Vietnam: What are the sample essays on analyzing the characteristics of a character in a literary work in the 7th-grade Literature curriculum? What are the assessment methods for 7th-grade Literature?

Character Co Tam

In the treasure trove of Vietnamese folklore, there are many beautiful fairy tales that leave profound and meaningful lessons. The story "Tam Cám" is one such work, with the character Co Tam representing the beauty of Vietnamese women—beautiful both in looks and virtues. Despite living in difficult circumstances, she maintains a kind and diligent character, which ultimately brings her happiness in the end.

Co Tam is portrayed as an orphaned girl living with her stepmother and stepsister. She endures hard and unfair labor. This situation is representative of the plight of stepchildren in fairy tales. However, Tam is characterized by her gentle, hardworking nature, embodying the goodness and beauty of the laboring people. Although gentle and industrious, she suffers unjust torment from her stepmother and stepsister Cam. While Tam works hard, Cam enjoys indulgence. Her basket of shrimp, caught through her own sweat and toil, is stolen by Cam, robbing Tam of the fruits of her labor. Even when the village festival takes place, Tam obediently follows her stepmother's orders without protest or escape. Yet, in her moment of despair, her kindness is rewarded as she receives help from Buddha. Even when Tam becomes an empress, she continues to be harmed repeatedly by her stepmother and Cam. Her royal status and wealthy life are insufficient to shield her from their schemes. Co Tam goes through many rebirths—transforming into an oriole, a soap tree, an embroidery frame, and a market gourd that becomes a person. She continually resists, transforms, and revives to fight for life and happiness.

Co Tam's image helps us understand the life of laborers in the old society. These people were voiceless and unfairly oppressed, unable to speak out for themselves. They therefore embedded their dreams and hopes for a better, happier life into the fairy tales, dreams of the ancient folk.

Character De Men

One of the renowned works for children is "Dế Mèn phiêu lưu kí" by writer To Hoai. In "Bai hoc duong doi dau tien," the main character, De Men, is vividly depicted by the author.

The writer creates De Men as a character in a fable. This character possesses not only animal traits but also human characteristics. Firstly, De Men is depicted through physical traits. A young cricket with vivid "gleaming" claws and "sharp claws at its feet and knees." Its body glimmers "with a glossy brown sheen, mirror-like and very pleasing to look at.” De Men’s head “grows larger and stands out boldly.” Its two teeth are jet black, “always gnashing like two sickle blades at work,” with antennae “long and curled very gallantly.” The author further describes this character’s actions. With its sharp claws, De Men "kicked energetically at grass blades," testing their lethal potential. Both form and action illustrate De Men’s strong and vigorous nature.

Beyond appearance, To Hoai endows De Men with typical character traits. He’s an impulsive, overbearing, and arrogant young man. De Men considers himself the best, daring to taunt everyone in the neighborhood: scolding Miss Cao Cao and teasing Mr. Gong Vo, or particularly his neighbor, De Choat. When Choat expresses a desire to have De Men dig a burrow into his home so that they could help each other when bullied, De Men disdainfully retorts, “Huh! An entrance to my home? Nice try! You smell like an owl, how could I stand it? Stop that incessant droning. A shallow burrow serves you right!”. Most notably, his antics lead to Choat’s tragic demise. De Men foolishly provoked Miss Coc, inciting her wrath. Consequently, the weaker De Choat fell victim, pecked to death by Miss Coc. Before dying, Choat offered sincere advice to De Men: “In life, if you are recklessly aggressive, you’ll eventually get yourself into trouble.” Choat’s words were like an awakening for De Men, teaching him a crucial life lesson.

The lesson was costly, but De Men's first life lesson was learned. Thus, writer To Hoai portrays De Men to convey profound life lessons.