This document provides an agenda and lecture materials for an EWRT 30 class. The agenda includes reviewing terms related to fiction, discussing the short story "Chrysanthemums" by John Steinbeck, and guiding students in writing dialogue for a fiction adventure story. The document defines various fiction elements like plot, character, setting, tone, and point of view. It also discusses character analysis and characterization techniques. Guidelines are provided for writing effective dialogue, including reflecting a character's personality, using contractions, balancing dialogue with action, and maintaining a natural rhythm. Students are instructed to add dialogue to their adventure story drafts.

1. +
EWRT 30
Class 10

2. +
AGENDA
Terms Review
Discussion/Review:
Fiction
Lecture: Fiction:
Dialogue,
Guided Writing: Fiction
Adventure Story

3. + The Review: In your groups:
5 minutes
Consider
“Chrysanthemums”
1. PLOT
2. POINT OF VIEW (POV)
3. CHARACTER
4. SETTING
5. TONE
6. MOOD
Review Terms
 In medias res
 Flashback
 Exposition
 Conflict
 Suspense
 Foreshadowing
 Rising action
 Climax
 Falling action
Stay
Focused!

4. + Review Terms
 In medias res
 Flashback
 Exposition
 Conflict
 Suspense
 Foreshadowing
 Rising action
 Climax
 Falling action
I know you know
these terms.
Who can define
them?

5. +
Describe the Plot of
“Chrysanthemums” by
referring to the plot points
in the story mountain
Exposition: The start of the story.
The way things are before the
action starts.
Rising Action: the
series of conflicts
and crisis in the
story that lead to
the climax.
Climax: The turning point. The most
intense moment (either mentally or in
action). The conflict is generally
addressed here.
Falling Action: all of the
action that follows the Climax.
Resolution: The conclusion; the
tying together of all of the
threads.
Conflict: Struggle between
opposing forces

6. + “Chrysanthemums”
Exposition: In Salinas Valley, we meet
the lonely protagonist, Elisa, working in
her garden. They make plans to go to
town later.
Rising Action: Elisa talks about
her garden. The conversation
creates a strange connection
between her and the gardener.
Climax: Elisa reaches out to touch the man’s
leg!
Falling Action: Elisa cries and
asks her husband a few
questions.
Resolution: Elisa returns to
status as wife.
Conflict: a stranger arrives and
asks for work. He is from a
different world, and they have odd
conversation.
Rising Action?: Elisa prepares for the
evening, primping and preening.
Climax 2?: Elisa sees the
Chrysanthemums in the road

7. + Review: Four Common Points of View
 Omniscient : The narrator knows everything, including what each
character is thinking, feeling, and doing throughout the story.
 Omniscient Objective: The omniscient narrator reports only on
behavior and conversation, forcing readers to draw their own
conclusions.
 3rd Person Limited: The narrator knows only the thoughts and
feelings of a single character, while other characters are presented
only externally.
 1st Person: The narrator participates in action but sometimes has
limited knowledge about both events outside of those in which he
or she is directly involved and motivations that are not his or her
own.
Describe the Narrator of
“Chrysanthemums” in terms
of Point of View

8. +
POV
 “The Chrysanthemums” begins with a traditional, omniscient objective
narrator, but the story is told almost entirely from Elisa’s point of view.
After the first few paragraphs that set the scene, Steinbeck refuses to
stray from Elisa’s head. This allows him to show us the world through
her eyes. We experience her frustrations and feelings.
 Because she doesn’t know what Henry is discussing with the men
in suits who come to the ranch, we don’t know either, until she asks
Henry.
 Because she sees the tinker as a handsome man, we do too.
 Because she watches his lips while he fixes her pots, we watch
them with her.
 As a result, we understand more about her longings and character
by the end of the story than her husband does.

9. + Character and Characterization:
Elisa, the husband, the stranger:
Which is which?
 Round Character: convincing, true to life; fully
developed and described. Not all good or all bad.
 Dynamic Character: undergoes some type of
change in story, generally after a conflict.
 Flat Character: stereotyped, shallow, often
symbolic.
 Static Character: does not change in the course
of the story.

10. +
What are the methods of
Characterization? I am glad
you asked!

11. +
How to characterize story characters
1. By detailing physical appearance,
particularly features that
symbolize stereotypes.
2. By directly describing
3. Through the character’s words and
actions
4. By sharing the character’s own
thoughts.
5. Through the reactions of other
characters

12. + 1. By detailing physical appearance, particularly
features that symbolize character.
 She was thirty-five. Her face was lean and strong
and her eyes were as clear as water. Her figure
looked blocked and heavy in her gardening costume,
a man's black hat pulled low down over her eyes,
clod-hopper shoes, a figured print dress almost
completely covered by a big corduroy apron with four
big pockets to hold the snips, the trowel and
scratcher, the seeds and the knife she worked with.
She wore heavy leather gloves to protect her hands
while she worked.

13. + 2. By directly describing:
 Her face was eager and mature
and handsome; even her work
with the scissors was over-eager,
over-powerful. The
chrysanthemum stems seemed
too small and easy for her energy.

14. +
3. Through the character’s own words and
actions:
 "That sounds like a nice kind of a way to live," she
said.
 Kneeling there, her hand went out toward his legs in
the greasy black trousers. Her hesitant fingers almost
touched the cloth. Then her hand dropped to the
ground. She crouched low like a fawning dog.
 When she had dried herself she stood in front of a mirror
in her bedroom and looked at her body. She tightened
her stomach and threw out her chest. She turned and
looked over her shoulder at her back.

15. +
4. By sharing the character’s own thoughts.
She whispered to herself sadly, "He might
have thrown them off the road. That
wouldn't have been much trouble, not very
much. But he kept the pot," she explained.
"He had to keep the pot. That's why he
couldn't get them off the road.”

16. +
5. Through the reaction of other characters.
He looked bewildered. "You're playing some
kind of a game," he said helplessly. "It's a kind
of a play. You look strong enough to break a
calf over your knee, happy enough to eat it
like a watermelon."

17. +
 The high gray-flannel fog of winter closed off the Salinas
Valley from the sky and from all the rest of the world. On every
side it sat like a lid on the mountains and made of the great
valley a closed pot. On the broad, level land floor the gang
plows bit deep and left the black earth shining like metal where
the shares had cut. On the foothill ranches across the Salinas
1~iver, the yellow stubble fields seemed to be bathed in pale
cold sunshine, but there was no sunshine in the valley now in
December. The thick willow scrub along the river flamed with
sharp and positive yellow leaves.
Ok, so how does the
setting contribute to the
story?

18. +
Setting
 “The high grey-flannel fog of winter closed off the
Salinas Valley from the sky and from the rest of the
world”
 Isolation, separation from others
 Flannel--practical fabric, masculine = male dominance?
 Closed off from the sky = dreams/aspirations limited?
 Grey = dull, colorless

19. +
Setting
 "It was a time of quiet and of waiting."
 The Valley is shut off from the rest of the
world by fog, and the weather anticipates
change (foreshadowing)
 Elisa’s life is a “time of quiet and waiting”—
but for what is she waiting? How long will
she wait? Will the awaited item ever arrive?

20. +
Setting
 The garden is fenced off to protect it
from the domesticated animals: the “cattle
and dogs and chickens.”
 Fence: separates, isolates, sets aside,
protects, limits, restrains...Elisa’s heart?
Elisa’s life? Elisa’s true desires?
 Fence protects against domesticated
animals—domestication? Elisa needs
protection from domestication? From
being kept like a domesticated animal?

21. +
Lecture Subject:
Dialogue

22. +
Functions of Dialogue
Dialogue gives necessary information.
"I ain't in any hurry, ma’am. I go from Seattle to San Diego
and back every year. Takes all my time. About six months
each way. I aim to follow nice weather.”
She touched the under edge of her man's hat, searching
for fugitive hairs. "That sounds like a nice kind of a way to
live," she said.
Dialogue can reveal
conflict and build tension.
"Nice? You think I look
nice? What do you mean by
'nice'?”
Henry blundered on. "I
don't know. I mean you look
different, strong and happy." Dialogue reveals character
"Henry," she asked, "could we
have wine at dinner?”
"Sure we could. Say! That will
be fine.”
Dialogue can show how
someone feels.
"Why yes you can," Elisa
cried. "I can put some in
damp sand, and you can
carry them right along with
you.
.
Dialogue moves the plot along.
"What's them plants, ma'am?”
The irritation and resistance melted from
Elisa's face. "Oh, those are
chrysanthemums, giant whites and yellows.
I raise them every year, bigger than
anybody around here.”
"Kind of a long-stemmed flower? Looks
like a quick puff of colored smoke?" he
asked.
"That's it. What a nice way to describe
them."
Dialogue can show what one character
thinks of another character.
"They smell kind of nasty till you get used
to them," he said.
"It's a good bitter smell," she retorted, "not
nasty at all."

23. +
How to write good dialogue
Adapted from http://www.ellenjackson.net/dialogue_61473.htm

24. +
 Good dialogue reflects a character’s age, background, and personality. A ten-year-old
boy doesn’t have the same speech patterns as a forty-year-old woman. A person who
speaks English as a second language has different patterns from a native. Be aware of
these differences.
"Well," said Elisa, "I think you'll save time if you go back to the Salinas road and pick up the
highway there."
He drew a big finger down the chicken wire and made it sing. "I ain't in any hurry, ma am. I
go from Seattle to San Diego and back every year. Takes all my time. About six months each
way. I aim to follow nice weather."
 Be aware of how your character would react in a given situation.
Does your character have a sense of humor? Does he fly off the handle easily? Is she shy
and withdrawn? Sarcastic? Show these qualities through dialogue.
"Why--why, Elisa. You look so nice!"
"Nice? You think I look nice? What do you mean by 'nice'?"

25. + Most people use contractions when they speak. When people speak they’ll almost
always say "you aren’t" instead of "you are not" and "it’s" instead of "it is." Using
contractions makes your characters’ speech sound more natural. Of course, there
are the moments of formal oral interaction that you can emphasize by not using
contractions.
"Elisa, where are you?”
"In my room, dressing. I'm not ready. There's hot water for your bath. Hurry up. It's
getting late."
 Intersperse your dialogue with body language and action. Dialogue interspersed with
action and gestures helps the reader visualize your characters. But don’t overdo it. Too much
action is as distracting and as too little.
She relaxed limply in the seat. "Oh, no. No. I don't want to go. I'm sure I don't." Her face was
turned away from him. "It will be enough if we can have wine. It will be plenty."
Henry looked down toward the tractor shed, and when he brought his eyes back to her, they
were his own again. "I'll get out the car. You can put on your coat while I'm starting."

26. +
 Don’t allow dialogue to repeat narration. Avoid this:
Madison came in the door. He threw his books on the table and went
into the kitchen to get a cookie.
"I see you’re home from school," said Mom. "How about a cookie?"
 Stick with simple tags. Use ordinary tags such as "he said" or "she asked" almost all of the time.
Elaborate tags (queried, questioned, bellowed, stated, replied, responded, pointed out) are distracting
and unnecessary.
"You sleep right in the wagon?" Elisa asked.
"Right in the wagon, ma'am. Rain or shine I'm dry as a cow in there."
It must be nice," she said. "It must be very nice. I wish women could do such things."
"It ain't the right kind of a life for a woman.
Her upper lip raised a little, showing her teeth. "How do you know? How can you tell?" she
said.

27. +
 Don’t allow your characters to get too verbose. Characters who talk too
much are boring. Every line of dialogue needs a specific reason for its
existence. Keep your story moving and your dialogue spare.
"Kind of a long-stemmed flower? Looks like a quick puff of colored smoke?" he asked.
"That's it. What a nice way to describe them."
"They smell kind of nasty till you get used to them," he said.
"It's a good bitter smell," she retorted, "not nasty at all."
He changed his tone quickly. "I like the smell myself."
"I had ten-inch blooms this year," she said.

28. +
 Good dialogue has rhythm. People who are stressed out speak in short,
clipped sentences. People who are relaxed speak more expansively and in longer
sentences. When you listen to people’s conversations, study the music beneath
the words.
 It must be nice," she said. "It must be very nice. I wish women could do such things."
"It ain't the right kind of a life for a woman.
Her upper lip raised a little, showing her teeth. "How do you know? How can you tell?" she said.
"I don't know, ma'am," he protested. "Of course I don't know. Now here's your kettles, done. You
don't have to buy no new ones.
"How much?"
"Oh, fifty cents'll do. I keep my prices down and my work good. That's why I have all them satisfied
customers up and down the highway."

29. Guided Writing
Dialogue
Get out your adventure
story and prepare to add
dialogue!

30. You travel down _________street, past __________
(landmark), to (A’s) house. You ___________ to get his
or her attention. He/she looks out a window and you
say, “___________.” (A) comes downstairs and you
hear him/her in garage. Then you hear a __________.
When the door opens, you find out what caused
the noise. Write a short dialogue here. Reflect your
characters’ ages, background, and personalities.
The two of you take off, to go to B’s house.
Find this section in your story

31. +
Homework
Make sure to work through
the online hour for this week
(More Dialogue Writing
Practice).
Revisit/revise your fiction
drafts.