1. ASManager2.zip Driver
2. H_DIADES.txt File Contents

H_DIADES.txt Driver File Contents (ASManager2.zip)

Name: <  >
Class: <  >
Date: <  >



Creating Character
through Dialogue and Description

In preceding files you learned about the use of description and dialogue to develop a character. With the use of description, you learned how to describe or draw a word portrait of a character. With the use of dialogue, you learned that how a person says something tells a lot about their character.

In this file, you will write a dialogue for an already created character. The character description is from literature. The dialogue is from your imagination.

Below is a character description from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.

"Hold your noise!" cried a terrible voice, as a man started up from among the graves at the side of the church porch. "Keep still, you little devil, or I'll cut your throat!"

A fearful man, all in coarse grey, with a great iron on his leg. A man with no hat, and with broken shoes, and with an old rag tied round his head. A man who had been soaked in water, and smothered in mud, and lamed by stones, and cut by flints, and stung by nettles, and torn by briars; who limped, and shivered, and glared and growled; and whose teeth chattered in his head as he seized me by the chin.

Now please scroll back and read it a second time. This time, imagine how this character's personality is expressed in the way he talks. Visualize the character -- see him move and hear him speak.

Now become the person the man has grabbed "by the chin." Use your imagination to make up answers to the following questions.

Why are you here?

Explain why you are here in the graveyard.

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Who are you?

Write a brief description of your own character.

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Write a Dialogue Between the Characters

Create a dialogue between yourself and the old man. What is your response to being grabbed by the chin. How does he explain what he wants from you? Create at least ten lines of dialogue between yourself and the man.

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Name and save this file now. (Press ctrl+S, type a name for the file, and press enter.)

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Rewrite/Edit

Add Voice Descriptive Words

Reread your dialogue. Look carefully at how the man spoke to you. You may be able to replace the word "said" with more descriptive terms. Can you add anything to the way he spoke? Describe how his voice sounds as he speaks. Describe how your voice sounds when you answer him. The list below may help you.

sobbed      declared   suggested   argued     cried
questioned  bragged    corrected   inquired   asked
began       called     ordered     wept       sighed
claimed     informed   smiled      blurted    mumbled
observed    warned     snapped     advised    glared
told        reminded   stated      retorted   gulped

Add Actions and Mannerisms

Can you add anything to his mannerisms as he talks? Try to describe what he does with his hands, how he moves, and what his facial expressions are like.

Scroll back to your dialogue and rewrite, adding details that help the reader see and hear the characters.

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How Dickens Wrote It

If the book is available, read the first few pages of Great Expectations. How did Dickens write this scene? Did your imagination come up with some of the same ideas Dickens did?


If you haven't done so already, name and save this file now. (Press ctrl+S, type a name for the file, and press enter.)

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end of activity
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