Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Day 28

English 101 Day 28



1. H/W: Read Chapter 22.

2. Study guide due tomorrow beginning of period.

3. Bonus points—Poetry reading next Wednesday from 7-8 un Writing Center.

4. Blog comments due next Tuesday. Copy and paste into word. Make sure your name is on them. Only your comments. Count them up/number them.

5. Remember: More drafts, writing center, work harder, see me.

6. Complete peer review. Don’t cheat yourself here. Help the writers as much as you can with where you don’t see the CHARACTERS and SETTING. With where they can make the IDEA clearer. With where they can add DIALOGUE.

7. Rubric scoring for the narrative essay.

8. Who would like to have their essay critiqued by the class tomorrow?

9. Help with dialogue.

10. Let’s meet in the lab tomorrow. After we grade an essay, you can work on your own essay.

Tips on Dialogue (probably for 1255 class only today. 1030 class will cover this on Friday)

In two's: I'm sorry but…

1. The first writer pulls out a piece of paper and begins their dialogue with the words "I'm sorry, but…". They complete the sentence and pass the journal to their partner.

2. The partner, after reading the sentence, writes a line (or paragraph) of dialogue which heightens the tension.

3. Keep passing the journal back and forth, trying to throw curve balls at one another without delving into the absurd.

4. Try not to rely on dialogue tags to reveal how the character is speaking.

5. In fact, don't use dialogue tags at all. Rely on your word choice and punctuation.

Movies with great dialogue: Tarantino, Juno, Linklater, Kevin Smith, Coen Brothers, David Mamet, Casablanca, China Town, Aaron Sorkin, The Wire (David Simon), Deadwood, Sopranos.

Listen to how people talk to each other

• Most of it is the weather.

• He's like a bull in a china shop…

• Eating out. Bars. Waiting rooms. Cell phone jerks. At the checkout.

More notes on dialogue:

Dialogue is not real speech, but it should sound like it.

• Cut words and phrases that don't move things along

Don't use dialogue to provide exposition—keep it to three sentences or less

Break it up with action—remind us they are physical

Vary signal phrases, but keep it simple. Don't use elaborate signal phrases (she expostulated, he interjected)

Avoid stereotypes in dialect, but…

• Huck Finn

• To Kill a Mockingbird

Don't over use slang/profanity. "Slang goes sour in a short time." --EH

Read a lot. Note good/bad

Punctuate correctly

Start a new paragraph when changing speakers.

7 comments:

Eva Chavez said...

About chapter 20, i think that Casy had a big heart when he declared him self guilty for the Tom's fight with the deputy, i think he was brave because not anybody could do that.

Bug79 said...

I agree. Casy has a big heart and he is a great friend to Tom. I believe casy did this so he could learn more of what he did not know.

Anna Diaz said...

The reading is getting easier and the characters are coming out more in each chapter. More feelings are being let out.

Unknown said...

I think Casy have a big heart and his own way.

JIH said...

I agree the characters are coming out more, and I find myself wanting to read! It is a good book.

Katie said...

I liked doing the study guide, did that take the place of our second quiz? The dialogue examples are nice, especially when the dialogue in my essay is so terrible, but I know now what to do.

AMH6871 said...

I really liked Casy and it was nice to see him do a good thing for the Joad family but its hard to see him leave.