Place this character in a situation showing the character's private persona (the real character when no one is watching). As literary enthusiasts...

I hope this helps generate some ideas for your
assignment. This is what I would write, based on "How to Write a Character
Analysis."

The character is Jane (after Jane Austen).
Ethically, she has a well-defined sense of values. She is honest.
She works hard to show her value, but beneath the surface, she knows she isn't perfect;
she has a hard time admitting defeat, and is very critical of herself, in
private.

Wisdom: Jane's world is her
classroom. She tries to learn from her mistakes and those of others. Jane knows
appearances can be deceiving, but in her heart she sometimes repeats the same blunders
in her faulty "reading" of others—because she wishes the world
could be a kinder place. She acts cavalier, but is secretly very cautious, has trust
issues, and fears being
alone.

Motivation: outwardly, Jane is
motivated by completing a task that is as perfect as possible. Privately, she believes
she can only prove her worth to others by working extra hard. She is too tough on
herself—even driven. She will work with passion on a project, but when it is finished,
she must find another—secretly trying to be "good
enough."

Behavior: Jane affects others
in a positive way. She is a good friend. People find her to be a good listener. Even
when things look bleak, Jane has a way of finding "the silver lining." Under her
positive facade, she worries that she may never be happy when so
many others have so much unhappiness in their lives. When she is overwhelmed, she will
make up excuses to stay home alone so no one knows how worried she
is.

Words that describe Jane are:
friendly, unrealistic, insecure, caring, outwardly optimistic, fearful, disorganized,
inscrutable, and "cluttered."

Items
associated with Jane are: #2 pencils, books, a cat, plants, a Mac laptop, photos in her
pocket calendar, a non-descript backpack, articles torn from the newspaper tucked in a
journal she is forever writing quotes or website addresses in, a bottle of aspirin, and
anti-depressants her friends don't know about.

Reading
between the lines with Jane—beneath her friendly, disorganized exterior, there is a
little girl who never imagined how cold and hard life could be. She has some trust
issues, but is trying to have more faith in others. Jane is an expert in disguising her
problems.

Jane is a round character; life has changed her,
and continues to do so; she does not have a lot of self-confidence, but has more
strength than she realizes. She feels she isn't very brave, but is working on
it.

Jane lives in a modern time-period. For me, I feel I
can make Jane more honest based on what I
know.

The "author" thinks Jane has potential. She is not
perfect and may get stuck on the details in life, but she is a decent person who wants
to get along with others, and find a way to be happy. She may be conflicted between her
hopes and the imperfections of the world. She doesn't have enough self-confidence. Jane
represents the traits that many people have (and hide).

One
of the things I have found in writing this is that it is hard to make characters
interesting and three-dimensional. This is not something that can be done in an hour,
but it must be read and reread to provide a continuous thread regarding the many aspects
of your character. Diversity and realism are important I think, and
a decided lack of perfection—perfect people are not nearly as interesting as those who
are flawed. Logically, there should be a visible characteristic and an opposite
"shortcoming."