TACHS: Character motivation: explain the choice and the plan it replaced
Learn to explain why a character makes a choice by linking the goal, the problem and the detail the character notices, and use the same close reading for detail, inference and ending questions on a story.
How do you explain why a character does one thing instead of another?
Short answer
Name what the character wants, what makes the easy plan a problem, and the detail that changes the plan. The right answer explains the new choice as the fix for that problem.
Know first: Following the events of a short story, Telling what a character wants from what a character does
Step 1 of 5
A motive explains why the easy plan was dropped
A character's motivation is the reason behind a choice. Stories rarely say it outright. They show what the character wants, what gets in the way, and what the character notices just before deciding.
A TACHS question often asks why a character does one thing instead of another. The right answer covers both halves: why the new choice works and why the easier plan didn't.
| Question type | What it asks | Where to look |
|---|---|---|
| Detail | What caused a sound, a mark, a delay? | The sentence that names it, often near the end |
| Inference from an action | What does a final gesture suggest? | What the character sees right before acting |
| Word in context | What does a word mean here? | The words around it, not the most common meaning |
| Ending | How does the ending change an earlier worry? | The early worry and the line that answers it |
The goal-problem-fix reading you do for a motive question also answers these.
Step 2 of 5
Trace the choice back to what the character noticed
At the market
Kofi had saved for six weeks to buy a soccer ball1 at the Saturday market. At the stall, he found his little sister staring at a box of paints2. She had been sick all week and had missed her class trip3 to the museum. Kofi set the soccer ball back on the shelf and paid for the paints4.
- Goal: the ball. Six weeks of saving shows he can afford it.
- Notice: what he sees changes his plan.
- Problem: his sister has had a hard week.
- Fix: the choice that answers what he noticed.
Worked example: Why the paints instead of the ball?
Why does Kofi buy the paints instead of the soccer ball?
- AHe decides he likes painting more than soccer.
- BHe wants to cheer up his sister after her hard week.
- CThe soccer ball costs more than he has saved.
- DHis sister asks him to buy the paints for her.
- 1
Goal
Kofi came to buy a soccer ball.
- 2
Notice and problem
He sees his sister staring at the paints, and the story reminds you she was sick and missed her trip.
- 3
Fix
He gives up the ball to buy her the paints. The choice is about her week.
- 4
See why the other choices are there
A turns his choice into a new hobby the story never mentions. C is tempting because money is involved, but he saved for six weeks to buy the ball. D adds a request she never makes.
Answer
He wants to cheer up his sister after her hard week.
Wrong: He buys the paints because he went to the market to shop.
Right: He buys the paints because he sees his sister, after a hard week, staring at them.
The first answer states only the goal of the trip. A motive answer has to explain why the plan changed.
Step 3 of 5
Explain the choice yourself
Read this excerpt
Lena was supposed to walk the neighbor's dog, Biscuit, at four. At half past three, thunder rolled, and Biscuit hid under the porch, shaking. Lena could have clipped on the leash and pulled him out. Instead she sat on the steps and read her book aloud in a calm voice until the storm passed. When the rain stopped, Biscuit crept out and leaned against her knee, leaving muddy prints on her jeans. Mrs. Ortiz came home, saw the prints, and laughed. “He only does that with people he trusts.”
Check yourself · Question 1
Why does Lena read aloud on the steps instead of pulling Biscuit out?
Answer: A
Goal: walk Biscuit. Problem: the thunder has him shaking under the porch. Fix: a calm voice until the storm passes, which works when he creeps out and leans on her.
Trap answer: She is frightened of the thunder herself.
Right scene, wrong character
- Why it looks right
- Thunder is the big event, and people do get nervous in storms.
- Why it's wrong
- The fear in the story belongs to Biscuit. Lena's calm voice is aimed at him.
- The right answer
- She wants to calm the scared dog until he is ready to come out.
Check yourself · Question 2
How does the ending change the meaning of the muddy prints on Lena's jeans?
Answer: D
Muddy jeans could look like a small disaster. Mrs. Ortiz laughs and says Biscuit leans only on people he trusts, so the prints turn out to be a good sign.
Common mistake
I answered with what the character wanted all along.
- Why it's tempting
- The goal is true, and it's easy to spot, so it feels like a safe answer.
- Do this instead
- Ask what changed. Find the detail the character noticed, and pick the choice that explains the new plan as a fix.
Step 4 of 5
What to remember
Remember
- Name the goal, the problem, and the detail the character notices before deciding.
- The right motive explains the new choice and why the easier plan was dropped.
- Cross out motives, requests or feelings that the story never shows, or that belong to another character.
Step 5 of 5
Practice on a real question
Use what you just learned on this question, then check the explanation.
In your own words
In the practice question, what did the character notice that changed the plan, and how did the final choice solve that problem?