Dialogue Analysis in Shakespeare

A really good way to enthuse students and introduce them to the basics of dialogue analysis is to use the basic principles when you look clsoely at a scene from Shakespeare. For instance, when examining Act 1 scene 7 of Macbeth you can simply copy Lady Macbeth and Macbeth's utterances onto pink and blue card respectively, mix them up and cut them up (e-mail me for templates). Then ask students to decide the order of the conversation, and chart the escalating tension. Move on by asking them who is in control, who speaks most, who asks questions and why and so on and so forth...

Worked like a charm with less able students, and got them really talking about the dynamics of the conversation.

The Joys of Armstrong and Miller

The RAF men characters created by Armstrong and Miller are a wonderful way to highlight the differences between accent and dialect to students. Their use of urban slang, as well as being a witty mockery of the nicities of terms such as 'innit', demonstrates perfectly our bias against certain types of speech. 'Normal' RAF slang, of the Biggles era, would attract far less attention, while being in effect not much more sophisticated. The basic premise, if you don't already know it, is to portray two fighter pilots as being rather like spoiled, skiving schoolboys of the current day, eager to get out of work, and interested only in their own concerns, ever-ready to use the threat of suing someone or the excuse of having a spurious special need to get out of trouble. Some of it is near the knuckle, other parts are pretty funny.

Have a look at some of these Youtube clips which string together some of their funniest pieces. Some kind soul has splicd them into three fairly long sections, which makes it easy to quickly scan through them to find a good piece. My favourite to use in class is the first extract from the first collection of clips, which you can find here. The second part is here, and part three is here
You do need to be careful about using these clips in class, I would say--watch them all the way through before you choose. Quite a few satirize teenage culture, but others also satirize class and imagined attitudes towards education and culture, so beware. Others can contain some adult content. Don't say I didn't warn you!