Day 22

English 75 Summer 2011 Day 22

1. Bonus Points for Blog due Thursday. You can go back to start of TKR only.

2. Hand Back Essay 2: 7am class.

a. Some quick notes on scores.
b. Questions about handwriting.

3. Third Essay Assignment (Rough Draft due Thursday, Final Draft due August 8th)

Vonnegut on good stories.

b. Overall structure: Three Chapters (Separation, Initiation, Return/Arrival)

c. Characters

i. Read

iii. Exercise—the kind of person who…(did we do this in 7am class?)

iv. Exercise—Naming your characters.

d. Characters, part two

i. Hero

ii. Helpers, Mentors?

1. Grapes of Wrath, The Kite Runner

2. Five minutes on one of your main characters.

4. Real Writing: Narration

a. 121-123: Read.

b. Practice 1: What is the main point of your story?
i. How does your main character change? From what to what?
ii. What do they learn?

c. Read 125-126.

i. Try this with Separation, Initiation, Return—major events.

d. Read 129-131; 132-134.

e. Read 136-137

f. Chapter Review

5. Dialogue Checklist.

a. Exercises if there’s time

Dialogue

Short
Vivid
Believable

Dialogue Exercises:

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.

Movies with great dialogue: Tarantino, Juno, Linklater, Kevin Smith, Coen Brothers, David Mamet, Casablanca, China Town, Aaron Sorkin

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.

6. Bonus points: Readings for Writers: Chapter 42, Narration—Due Monday. (+5 BP)  I'll take these TUESDAY for either class.
a. Read 613-621
b. For each reading (there are two), do
i. Summarize and respond
ii. Check your comprehension
iii. Read Critically