Year 11 - English
Considering the use of dialogue in Dostoevsky's 'Crime and Punishment'
Fiction: books that changed my world
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
In this unit, pupils read extracts from some impactful books to inpsire their own writing. Within each of the five extracts, they identify and analyse a key technique before emulating it in their own piece of writing. At the end of the unit, they craft the opening to an impactful narrative.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to explain and analyse Dostoevsky's use of dialogue in an extract from 'Crime and Punishment'.
Key Notes
- Dialogue might be hard to construct in writing because it relies heavily on body language.
- Dialogue is important because it not only reveals information about the characters but also wider ideas of connection.
- Arguably, Dostoevsky structures the dialogue to immediately create a sense of tension.
- Potentially, the use of punctuation and division of dialogue show Raskolnikov's impoverished status.
- The use of body language demonstrates Raskolnikov's tension and anxiety.
Vocabulary To Learn
- dialogue: a conversation between two or more people as a feature of a book, play, or film
- contrast: an obvious difference between two or more things
- impoverished: very poor; deprived of strength or vitality
- ellipsis: a type of punctuation that represents a pause or that something has been intentionally left out
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- That dialogue is a superfluous part of a text and can't be analysed in the same way as other structural or language features.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.
Dialogue might be hard to construct in writing because it relies heavily on body language. Dialogue is important because it not only reveals information about the characters but also wider ideas of connection.
2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'dialogue'
a conversation between two or more people as a feature of a book, play, or film.
3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.
Mistake: That dialogue is a superfluous part of a text and can't be analysed in the same way as other structural or language features. Correction: We can analyse dialogue by considering how it's structured, how the conversation is divided up, the use of punctuation and through the use of body language.
More Lessons In This Unit
- 'The Great Gatsby': analysing a writer's craft Study Guide
- 'The Great Gatsby': Developing a personal response Study Guide
- Analysing effective endings in Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby' Study Guide
- Considering Chandler's use of similes in 'Trouble is My Business' Study Guide
- Considering the use of motifs in Bronte's 'Wuthering Heights' Study Guide
- Emulating Chandler's use of similes in 'Trouble is My Business' Study Guide
- Emulating Dostoevsky's use of dialogue in 'Crime and Punishment' Study Guide
- Emulating the opening to Orwell's '1984' Study Guide
- Emulating the use of motifs in Brontë's 'Wuthering Heights' Study Guide
- Exploring the importance of books and stories Study Guide
- Planning the opening to an impactful narrative Study Guide
- Reading the opening of Orwell's '1984' Study Guide
- Writing the opening to an impactful narrative Study Guide
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