ASSIGNMENT:

Imagine you’re a writer who has accepted an invitation to meet and eat dinner with the Prince of Wales at his mansion.  Imagine all the details of meeting this man and having a meal with him.

When you return home, you decide to sit down and write about the Prince.  In your writing, describe the moment of your meeting, how the Prince looks and acts, the meal you have together and the room you eat it in, and how your time with the Prince concludes.  Be sure to convey to your readers how you want to portray the Prince.  Is he as bad as Gillray says or not?

 

REQUIREMENTS:  (Check them off to make sure you’ve done them.)

For this assignment, you do not need to tell me what decisions you make ahead of time.  Your writing should work to convey all the decisions you’ve made (about POV, how you’re going to portray the Prince, etc.) clearly so you don’t need to tell me. 

 

DECIDE if you are going to write about your experience eating dinner with the Prince in 1st person

 

(meaning you tell the story as yourself and use “I/me”) or if you want to write about that experience in 3rd person (make yourself a character, but talk about yourself “he/she”).

 

 

Make sure you tell the full story of your dinner with the Prince, from the moment of meeting until

 

you left.  This will take several paragraphs, so make sure you break into new paragraphs as appropriate, especially when you’re switching speakers in dialogue.

 

 

YOU MUST INCLUDE these FOUR CHARACTER SKETCH ELEMENTS:

 

ü     Physical description of the Prince including his face, his body, his clothing. Make sure to

 

provide a variety of imagery (sight, smell, taste, touch/feeling, sound) SHOW with vivid adjectives, other vivid language, and figurative language—use similes, hyperbole (over-exaggeration), onomatopoeia, metaphor, etc.

 

ü     Description of the Prince’s actions (How does he eat?  How does he greet you?  How does

 

he sit, walk, etc.?) (SHOW with vivid language)

 

ü     Dialogue between the Prince and your character  (Develop each character’s voice;  are you

 

and the Prince going to talk exactly the same way?  Probably not.)  You must include AT LEAST 4 lines of dialogue in correct story form.

 

ü     Description of the Prince’s mansion particularly the dining room and the table setting; you

 

might also want to include the front of the mansion, the hallways and entry way, etc. (setting) (SHOW with vivid language)

 

 
     

REQUIREMENTS continued:  (Check them off to make sure you’ve done them.)

 

ALSO INCLUDE 1 OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING CHARACTER SKETCH ELEMENTS:

 

š     Descriptions of the Prince’s emotional/mental state (SHOW more than TELL)

 

š     Descriptions of the Prince’s personality (SHOW more than TELL)

 

š     Other characters describing or giving information about the Prince (e.g., servant(s))

 

š     The Prince’s internal monologue moments (you can only do this if you choose to write your sketch in 3rd person point of view)

 

 

 

Make sure you have described the Prince’s physical appearance, actions, and surroundings in a way

 

that will convey a particular portrayal.  Keep in mind:  How do you want your AUDIENCE to react to the Prince?  (like him, hate him, pity him, etc.)

 

 

Create a title for your piece.  Be more creative than just titling your work “The Voluptuary.”

 

 

 

PROOFREAD & EDIT your work by reading it aloud slowly (or having someone else read it aloud

 

to you).  Don’t become a MUG shot!  (Computer program spellcheckers are nice, but they aren’t always right, so you should read (aloud) through your work even AFTER you’ve spellchecked.)

 

 

 

LENGTH:  It is recommended that you write 2 pages (one side) hand written OR 1.5 pages double

 

spaced, typed, with 1” margins and 12 pt. Times/Arial font.  (Typing = extra credit).

This assignment is worth 75 points (writing grade).

DUE: TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9

(no lates!!!)