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Using Dialogues as Writing Assignments

Setting:
First Class cabin, TWA,
heading for Saudi Arabia

Characters:
Machiavelli, an Italian “advisor”
Lao-Tzu, a Chinese diplomat

Machiavelli: I feel we can end the conflict in a sudden,
massive, and decisive action.
Oh, hot-headed one! Your ideas are too
aggressive. I say to you, take no action.
One fire never put out another. Fires are
extinguished with water, water seeking
quietly its own passive level.
This is not a time for wasteful words but for
action! If we do not act now we will become
trapped like a piece of rice between two
chopsticks!

Lao-Tzu:

Machiavelli:

This excerpt from an imaginary conversation came
from two Freshman Composition students* who collabo-
rated on the following assignment: Write a dialogue
which reveals the similarities and/or differences between
the political viewpoints of Machiavelli and Lao-Tzu.
Using the dialogue as their mode of expression, the
students met and, in fact, went quite beyond the objectives
of “regular essay” assignments. I have found comparably
impressive results in most cases when students use a
dialogue form for their writing assignment.

Objectives

Dialogues as writing assignments require students

© to recast main ideas of an assigned reading into their
own imaginative words (different from a mere
paraphrase or a summary, but effectively accom-
plishing the objectives of both);

® to anticipate and deal with a point of view different
from their own; and

© to resolve or at least synthesize ideas from various
viewpoints into a conclusive whole.

*Credit to Students: Lonnie Werth and Stacy Webb

In composition classes, the dialogue is not meant to
replace essay forms, but it may provide a supplement to
or a break from those other forms. Furthermore, as
discussed below in more detail, it may serve as a means of
brainstorming material to generate ideas for other essays.
Imagine, too, how lively class discussion becomes when
material from a reading or a lecture is “acted out” in
dialogue form. In classes other than composition, the
dialogue is extremely useful as a writing assignment since
it requires little more than a few “characters” from the
discipline and a specific topic to keep the writing focused.
It does not require elaborate settings or stage directions,
though some students like to add such. Its length varies,
and its evaluation is easy: students cannot “bluff” an
understanding of material they need to render into
dialogue.

Ultimately, the dialogue asks students to understand
ideas central to a discipline and then to express those ideas
through the filter of their imaginations. Imagination is a
key word here, for imagination changes the expression
from forcing ideas down on paper to giving voice to those
ideas. I must emphasize here how lively the students,
their “characters,” their ideas, and their expressions
become when presented through dialogue. Indeed,
Machiavelli's well-aimed simile of a warning to Lao-Tzu
not to get caught “like a piece of rice between two chop-
sticks” speaks for itself.

Applications

The practical applications of using dialogues as writing
assignments are numerous in any discipline. | have used
dialogues in English and philosophy courses with tremen-
dous success in getting the students to understand key
concepts. In fact, in composition the dialogue is particu-
larly useful as an initial “brainstorming” activity to
generate ideas from students as they approach a series of
difficult readings; a similar approach is used by “creative”
writers all the time-—“what would happen if?” By
brainstorming via dialogue, students must eventually find
and understand the main ideas of the reading, then
process those ideas through their own viewpoints into
debatable form. Moreover, they must deal with the
opposition, with the counter point of view, in an engaging

 

 

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD)
Community College Leadership Program, Department of Educational Administration
College of Education, The University of Texas at Austin, EDB 348, Austin, Texas 78712