8.2 [Discussion] Discuss the Assigned Reading

Part 1: Writing Assignment

Discuss the assigned short story from your course reader.

• When and how does the author use dialogue tags?
• Find an example in the story where the adage “Dialogue is what people do to each other” rings true.
• Point out two to three places where gesture or word choice help the reader understand how something is said.
• How does the vantage point (or point of view) shape the narrative? (Give specific examples from the text.)
• Does the author use an equal balance of scene and summary? Which scenes would you have preferred to be summarized, and which would you prefer to have written as scenes?

Part 2: Peer Response

Note: Please respond in the order in which work is posted

1.

• Find an example in the story where the adage “Dialogue is what people do to each other” rings true.

There are many dialogues in p295, so it can be a good example to prove that “Dialogue is what people do to each other “rings true”.
In drama or novel, dialogue is often an action to solve a problem after it appears. At the same time, dialogue can present information. It means there’s something the reader needs to know. We can tell readers through dialogue.
Second, through the full text, I think this story seems to be a story between a couple who are going to break up. Gavin is trying to keep his lover. Of course, the specific reason for the separation is not specific. Maybe many contradictions have accumulated for 40 years, but this is not an important thing. In the second point, the analysis of the content of the story is just for the convenience of understanding the inner meaning of the dialogue Rong.
From the above two points, we can know that the dialogue between Gavin and Suzanne is inseparable from separation and retention. So in p295, we can see that Gavin bought this puzzle to retain Suzanne by reminiscing or arousing good memories, but Suzanne also told Gavin that she would not go back to the past. For example, when Suzanne asks about the scene in the puzzle, Gavin always answers “was it?” This is a rhetorical question, or to suggest whether Suzanne recalled other things besides the place names, such as some good memories in the past. For another example, Suzanne said “human mischiefmore like.” Gavin tried to avoid it, but Suzanne quickly asked “what’d you think I mean, Gavin?” this is Suzanne’s attitude. She told Gavin that everything can’t go back.
There are many such dialogues, but they all prove that “dialogue is what people do to each other” rings is true

2:

• How does the vantage point (or point of view) shape the narrative? (Give specific examples from the text.)

“She’d had no intention as she walked off through the winter garden of making this the do-or-die showdown it almost immediately became.”

…

“He’d realized what she was implying. That he’d kept one of the pieces back, hidden it. Why the hell would he do that?”

By narrating the thoughts and monologues of the two main characters, the writer establish a conflict with no direct confrontation at the moment, which is a way to raise the audience’s expectations. And it is quite logical too; in real life conflicts do not often burst into scenes. People hold their anger to themselves a lot. This method is often used in other fictions and movies and it could be very effective. (Although in movies the characters often speak out their monologue directly for the sake of audience’s entertainment).