Writing Notes

Rules of Dialogue:

Direct dialogue: speech that uses a character’s exact words. Direct dialogue is placed between quotation marks
“Please remember to do the laundry,” Elena said.

Basic Guidelines:

• Use open (“) and closed (”) quotation marks to indicate the words that are spoken by the characters. 
• Always begin a new paragraph when the speaker changes. 
• Make sure the reader knows who is saying what. 
• When writing an interaction between characters, the author can use phrases other than simply “he said”, “she said”, or “they said.” Depending on the nature or emotion of character’s quotation, it can be accompanied by stronger verbs, adjective phrases, or adverbs. However, when in doubt, “said” and “asked” are the most reliable choices. 
• Use correct punctuation marks and capitalization. 

Indirect dialogue: is a second-hand report of something that was said or written, without quoting the character’s exact words. indirect dialogue can help enhance the process of characterization as well as convey important information about events.
Elena asked Ron to do the laundry, and Ron assured her that he would.

Basic Guidelines:

• when the exact words spoken are not important enough to the narrative to be showcased, but the occurrence and details of the conversation are important for the reader to know. 
• when a character is describing or paraphrasing an interaction he or she had. 

Can also be an exciting technique if:

• a character interprets another character’s intent or emotions, putting a “spin” on what he or she said. 
• we as readers witness the original conversation, and then, through a character’s paraphrasing of the conversation, discover that the character is lying about it to serve his or her own purpose. 

Writers can use both direct and indirect dialogue to develop characters through:

• what the characters say (direct or indirect speech). 
• how the characters say it (their speech patterns; the vocabulary and level of language they use). 
• the way the characters say it (usually following the quote; such as said happily or yelled angrily).
• the characters’ body language as they are speaking (such as said, smiling ). 
• the characters’ actions as they are speaking (such as responded, twirling a lock of her hair ). 
• the characters’ thoughts as they are speaking (such as “I’d rather not go there,” he said, reflecting that he’d absolutely refuse to go there under any circumstances ). 

Proper Dialogue:

• A dialogue tag is the bit you put before or after the dialogue:

Jem said quietly, "My sister ain't dirty and I ain't scared of you" (Lee 106).

• When writing dialogue, eliminate the "ums," hesitations, repetitions and so on
• Give characters distinct speech patterns (what fits them)
• You don't have to begin the conversation at the first word and end at the last
• Punctuate dialogue correctly

- begin on a new line for each speaker

- have double or single quotation marks around the words

- have punctuation inside the quotation marks

- end the dialogue line with a comma if you are adding a dialogue tag, but with a full stop if you're adding an action

example:

"Joe, please come here," Sarah said. "We need to talk."

"What about?"

"You know what." She folded her arms."

• Dialogue must do one, if not all:

- reveal characters' relationships to one another

- move the story forward

- increase the tension

- develop underlying emotion of a character and their character traits

Our dialogue

"Mom, Dad, I'm tired," Audrey complained.
"That's because you were up all night doing your homework," her mom replied.
"Well, if I don't do my homework, then Mrs. Jones is gonna get mad at me and then I'll fail," Audrey said nervously. "What do I do?"
"Why don't you prioritize your homework?" Her mom asked.
"Well, I mean, I like doing other things too. I like knitting with Julia. I think that's fun, but I feel like I can't always go 100% because I'm always so tired," Audrey said.
"Well, maybe you should sleep more," her mom suggested.
"Sleep more? Okay...thanks, Mom," Audrey said nicely.

Grammar: Active vs. Passive Voice -

Active - the subject of the sentence is doing the action
ex: Tucker loves coffee.

Passive - the subject is receiving the action
ex: Coffee is loved by Tucker.
note - if "by" is in the sentence, it will be passive

Look for the word "by." It often appears in sentences that are written in passive voice.

The girl was attacked by the dog. (passive)
The dog attacked the girl. (active)

A song was written by the talented young artist. (P)
The talented young actress wrote the song. (A)

The homework had been done by only half of the class. (P)
Only half of the class did the homework. (A)

Avoiding Plagiarism:

Direct Quotation:

• Involves integrating all or part of an original quotation from source material into your own writing with quotation marks and proper citation

"Dobby is free" (Rowling 338).

Paraphrasing:

• Involves putting a quote from source material into your own words
• Must be credited to original source
• Usually shorter than the original passage - taking a somewhat broader segment of the source and condensing it slightly

Summarizing:

• Involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words
• Include only main point(s)
• It is necessary to credit summarized ideas to the original source
• Significantly shorter than the original

Plagiarism: When you represent words, ideas or information you obtained from another source as your own (intentionally or unintentionally) by not including proper citation

When in doubt, CITE!

Key Points:

• Direct quotation should be done only sparingly; be sure to have a good reason to include this
• Most of the time, you will be summarizing and paraphrasing research. ESPECIALLY in the background section of a Research Paper/Research Proposal
• Paraphrases, Summaries and Direct Quotations ALL need to be cited

The Proper Hook:
Strategies:

• Statistics
• Anecdote
• Quote
• Fact
• Question (worst case scenario)

Test Taking Tips:

1.) What is the question asking?
2.) Write down everything you know about the question
3.) Look at each answer and identify it as either True/False/?
4.) Which answer is actually answering the question?

Basic Introduction Intro:

3 steps:
- Hook, transition, thesis
(Setting the stage for your introduction in the essay can be a powerful start)

Hook:
- really important because it's what "hooks" the reader and grabs their attention so they want to keep reading
- be sure to use the correct tone for the audience which can be anyone
- keep away from questions "If you had this..." boring!
Transition:
- have to make an explanation and analysis and explain why this is significant and what is the purpose
- a good idea is to quote a previous study so it helps back them up (for science)
- if you're using an anecdote (a short and amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person), make it short and be able to shift to 3rd person in thesis
- the ability to transfer from a good hook to a good transition is what represents a 3-4 student because they make this smooth
Thesis/Hypothesis:
- thesis is for english & hypothesis for science
- this is the main assertion (should be one sentence) 
- for science, what is the objective of this lab?

Strategies:

English/Science:
- unusual date/fact transition and thesis 
- thought provoking quote with citation, transition, and thesis

English:
- historical context/social implications and thesis
- anecdote and thesis

Argumentative paragraph notes:

1st sentence:

• claim = your position and 1 reason

2nd sentence:

• Data = quote experts, studies, specific info (citation) and with an intro at the beginning

3/4th (+) sentence:

• Warrant = explanation and analysis of how your data supports your claim. Unpack the data and this should be a minimum of 2 sentences

Next sentence:

• Counterclaim = presents an opinion that is different from yours

Next:

• Rebuttal = present additional expert quotes, factual info or data to prove the counterclaim is not as strong as your initial claim (data and explanation and analysis)

Next:

• Closing statement = you want to end by restating your main point/claim in different words