Thursday, March 12, 2020

How to Write Compelling Dialogue

How to Write Compelling Dialogue Skillfully used, dialogue can pull a reader into a book and mesmerize that person. It also provides easy reading and quickly moves the reader along as opposed to pages upon pages of descriptive wordings and phrases. Nobody has to learn about speech, it’s an integral part of our society. We engage in dialogue everyday whether it’s with another individual, over the phone, to our pets or even to ourselves. Dialogue is the most natural way society has of conveying information to one another. There is a trick however, to creating natural sounding dialogue in a book. When you listen to people talk, their sentences are fragmented, disjointed and typically peppered with slang, cuss words and fillers such as â€Å"uh, well, like, um†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Their facial and body expressions fill in the rest. It wouldn’t make much sense if you were to write dialogue exactly as you hear it. When writing dialogue, one must be able to convey conversation between characters in a natural , skillful way that doesn’t seem contrived. An adroit writer will use dialogue to convey the history, personality or description of a character, to create a mood or setting. Instead of droning on and on in a paragraph describing the setting, how a person looks or the mood and risk putting your reader to sleep, use dialogue to convey that information. Show the personality of your character by the way you have them speak. If you’re portraying a gangster then pepper their dialogue with slang and name calling. Convey the fact that they’re in a gang by making references to it in conversation. Portray a professional, perhaps a lawyer, by having him speak in a very eloquent manner using intellectual words. There would be no need to describe that he was a highly intelligent man who spoke well or even dressed well. Those can be shown through dialogue. You can even adopt a masculine or feminine way of speech to fit the gender of your character. What you want to do is create a picture of that character in the reader’s mind. Show the reader with your words and allow the reader to develop the picture in their minds. Make references to the past in conversations. This gives the readers an insight into what drives the character in the story. Create pictures for them using dialogue. Make it so that the reader can read and say â€Å"Aha, so that’s where he got his murderous tendencies†, after reading a dialogue showing how his father beat him senseless as a boy. Set the mood by using dialogue. Show the reader what a romantic night your characters are experiencing by having them reference the setting in their conversation. Instead of saying she got the matches out and lit the candles on the table. Use dialogue, such as â€Å"Hey babe, would you light the candles for me?† Using dialogue to show candles on a table is much more interesting than describing the action of getting the matches and lighting them. Describe someone by having two characters talk about them rather than going into an actual play by play of a physical description. For instance, if a woman had spiky red hair, you could show two other people commenting on how she must have spent a fortune getting her hair cut and dyed. Plus the fact that now she’s going to have to spend extra time every morning gelling and shaping her hair into spikes. Properly used in dialogue the reader can get a sense of resentment from the two who are having the conversation about the woman. Remember to read the dialogue out loud to yourself so you can get a sense of how it sounds to your ears. If it doesn’t flow or sound natural, then the reader isn’t going to identify with it. This is an extremely important part in creating compelling dialogue; getting the conversation to sound as if it could actually be taking place. If you find yourself hitting an awkward spot in the dialogue, then your readers most likely will too. Don’t get too carried away with dialects and slang. If it gets too complicated to read and follow, the reader most likely will put your book down. Another important thing to remember is not to get too carried away with the length of their responses. Most people speak in shorter spurts back and forth. The only time you’ll find someone going on and on would most likely be someone giving a speech or telling a story. Use dialogue to convey emotion. A simple one word response such as a curt â€Å"No† can indicate someone†™s impatience with another. Don’t insult a reader’s intelligence by telling him exactly how everything looked, felt or was. Readers have vivid imaginations and a big part of the lure of reading is to be able to figure out and visualize the spoken words into the bigger picture of the story.

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Essay

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - Essay Example The WISC-III was standardized on a representative sample in North America based on U.S.A. census data for 1988 (N = 2,200) (Canivez, Neitzel, & Martin, 2005). The sample was stratified across age, gender, ethnicity, geographical region, parental occupation, and urban-rural residency (Kaplan & Saccuzzo, 2001). A four-factor model of index score is widely supported (i.e., Verbal Comprehension, Perceptual Organization, Freedom from Distractibility, and Processing Speed) (Canivez, Neitzel, & Martin, 2005). The WISC-III has high internal consistency for all three IQ scores and the four factors, ranging from .80 to .97 (Canivez, Neitzel, & Martin, 2005; Kaplan & Saccuzzo, 2001). This reflects the 11 subtests (Symbol Search and Coding excluded) reported moderate to excellent internal consistencies, of .61 to .92 (Kaplan & Saccuzzo, 2001). Split-half reliabilities for the three IQs in 1991 were found to be .96 (FSIQ), .95 (VIQ), and .91 (PIQ) (Kaplan & Saccuzzo, 2001). Standard errors of measurement for FISQ, VIQ and PIQ average at 3.20, 3.53, and 4.54 respectively (Kaplan & Saccuzzo, 2001).

Saturday, February 8, 2020

Native Americans in Texas Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Native Americans in Texas - Research Paper Example It is believed that these tribes came from Asia, thus crossing borders to occupy the Northern parts of America. The main tribes which occupied this area are the Apache and the Comanche people. Other than these two tribes, Texas also held many other different communities. This paper seeks to discuss the Native American in Texas and their diverse ways of live, as well as their, characteristics. The most ancient Texan groups comprised of nomadic activity as a main culturalactivity. According Elonera’s records made on Native Americans in Texas, about ten thousand years ago, these groups comprised of few people per holding who practiced hunting activities as a source of food. These people held the Plainviewand Folsom cultures in the present New Mexico regions.2 This is according to studies made in the area. The findings reported weapon points which had knives and scrappers as well as fire places. Some of their characteristics include the art of hunting in groups by the use of weapons such as spears during hunting. These ancient spear heads and weapons were made from carved stone. The hunters used large blocks of stone or flint tomake cores, whereby they selected large pieces of blades to make their spear tips. This art of chipping stone was common amongst the Clovis and Folsom hunters. The tips made by each group are named according to the group which made them, such as Clovis points. As found in most ancient groups, the males did the hunting tasks while the women fended their young ones. The women also did other tasks such as gathering and collecting food and sometimes the minor wild animals.3 They also assisted in preparation of hide and skin for other uses as well as prepare and cook food for their families. These groups practicedthese hunting and gathering activities in well-organized schedules.However,this highly depended on the seasonal trends during the year. These groups comprised of archaens who lived and

Thursday, January 30, 2020

Comparative Paper on the Princess Bride and Copper Sun Essay Example for Free

Comparative Paper on the Princess Bride and Copper Sun Essay Even though the two heros in Princess Bride and Copper Sun have many similarities, they also have an abundance of differences. Amari is the protagonist of the book Copper Sun, which talks about her life as an abused slave. Wesley is the lead character of the movie Princess Bride; in the movie, he leaves his beloved Buttercup to make enough money to support them and has to come save her when she is about to marry Humperdinck, the prince and the man she does not love. These two stories may seem completely different but they have more in common than what meets the eye. Both Amari and Wesley survive their quests with determination and they fight for what they believe is important. A good example of when Amari shows determination is when she comes upon a river that lies between her and freedom, â€Å"We come too far to stop now† (Draper 84%). She is so close to her goal she is unwilling to stop now just like when Wesley is on the verge of death and he still forces himself to get up and fight for Buttercup, â€Å"I told you I would always come for you† (The Princess Bride). However, they have multiple differences, one of which is how Amari is not afraid to show emotion and Wesley’s emotion is in absence when he is the Man in Black. Both protagonists are very comfortable and secure in their hometowns, but they are both briskly ripped away from their comfort zone when they are obligated to start their quests. Amari lives in a relatively poor area of Africa and Westley lives on a farm in his medieval universe. These courageous heroes must find their way through a dangerous quest; their journeys have similarities and differences but the importance is what compels them to complete their quest. Amari and Westley’s heart and soul was shaped by this quest. The scars left behind by the quest will not heal and the memories will be burning in the back of their minds forever. Both of these strong willed characters went through impossibly difficult conditions and tests to accomplish their goal. Just in the beginning of the story, Amari has endured a gr eat deal of pain; she has been stripped from her village and family and the white men have treated her horribly, â€Å"This day she wanted to die† (Draper 2%). Another example is when Amari is reminded of her past and all she has left in her is shame this proves that not only has she gone through horrible memories but all that will never be forgotten. Wesley has started this quest with his own choice. Amari was taken abruptly and unlike Wesley. In conclusion they had their own reasons to start their incredible journeys. Risking your life just to find the lost is not something you do without motivation. Both of these exciting heroes have found themselves in the need to find either their lost true love or their perished freedom. Throughout these intriguing stories both Amari and Wesley have fought for what they thought deserved a battle. Wesley has swung his sword and punched his enemies and now he has finally came to the point where he has found Buttercup, â€Å"I told you I would always come for you† (The Princess Bride). Wesley is reassuring buttercup that no matter the risks he will always come, fight for her and that she is his mo tivation to put his life on the line. â€Å"You know, certain people are chosen to survive. I don’t know why, but you are one of those who must remember the past and tell those yet unborn. You must live† (Draper 13%). Motivation is the force that pushes and pushes the characters to continue with strength and this force is prominent in both Amari and Wesley. These quests have a rope slowly burning but finally the rope has come to an end and all that is left are the ashes. In the burning village that Amari used to call home, she had friends and family but once she was left to live and serve at the Derby farm she thought a friendship would never be something she could achieve. After a long time spent at the Derby farm, Amari and Polly have now realized that their lives are stringed together from then on. This came to a shock as Polly and Amari try to hide the fact that Mrs. Derby has had an affair with a slave situated at the farm as well, â€Å"She realized then how deeply her life was entangle with those of the slaves she had once so despised† (Draper 51% ). Polly has been with Amari through one of the worst and unpleasant journeys a character could have gone through, Polly no longer judges Amari by her skin nor does Polly think of slaves as filthy animals. Wesley has always had Buttercup’s love and even after his quest he still has her love, compared to Amari that no longer has Besa or his love. Wesley is trying to explain to Buttercup that their love is unbreakable, â€Å"Do you think this happens every day† (The Princess Bride). Amari had once eternal love but all was stripped away from her with every slash of the whip and every unbearable night spent with disgusting men. Many dangers and obstacles have been in the characters paths but now they survive with all that is left, the effects, results and memories. If the lost had never been misplaced then there would be no found or any quests. A quest starts with a loss of any sort, in this particular case it was freedom and love. Amari was just the matchstick that started the fire from within Polly and that lead to the roads made of gold in Fort Mose. Wesley just had to find Buttercup to keep his fire going. However, they all went through inexplicable danger and horror but all this just started as a quest to find what they thought was needed. Works Cited Draper, Sharon M. Copper Sun. Illus. Sonia Chaghatzbanian. First Simon Pulse Edition January 2008 ed. New York: Simon Pulse, 2008. Kindle File. Hobbs, Will. Crossing the Wire. Illus. Vince Natale and Hilary Zarycky. New York: HarperCollins e-books, 2009. Kindle File.

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Epiphany in Araby of James Joyces Dubliners Essay -- Joyce Dubliners

Araby: An Epiphany  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The story, "Araby" in James Joyce's Dubliners presents a flat, rather spatial portrait. The visual and symbolic details embedded in the story, are highly concentrated, and the story culminates in an epiphany. An epiphany is a moment when the essence of a character is revealed , when all the forces that bear on his life converge, and the reader can, in that instant, understand him. "Araby" is centered on an epiphany, and is concerned with a failure or deception, which results in realization and disillusionment. The meaning is revealed in a young boy's psychic journey from love to despair and disappointment, and the theme is found in the boy's discovery of the discrepancy between the real and the ideal in life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The story opens with a description of North Richmond Street, a "blind," "cold ... .. silent" street where the houses "gazed at one an-other with brown imperturbable faces." It is a street of fixed, decaying conformity and false piety. The boy's house contains the samesense of a dead present and a lost past. The former tenant, a priest,died in the ba... ...stern enchantment." His love, like his quest for a gift to draw the girl to him in an unfriendly world, ends with his realizing that his love existed only in his mind. Thus the theme of the story-the discrepancy between the real and the ideal-is made final in the bazaar, a place of tawdry make-believe. The epiphany in which the boy lives a dream in spite of the ugly and the worldly is brought to its inevitable conclusion: the single sensation of life disintegrates. The boy senses the falsity of his dreams and his eyes burn "with anguish and anger."   

Monday, January 13, 2020

Desperate Housewives and Its Portrayal

My interviewee, Karen, grew up in the Philippines and has recently just migrated to the United States. She is a 24-year old ESL teacher who admits to pondering over the meaning of life yearly when her birthday is nearing. She was then enthusiastic to sit down with me to answer my questions about the meaning of life. For Karen, life does have an ultimate purpose or significance. She cites as proof of this belief the fact that bookstores and libraries currently carry a lot of books that help people find the meaning to their lives. â€Å"There has got to be a purpose to our lives. Will authors of self-help and ‘find a purpose in life' books be raking in a lot of money if people do not think that their life amounts to something? And that's another thing, actually. People are always in search for a purpose in their lives. This clamor for life to actually mean something is, I think, the ultimate proof that people come packaged with significance in life,† Karen says Being Catholic, Karen admits to always thinking that her life is meant to have purpose. She explains, â€Å"I have always attended Catholic schools where â€Å"religion†, specifically Catholic faith, is a constant in our list of subjects. Since pre-school days, my teachers would always emphasize the fact that I am meant to serve God. They always tell me, my classmates, that we should live our lives according to God’s will.† Asked what God’s will is, she answers, â€Å"Exactly what it is, my teachers haven’t actually defined. They did tell me, though, that I need to always be good. I need to be kind to my fellow men. That everything I do should be in accordance to God’s law, which is of course comprised of what the Bible says, what the commandment says, etc. Basically, life’s purpose is to be good and do good so that I will be welcomed in heaven. And in way, I still believe that is the purpose in life. I cannot accept that I’ve been put here on Earth for nothing. Something better must be waiting for me at the end of the line.† Karen confesses that even though she’s been reared in the Catholic upbringing, there was a time when she felt like serving God was not really her purpose in life. She says that although she believed in the existence of a higher being, she defied the fact that all the laws and commandments she’s been following are all dictated by human beings like her. â€Å"Who can say that what the Catholic Church outlined is really the ultimate truth? And that what they’re teaching is not made to serve their own purpose? And that what they want is also what God wants? I got to think this way when I started taking Philosophy classes in the University. My teachers imparted in me the habit of not taking everything in stride, of questioning everything that is being handed out to me. I also had a class, advertising I think, where the teacher had a great influence on me. He taught us about self-actualization. He always insisted on us trying to make something for ourselves just because we want to be something and not because somebody told us to do. That was the point when I got to question what the Church told me: that everything I do is for His glory,† she quips. But a few years after her University life, Karen admits that she started to soul-search and she realized that ever since she put God out of her life, her life started to feel meaningless. She explains, â€Å"There was this hollow part of me that neither friends nor a high-paying and glamorous job just cannot fulfill. I started to have this feeling that everything I’m doing is for no special reason. When I started to pray and go to Church again, I suddenly felt whole. That’s when I realized what was missing.† Karen’s opinion regarding the meaning of life was highly-influenced by her faith. Though she came to a point when she asked about the things she has always believed in, she still made a turnaround and accepted what her faith has outlined for her.