Per Hansa and Beret are the emotional center of Giants in the Earth, and nearly every student essay touches on one or both of them. The danger is that character essays become lists of traits, with students writing that Per Hansa is brave and Beret is fearful without ever explaining why those qualities matter. Feedback has to push students past description and toward an argument about what the characters represent.

The contrast between the two is the novel's engine, which is why comparison often produces the strongest essays. Per Hansa sees the prairie as open possibility, while Beret experiences the same landscape as an overwhelming emptiness that threatens her sense of self. Students who recognize that these are two honest responses to the same environment tend to write more nuanced papers than those who cast one as the hero and the other as the problem.

When you grade, watch for essays that judge the characters instead of analyzing them. A paper that calls Beret weak or Per Hansa selfish is offering an opinion, not an interpretation supported by text. A useful comment redirects the student by asking what evidence from the novel shows how each character is shaped by loss, ambition, or distance from home.

Common weaknesses in character essays

The most frequent weakness is the trait list, where each paragraph introduces a new adjective and a loosely related scene. A second is plot retelling, in which the student narrates the story of the settlers in order and mentions the characters along the way. A third is the flat reading, where Per Hansa is only a hero and Beret only a victim, ignoring the complexity Rølvaag builds into both.

• Replace trait lists with a single claim about what the character reveals
• Tie each quotation to a decision the character makes, not just a feeling
• Explain how setting shapes the character instead of treating it as backdrop
• Consider how other characters, like the neighbors, shift the reader's view
• Address how the character changes, or fails to change, by the end

Writing comments that teach

A comment such as "good point" feels nice but teaches nothing. A comment such as "you show that Per Hansa hides the bad news from Beret, but what does that silence do to their marriage?" opens the next paragraph of the essay. Aim for one question or directive per major paragraph, since too many margin notes can overwhelm a student who is already discouraged.

Praise should be as specific as critique. If a student connects Beret's trunk to her sense of home, say exactly what made that connection effective. Naming the move helps students repeat it in later essays.

Making feedback faster without losing quality

Character essays share enough patterns that you can build a set of reusable comment starters tied to the weaknesses above. You adapt each one to the paper in front of you, adding a specific scene or quotation from the student's own work. That approach keeps comments personal while cutting the time spent composing each one.

AI-assisted feedback can speed up this process further by drafting comments against your rubric, which you then review and edit. The goal is not to outsource your reading but to reduce the repetitive writing. Students still get feedback grounded in their own sentences.