Dialogue Essay (Educating Rita, Good Will Hunting) (1 Viewer)

ae

Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2003
Messages
161
Gender
Male
HSC
2004
“Dialogue brings characters to life for us.
Discuss this with reference to your prescribed text and ONE other text of your choice.”

Dialogue involves both spoken and non-verbal communication between characters. The use of dialogue in the play Educating Rita (a spoken text, presented to the responders in written form) by Willy Russell and the film, Good Will Hunting by Gus Van Sant, explore the way dialogue brings characters to life for the responders. Through the use of language, humour, facial expressions, body language and stage directions, the themes of education, social class and change are conveyed to the responders and through these techniques, the characters are brought to life.

In Educating Rita, through the register, the responder is exposed to the characters’ backgrounds and identities. Rita speaks in local dialect, filled with slang and swearing which reflects her social and cultural background. Rita shortens and runs some words together, revealing her working class status. “Y’ wanna be careful with that stuff, it kills y’ brain cells.” Her expressions also reinforce her working class background as she uses such phrases as “taking the piss”. It is also shown through her initial pronouncement “You’re bleedin’ mad you, aren’t you?” This shows her honest, down to earth approach to life, which Frank admires, and which encourages the responders to empathise with Rita.

In contrast, Frank uses formal language, speaking like an academic, reflecting his status and educational background. “It’s supposed to embrace a more comprehensive studentship, yes.” Throughout the text, he maintains a strong grasp of descriptive language and chooses his words for effect, revealing his scholarly, elevated status. He uses words to impress and control conversation. “You’re going to have to suppress, perhaps even abandon your uniqueness.” However, he starts to relax his language and attitudes as his relationship with Rita deepen, seeing Rita as a breath of fresh air in his stale world. As the play progresses, Rita’s language, like herself, changes on purpose, as she struggles to fit into the academic society, to be like the other students in the university. However, her reaction to her flatmate Trish’s attempted suicide makes her realise that the real growth for her has been the realisation that she has choices now.



Furthermore, Russel provides interesting and vivid personas in his use of humour to shape and reveal characters’ emotions and relationships. An example of this type of wit takes place when Rita interprets what Frank says literally, which causes a misunderstanding between the two characters, making the characters more believable. “Howard’s End? Yeh. It sounds filthy, doesn’t it? E. M. Forster.” This emphasises Rita’s educational background, which is lacking in a knowledge of literature and also shows her directness of speech. Frank is often humorous, such as when he said he sometimes gets an urge to throw something through a window, a student usually. He is also sarcastic, for example “she left me for the good of literature.” Rita takes both of these comments literally, which results in a humourous play with words. Misunderstandings often arise from their humour, when Rita tries to joke about Frank’s name “Y’ know Frank, Frank Ness, Elliot’s brother”, he doesn’t understand, because the reference is too pop culture rather than literary. When Frank tells Rita that his girlfriend Julia “spends a great deal of time putting her head in the oven”, Rita replied “Does she try an’ do herself in?” interpreting whether Julia is trying to kill herself. The differences in the way they use language illustrate the difference in their temperaments and how Rita and Frank are from two different backgrounds.

In “Good Will Hunting”, Gus Van Sant presents the characters’ state of mind and emotions through the use of their facial expressions and body language, allowing the responders to analyse and be part of the characters. This is evident in the scene where Shane McGuire, Will’s psychologist gets Will to repeat, “It’s not my fault”, which helped him to break through his childhood scars and enabled him to cry. Will’s facial expressions show his fear of admitting his desires to embrace his new opportunities in life, for example working in the National Security Agency (NSA), as it would be betraying his friends and class status. In the scene where Will and Skylar break up and he says hurtful things, Will is pushing her away because he doesn't think he deserves her. The composer shows this by the use of Will and Skylar’s body language, reluctant to let their partners go but expressing the opposite physically. The utilisation of close up camera techniques is effectively used in illustrating the details of the characters’ body language and facial expressions, for the responders to analyse and gain greater understanding of the characters.

Dialogue reveals emotions, relationships and themes, and conveys aspect of the characters, bringing them to life. As Rita gains confidence through her education, she changes her language and attitudes. While Rita’s speech becomes more educated, Frank’s becomes more questioning and insecure. Will in Good Will Hunting is needy but doesn’t want to admit it, however through the dramatic interaction with Sean, Will begins to realise his opportunity and seizes the day-carpe dieum. Indeed, through the use of dialogue in these texts, characters are realistically revealed and brought to life for the responders.
 

ae

Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2003
Messages
161
Gender
Male
HSC
2004
Draft: Educating Rita

Describe and explain the way characters, their emotions and relationships are shaped and revealed trough the dialogue in your set text.

Dialogue is a conversation between two or more people. The use of dialogue in the play Educating Rita by Willy Russell explores the way characters, their emotions and relationships are shaped and revealed. Through the use of different level of languages, humour, context, setting and shadow characters, the theme of education, social class and change are conveyed to the responders.

In Educating Rita, through the language types the character used, the responder is exposed to the characters’ background and identity. Rita speaks in local dialect, filled with slang and swearing which reflects her social and culture background. Rita shortens and runs some words together, revealing her working class status and indicate that she had always live in a working class area. “Y’ wanna be careful with that stuff, it kills y’ brain cells.”(p5) Her expressions also reinforce her working class status “taking the piss”. This shows her honest down to earth approach to life, allowing the responder to empathise with Rita. Frank uses formal language, speaking like an academic, reflecting his status and educational background. “It’s supposed to embrace a more comprehensive studentship, yes.”(p4) Throughout the text, he maintains a strong grasp of descriptive language and chooses his word for effect, revealing his scholarly status. “You’re going to have to suppress, perhaps even abandon your uniqueness.”(p48) However, he starts relaxes his words and attitude in Act Two as his relationship with Rita deepen, developing great appreciation for her. As the play progress, Rita’s language, like herself, changes on purpose, as she continues to fit into the academic society, to be like the other students in the university. Indeed, the characters are shaped and revealed through the different types of language.

Furthermore, Humour is used to reveal the character’s personality and background, developing the relationship between Rita and Frank, and is evident throughout the text. “Howard End?” “Yeh. It sounds filthy, doesn’t it? E. M. Forster.”(p5) This emphasises Rita’s educational background, which lacks knowledge of literature and also show her directness of speech. Frank is often humorous, such as when he said he sometimes gets an urge to throw something through a window, a student usually. He is also sarcastic, for example “she left me for the good of literature.”(p21) Misunderstandings often arise from their humour, when Rita tries to joke about Frank name “Y’ know Frank, Frank Ness, Elliot’s brother”, he doesn’t understand. When Frank tells Rita that his girlfriend Julia “spends a great deal of time putting her head in the oven” (p21), Rita replied “Does she try an’ do herself in?” interpreting whether Julia trying to kill herself. The differences in the way they use language illustrate the difference in their temperaments and how Rita and Frank are from two different backgrounds.

Similarly, stage directions provide a visual image of the context, revealing the character’s social, culture and historical setting. Russel’s choice of context is used to inform the responders of the vast difference in social class distinctions “in north of England” which involve the persona Frank and Rita. The play is staged wholly in Frank’s office “on the first floor of Victorian-built University”. The first-floor setting is a metaphor for education, as Rita must rise above the ground in order to be educated. The use of the “window” in Frank’s office is essential symbol as it allows character’s development. Rita is ambitious to be like other students in the university, since she had a look through the window, wanting to have a tutorial on the grass, however failed to convince Frank of the benefits. The window, like Frank “hasn’t been opened for generations.” Rita desires the breath of fresh air and wants to get educated. In contrast, Frank is more than content to remain isolated and remain in his insular office.

Through Frank and Rita’s dialogue the responders are given insights into them as some of the other characters. The use of shadow characters, such as Rita’s husband Denny, Frank’s partner Julia and Rita’s flatmate Trish is essential as the responder is given a glimpse of the values of the worlds they live in and their impacts on Frank and Rita’s relationship. As Rita becomes more educated, she relies on Frank less and less, as the result, their relationship worsens. “I’m educated. I’ve got a room full of books. I know what clothes to wear, what wine to buy, what plays to see, what papers and books to read. I can do without you.” But, their relationship improved as Rita realised education does not mean a better way to live life as her idol Trish attempted suicide, revealing that academic do not always live a perfect life. Frank’s addiction with alcohol and his boredom with life also reinforce to Rita that education does not always provide her with choices. Relationship of Frank and Rita changes as they learn more about each other and can be seen through their relationship with the shadow characters.
 

hebehe

New Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2006
Messages
7
Gender
Female
HSC
2006
tats goooooooooooooooooooood........thanks...
do u ever write a essay on "In Between"? i f u do can post it, thanks a lot...
 

jakree_golf

New Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2005
Messages
27
Gender
Male
HSC
2007
anyone know how long exactly we are expected to write in 30 mins (for the dialogue section)?
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 1)

Top