Dialogue Homework

Hi there students and parents, and Happy Weekend!

Just a reminder that all students have a homework assignment to prepare for our lesson on writing realistic dialogue.  Students have been asked to "eavesdrop" on a conversation that fills up one side of a sheet of lined paper.  Students should bring the transcribed dialogues to class on Monday, and we'll be using them to note the difference between believable dialogue and the less-convincing stuff that sometimes ends up in our stories if we're not careful.

There are some stipulations to the assignment, so I've listed the task and all conditions below.

1. Sometime before Monday, you must record a conversation between two speakers.  YOU should NOT be one of the speakers, and the speakers should  not know that you're recording the conversation.

2. After you've listened to/recorded the conversation, write it down on a sheet of paper, starting a new line each time the speaker changes.  Label the speakers as Person A and Person B--do not use actual names.  Your conversation SHOULD NOT REVEAL ANYTHING THAT THE SPEAKERS WOULD NOT WANT OTHERS KNOWING.  THEY SHOULD ALSO NOT INCLUDE ANY INAPPROPRIATE CONTENT OR LANGUAGE.

3. In class, we'll be looking at the dialogue strings that you've found and determining what makes them authentic.  We'll then translate our observations into strategies to improve the dialogue in our stories.