A Tragic Hero: Who Is It?

It is hard to give a clear definition of this type of hero. Still, the first thing that comes to mind is that it is a person who has tackled some difficult or even severe circumstances at a high cost, suffered from that, maybe, saved somebody, or made a tragic mistake. These actions may lead or not to good outcomes for others.

Heroic events always attracted attention. Such events are usually remarkable and deeply touching. Frequently, they are also associated with great outcomes and losses of suffered persons. Let’s see how to write about their stories to gain a good writing outcome.

Circumstances may be different:

  • unpredictable;
  • out of a person’s control, like war or natural disasters;
  • social events;
  • other tough life circumstances.

History knows a lot about tragic heroes. So, if you want to write such a story, simply remember a historical event that had touched you in some way and look for remarkable characters there. If you want to write something modern, you can refer to a daily life or cases you saw or heard about personally. Focus your attention on the main person of this event. How to determine him/her? In this case, we have useful suggestions for you.

What Characteristics a Tragic Hero Can Have?

The easiest way to determine a tragic hero is to pay attention to one’s characteristics. These may be the next ones:

  • an imperfect person – he/she has obvious deficiencies of character or behavior;
  • suffers a lot, even more than necessary;
  • can have a high status in society but experience a great turn in one’s destiny and fall;
  • the person’s downfall is obvious – there is no room for positive outcomes at all;
  • a person has suffered from a bureaucratic system or experienced extreme pressure from it;
  • a person is harmed physically and/or emotionally;
  • a person is unable to control fate.

A tragic hero often has to take some important or crucial decisions, learn how to take control of his/her life. Sometimes this may lead to a wrong judgment or decisions that determine the negative outcome for him/her.

If you notice such characteristics, you should not have any doubts about this hero – it is tragic. In case of a couple of ideas about writing, we suggest you this advice for making your final choice about a topic.

Advice on How to Choose Your Tragic Hero

Let’s say you have a couple of suggestions on whom to write about. How to choose them correctly? In any case, you should write about a hero whose story moves you deeply. Perhaps, you have experienced the same or similar situation. That can be a perfect case for writing because you will be able to share your sincere emotions about the same circumstances.

Another aspect you need to consider is a life lesson your hero has or should learn. Your story should be not only interesting for yourself but also to move your future readers also. It should be realistic and bring some valuable information for consideration and even decision-making.

These two things should determine your choice of a hero. Here is how you may make your writing a number of times easier and with good results of the review. Take time to make a final decision. This is important for ensuring effective writing.

How to Write about a Tragic Hero

Writing about this type of hero is not complex. Still, it has specifics emphasizing the life circumstances your hero has faced with. You should also describe the relevant circumstances and many other important things. Let’s find out how to do this right.

Types of Essay You May Draft

For describing the story of a tragic hero, you may choose one of the next types of essays:

  1. Character analysis paper. This text will be focused on the main characteristics of a tragic hero. To some extent, it should be your personal assessment of events experienced by this hero and traits expressed in the context. Define and list them.
  2. Compare and contrast paper. In this essay, you review and compare two heroes. You should focus not only on the similarities and differences they have. Provide your comparative overview of these heroes and their situations. Think about what useful information your readers may get after reading your comparative essay.
  3. Persuasive essay. For this essay, you need to persuade readers that your hero is really tragic. Describe his/her tragic life circumstances, traits of character he/she had expressed. If you need to persuade the reader in something, this means your character is controversial at some point. Develop the mainline of a story – its main thesis statement based on your personal attitude towards the hero. All next arguments should support and expand the main thesis statement effectively. Orient yourself to your target audience here.

Brainstorming and Preparatory Work

Before starting your writing, develop your plot for a story. It should be precise and contain main ideas that will appear in your story. For this purpose, you need research well on your topic:

  • find out the main background your hero had;
  • identify events that determined his/her character;
  • clarify preconditions and life circumstances that lead to a tragedy;
  • describe the person’s character and behavior in these life circumstances;
  • identify the outcome of a tragic situation.

When you have these ideas, you can form the main idea of your story. It is better to ensure it is more than a simple description of some severe circumstances but also useful info for consideration.

After forming your view, develop ideas you want to include in your story. Start from the main one – this will be your main thesis statement. Afterward, develop supplementary ideas that support the principal one. First of them should be devoted to a background and a tough situation your hero had faced with—the next ones you may devote to your own considerations and interpretation of the outcomes.

To make writing easier like essay writer, you may also list such ideas on a separate paper. Form a table or a chart from them to make this scheme visually good looking. If some good ideas come to your mind, you can always amend this scheme to make it better.

Writing Tips

Start your writing only after forming a more or less clear overview of the content that your story should have. Here are some good suggestions about that:

  1. Plan your work ahead, especially if you have a deadline. Decide how much time you can devote to each part of your work – to brainstorming, outlining, writing, and editing. Make sure your expectations are realistic at this point.
  2. Outline your future text. For this purpose, use the tips mentioned above. We suggest you not omit this stage as this can have a negative impact on your work. Your text can be less clear. For some essays like persuasive, clarity is crucial.
  3. Writing and editing. When you have collected all your thoughts, make a short break, and start writing. Make your first draft at one sitting and ignoring some formatting requirements. Your task here is to get good content, express all emotions and considerations you have. You will edit this draft later. Still, you should always keep the plan of a future essay nearby.

Online editing tools will help you correct all mistakes and make formulations better. Check your grammar and punctuation also. If you have such an opportunity, suggest somebody review a text, especially if this is a persuasive essay.

Final Words about Making Your Story

Always choose a story that moves you personally. Sharing sincere emotions is the closest way to the hearts of your readers. Plan your work ahead, draft your outline, and a text that is based on it. Edit this work a couple of times and ensure it is prepared in a living language. And enjoy your writing paper help.