Thinking about Dialogue

1.  Talk about the process of eavesdropping:

i. I went to all the corners of the school, the cafeteria, and the around the gym

ii. I would listen for about a minute and half and if nothing interesting happened I would move on

iii. Most conversations were in groups between 3-5 people

iv. Nothing special considering I overhear conversations all the time in the around the school and work. The only difference was me writing down the conversations on paper rather than me recalling later on.

2. What insights did you gain about the way people speak?

A lot more people talk with their hands and eyes more than I would figure.

3. How can you apply this to your writing?

I can apply this to my reading by adding more detail to the characters actions and body language to give the reader a stronger idea of what is going on.

4.  How is personality and character revealed through conversation/dialogue?

Some of the ways personality and character are shown through conversation is by:

-Body Language

-Eye Contact

-Tone

-Volume

-Language

5. What happens when more than 2 people participate in a conversation?

It's really interesting because there is two things that could happen when there's more than two people talking.

a) They are one main speaker who does most of the talking and steering of the conservation, while the others throw thoughts and opinions here and there.

or

b) there is more than one main speaker and they both share control of the conservation. And depending on what kind of personality they have may step on each other’s "toes" so to speak. For example, if they are both really shy, docile, polite, or any combination of the above and they happen to talk at the same time. They will both pause and wait for the other continue, which causes this awkward pause. While if one of them is shy and the other is more assertive then the assertive person will keep charging through without a second thought.

6. What was the most surprising thing you've learned about the way people converse?

I wouldn't say it's the most surprising thing but definitely the most amusing is how people's persona change when around certain people nearly instantly. Like how someone could be talking normally and all of the sudden change to being peppy and flirtatious when they see someone they like.

7.   What are the differences and similarities between written and spoken conversations?

The biggest difference between written and spoken conversations is that in written conversations it's hard to get a feeling for tone along with things like sarcasm. I'm pretty everyone has received a written message like a text or email and been confused on what the person meant.