Please submit your analysis for The Dumb Waiter this morning in Google classroom (or hand in your physical copy to the inbox).
Writing Exercise: Put 2 characters in a specific setting. Then follow directions as I give them.
DIALOGUE TIPS
The Art & Craft of Dialogue Writing (short video)
How to NOT write Bad dialogue (short video)
How Character and Story Are Hidden in Dialogue (short video)
Dialogue isn't just talking. Dialogue HAPPENS. It happens when your characters' need to speak. It is also how they listen (or not listen), and the connotation, nuance, color and subtext of what they say, how they say it, and why they say it. Good dialogue is the result of well-defined characters in a well-structured plot. They may be compelled to speak (or not), but they should have a REASON for speaking.
Here are some tips to consider:
1. We usually talk because we want to communicate some need. If we want nothing, we say nothing, usually. We also speak when we want to: threaten, teach, explain, cajole, joke, murmur, pontificate, defend ourselves, apologize, seduce evade, pout, challenge, yell, scold, cry, etc.
2. Dialogue is action. It is an action taken to satisfy a want or desire. What a character wants or desires moves them to speak and act. This is part of characterization--and the best way to build your character.
3. When we don't get what we want (often immediately), humans tend to become shy, aggressive, or hide our agendas in our words. This is often our subtext (the meaning hidden in a line of dialogue; or saying one thing, but meaning another) and is very important to actors. It is often this subtext that a good actor will uncover in a performance.
4. Actors have to hear each other. But characters often do not listen the same way we do. Characters interpret what is being said, ask questions, ignore speech, get confused, miss a meaning and even read special meaning into something that has no meaning. Listening, therefore, will often help build the conflict and drama in your scene. A response reveals something important about the listener. How a character hears, then, is an important point to consider.
Please watch and take notes on key ideas from the following writing advice about dialogue and removing the overuse of filler words--or punctuating interjections correctly.
Writing Exercise: Put 2 characters in a specific setting. Then follow directions as I give them.
DIALOGUE TIPS
The Art & Craft of Dialogue Writing (short video)
How to NOT write Bad dialogue (short video)
How Character and Story Are Hidden in Dialogue (short video)
Dialogue isn't just talking. Dialogue HAPPENS. It happens when your characters' need to speak. It is also how they listen (or not listen), and the connotation, nuance, color and subtext of what they say, how they say it, and why they say it. Good dialogue is the result of well-defined characters in a well-structured plot. They may be compelled to speak (or not), but they should have a REASON for speaking.
Here are some tips to consider:
1. We usually talk because we want to communicate some need. If we want nothing, we say nothing, usually. We also speak when we want to: threaten, teach, explain, cajole, joke, murmur, pontificate, defend ourselves, apologize, seduce evade, pout, challenge, yell, scold, cry, etc.
2. Dialogue is action. It is an action taken to satisfy a want or desire. What a character wants or desires moves them to speak and act. This is part of characterization--and the best way to build your character.
3. When we don't get what we want (often immediately), humans tend to become shy, aggressive, or hide our agendas in our words. This is often our subtext (the meaning hidden in a line of dialogue; or saying one thing, but meaning another) and is very important to actors. It is often this subtext that a good actor will uncover in a performance.
4. Actors have to hear each other. But characters often do not listen the same way we do. Characters interpret what is being said, ask questions, ignore speech, get confused, miss a meaning and even read special meaning into something that has no meaning. Listening, therefore, will often help build the conflict and drama in your scene. A response reveals something important about the listener. How a character hears, then, is an important point to consider.
Please watch and take notes on key ideas from the following writing advice about dialogue and removing the overuse of filler words--or punctuating interjections correctly.
Help With Interjection Punctuation
How to eliminate filler words
In the COMMENT section below, write 5 lines of dialogue starting each line with a filler word or interjection. The dialogue should concern the advice you learned from dialogue writing and the videos above. But punctuate each line correctly. Then, revise your 10-minute play drafts by correcting your dialogue punctuation mistakes.
Period 2:
Read Amiri Baraka's play Dutchman. Answer the 6 discussion questions using textual evidence to support your answers. You will likely need more room than what is provided to adequately answer the questions. Write your answers SEPARATELY from the question handout sheet. Answers will count as a quiz grade for this play.
Please feel free to view "Dutchman" by Amiri Baraka (55 min). Please turn in your answers to the previous homework for this play by end of the lab period.
You will likely need more room than what is provided to adequately answer the questions. Write your answers SEPARATELY from the question handout sheet. Answers will count as a quiz grade for this play.
Amiri Baraka was also a poet! Read a few of Amiri Baraka's poems here. Maybe one will inspire a scene.
HOMEWORK: Complete the one-act play The Dutchman. Complete the handout quiz by next class (Tuesday).
How to eliminate filler words
In the COMMENT section below, write 5 lines of dialogue starting each line with a filler word or interjection. The dialogue should concern the advice you learned from dialogue writing and the videos above. But punctuate each line correctly. Then, revise your 10-minute play drafts by correcting your dialogue punctuation mistakes.
Period 2:
Read Amiri Baraka's play Dutchman. Answer the 6 discussion questions using textual evidence to support your answers. You will likely need more room than what is provided to adequately answer the questions. Write your answers SEPARATELY from the question handout sheet. Answers will count as a quiz grade for this play.
Please feel free to view "Dutchman" by Amiri Baraka (55 min). Please turn in your answers to the previous homework for this play by end of the lab period.
You will likely need more room than what is provided to adequately answer the questions. Write your answers SEPARATELY from the question handout sheet. Answers will count as a quiz grade for this play.
Amiri Baraka was also a poet! Read a few of Amiri Baraka's poems here. Maybe one will inspire a scene.
HOMEWORK: Complete the one-act play The Dutchman. Complete the handout quiz by next class (Tuesday).
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