COLLABORATE TO WRITE DIALOGUE MODIFIED FROM COLLABORATE TO
COLLABORATE TO WRITE DIALOGUE MODIFIED FROM “COLLABORATE TO WRITE DIALOGUE - NATIONAL WRITING PROJECT” BY JANIS CRAMER
OBJECTIVES • Work collaboratively • Write a skit of a brief encounter of two characters in which you will: • Develop two characters • Use dialogue to help further develop characters within a story • Interweave dialogue and description within narrative writing • Transfer skit idea into a one to two paragraph narrative
UNDERSTANDING THE LESSON • Over the next couple of days, students will be working on character development and dialogue usage. • • • You will be assigned a partner Each pair will be given two characters Character clusters will be completed for both characters Conflict must be determined Complete story plot Based on character cluster and conflict, dialogue for each character will be transcribed. Add revealing detail Add dialogue tags Check word choice Revise Edit Publish
ASSIGNING PARTNERS • Partners will be assigned by random draws of popsicle sticks • Partners must work together to complete this task. • Collaborative work means working together to complete the task. It is not a one sided learning experience. In other words, one person should not be responsible for all of the work. Be the kind of partner you would like to have. • You may want to assign tasks • Who will keep your group on task? • Who is responsible for typing the final draft?
EACH PAIR WILL BE GIVEN TWO CHARACTERS • Each pair will be given two characters to develop. You will develop one character and your partner develops the other. • A character cluster must be completed for each character. • The focus is for the characters to have a brief interaction and the interaction must include the following elements of a narrative: characters, plot, conflict, resolution, dialogue.
CHARACTER CLUSTER • Working in pairs, each student will make a character cluster describing his character’s appearance, personality traits, and mannerisms. The more description you come up with, the more developed your character will be. Make the character an individual. Stay clear of stereotypical descriptions. This should take between 15 and 20 minutes, maybe even longer. Always late Tall Brown hair appearance Shy Characte r Character Calvin mannerism Creative personality traits pops his gum
DETERMINE CONFLICT • Now that you have developed your characters, brainstorm possible conflicts for your story. Conflicts can be internal or external and you may have one more than one. However, there must be a main conflict that drives the story. You must come up with at least 3 different conflicts. • Choose a conflict you can write into your story. • Remember with all stories, you must include a resolution. • Complete a story plot line.
STORY PLOT LINE
DAY 2 – WE WILL WORK ON THE FOLLOWING: • Based on character cluster and conflict, dialogue for each character will be transcribed. • Add revealing detail • Add dialogue tags • Check word choice • Revise • Edit • Publish
MATERIALS NEEDED • Each group will receive an envelope, which contains the following: • 6 blue paper strips to be used for the first character’s dialogue • 6 green paper strips to be used for the second character’s dialogue • 3 pink paper strips for the first character’s development • 3 white paper strips for the second character’s development • Character 1 needs 6 blue strips and 3 pink slips • Character 2 needs 6 green strips and 3 white strips
BEFORE YOU BEGIN WRITING DIALOGUE • Before you begin writing dialogue, do the following: • Reread both the character cluster and plot line graphic organizers. • This is the time to determine if you have an original story. Are the ideas your own or have you simply retold someone else’s story? If your story is unoriginal, you need to make changes. • Discuss possible additions and changes. • Make changes as needed.
ADDING DIALOGUE • Using different colored strips of paper will help you easily identify which character is speaking. Discuss how the conversation would transpire between the two characters. Then begin to develop the conversation using the 6 blue paper strips for the first character’s dialogue and 6 green paper strips for the second character’s dialogue. At this point, you do not need to worry about punctuation. The goal is to get the dialogue down on paper. Cramer: Calvin, this is the third time in a row you’ve been tardy. Calvin: I am sooooo sorry, Mrs. Cramer. I’m ashamed of myself. But I have a good excuse.
ADDING DIALOGUE • Your conversation must have each character speaking at least five different times. This means you must write dialogue on 5 slips of colored paper for each character. As you create the dialogue, think about how the character would actually speak. You may want to include dialect and contractions. • As you begin to develop the conversation, you can rearrange the strips of paper as the dialogue may change. Additionally, this color coding of character dialogue will help you identify who is speaking as act out the skit and later when you begin writing paragraphs. • After you have written your dialogue, arrange the strips in order on the table. This will help as you begin to build your paragraph.
CHARACTERIZATION • Characterization is the way in which writers convey information about their characters. “Characterization can be direct, as when an author tells readers what a character is like (e. g. "George was cunning and greedy. ") or indirect, as when an author shows what a character is like by portraying his or her actions, speech, or thoughts (e. g. "On the crowded subway, George slipped his hand into the man's coat pocket and withdrew the wallet, undetected. "). Descriptions of a character's appearance, behavior, interests, way of speaking, and other mannerisms are all part of characterization” (“Author’s Craft”).
ADDING CHARACTERIZATION • Look at the character cluster you have developed and come up with ways to add characterization to your story. • Take out the pink slips and white slips from the envelope. Go through this process for each character. • On the first strip, describe the character’s appearance without actually using any of the adjectives you have written. • For instance, the character cluster describing Calvin includes the adjectives “thin” and “tall”, you could write, “Calvin, who towered well over 6 feet two inches tall, slid his svelte self behind the desk and plopped down on the chair. ”
ADDING CHARACTERIZATION • On the second slip of paper, describe the character’s personality without using the adjectives listed on the character cluster. Rather than saying Calvin is shy, you could write, “Calvin looked at his shoes as he continued his story, only allowing his eyes to peek at his audience once. ” This shows that Calvin is shy without simply stating it.
ADDING CHARACTERIZATION • On the third strip, write one sentence showing the character in action and use one of the mannerisms on the character cluster. Again, you don’t want to simply state the mannerism, you want to show it. For instance, Calvin’s mannerism of gum popping could be written as, “Calvin’s bubblegum cracked in his mouth like pebbles falling on a hardwood floor. ” Using figurative language helps paint a picture instead of reporting.
WEAVING CHARACTERIZATION WITH DIALOGUE • Now you will decide which of the characterization sentences you would like to use and how to best fit into the dialogue. Rearrange as needed until your skit make sense. You can always include more characterization as you continue with the story. • See how the dialogue and characterization are beginning to tell a story?
ADDING REVEALING DETAIL • Select another colored slip of paper. Write a couple of sentences that reveals other action details of your character. For example: “Calvin looked her in the eye to see how he was doing, ” or, “He straightened the front of his oversized state-champion letter jacket with his slender hands. ” • Rearrange slips of papers as needed until you have an organized story.
DAY 3: DIALOGUE TAGS • What is a Dialogue Tag? • Also often referred to as an attribution, a dialogue tag is a small phrase either before, after, or in between the actual dialogue itself. Each tag contains at least one noun or pronoun (Carla, she, Rory and Ellen, Jets, they) and a verb indicating a way of speaking (said, asked, whispered, remarked). For example: • “Did you get my letter? ” asked Katie. • The phrase, “asked Katie” is the dialogue tag in the sentence. (Mc. Gann 2016)
HOW TO USE DIALOGUE TAGS • Dialogue tags are found in three different places: before, after, or in the middle of dialogue. Depending on where the dialogue tags are, you use different punctuation and capitalization. • The following rules are basic rules for using dialogue tags before, after, or in the middle of dialogue. You can also refer to Owl of Purdue or No. Red. Ink for additional information.
TAG BEFORE THE DIALOGUE • Tag Before the Dialogue • When dialogue tags are before the dialogue it looks like this: • Meghan asked, “Are you coming to my party? ” • How it works: • Use a comma after the dialogue tag. • If the dialogue is the beginning of a sentence, capitalize the first letter. • End the dialogue with the appropriate punctuation, (period, exclamation point, or question mark) but keep it INSIDE the quotation marks. (Mc. Gann, 2016)
TAG AFTER THE DIALOGUE • When dialogue tags are used after the dialogue it looks like this: “Are you coming to my party? ” Meghan asked. or “Are you coming to my party? ” asked Meghan. How it works: • Punctuation still goes INSIDE quotation marks. • Unless the dialogue tag begins with a proper noun, it is not capitalized. • End the dialogue tag with appropriate punctuation. (Mc. Gann 2016)
TAG IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DIALOGUE • When dialogue tags are used in the middle of dialogue it looks like this: “The car lights, ” she explained, “aren’t bright enough to drive at night. ” • How it works: • A comma is used before the dialogue tag and goes INSIDE quotation marks. • Unless the dialogue tag begins with a proper noun, it is not capitalized. • A comma is used after the dialogue tag, OUTSIDE of quotation marks, to reintroduce the dialogue. • End the dialogue with the appropriate punctuation, (period, exclamation point, or question mark) but keep it INSIDE the quotation marks. (Mc. Gann, 2016)
IDENTIFYING DIALOGUE TAGS • Look at the final draft of Calvin’s story. Circle the different ways dialogue tags have been used. Notice the word choice used. “Thank you, friends, ” mumbled Calvin humbly, nodding his head toward his classmates and heading toward his seat in the back. ” Now look at your draft. How can you incorporate a variety of dialogue tags? Experiment with including tags before, after, and in the middle of your dialogue. Keep in mind you can include additional information within the tags to help describe the characters, what they are doing, and provide details to the story.
SHARE DRAFT WITH ONE OTHER GROUP • Share what you have written with one other group. Have the group answer these questions: • Is the conflict clear from the beginning? • Are the character’s personalities captured? • Does the dialogue sound natural? • Is the plot developed enough? • Is it clear who was speaking? • Is there enough descriptive language? • Is there a variety of dialogue tags and placements? • Is there a part that does not fit? • Does the story have an effective ending?
REVISING & EDITING • Have the group review your story and provide feedback. • Make changes based on the feedback and suggestions you received. Remember, it is up to you to decide whether or not to make any suggested changes.
PUBLISHING • We’ll share stories in class and respond/evaluate aloud. • Grade TBD
WORKS CITED Cramer, Janis. “Collaborate to Write Dialogue. ” National Writing Project. 2016. Accessed 15 September 2016. Mc. Gann, Kellie. “Dialogue Tags: What Are They and How to Use Them. ” Master The Art of Writing. The Write Practice. 2016. Accessed 20 September 2016.
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