A Family Supper

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Things Left Unsaid”

In this activity, students will analyze moments of silence within dialogue by copying brief sections of dialogue and writing a structured analysis below.

Throughout the story, there are several moments when an “awkward silence” occurs between characters. Often in literature, the moments when a conversation ends in silence reveals a great deal about the characters and their relationships.

• After reading, identify two points in the text when a conversational thread between characters seems to end abruptly.
• On a separate piece of paper, write out the two moments of dialogue, leaving some space between the examples. You can write just the last 2-3 lines of dialogue before the silence occurs.
• Label the character whose words cause the moment of silence “Character A.”
• Label the character who doesn’t continue the dialogue “Character B.”
• Underneath each example, respond to the following prompts:
• Summarize the conversation between the two characters.
• What do the characters do in the moment of silence instead of continuing the dialogue?
• How does the decision not to continue the conversation indirectly characterize Character B?
• Explain how this dialogue develops one of the following themes: Loss and Death, Gender Roles, or Expectations Versus Reality.

After answering the questions, either discuss your analyses with a partner or discuss them with the whole class. At the end of the activity, reflect on this question: Why do you think authors choose to end dialogue with moments of silence?

Teaching Suggestion: When introducing this activity, it may be helpful to review what indirect characterization is and the five ways someone can be indirectly characterized (speech, thoughts, effect on others, actions, and appearance). When explaining the directions for the activity, you can have the questions posted on the board or reproduced on a worksheet, so the students have the questions right in front of them. Students always benefit from modeling, so using an example of a “moment of silence” from the short story or from a movie or another story can help students understand how to answer the questions and feel more confident.

• This article from BBC about uncomfortable silences in real life mentions how it is culturally acceptable and common to have silences in Japanese culture. Pulling this excerpt from the article can enhance a whole-class discussion in which you ask students whether now they think the silences throughout the story are as uncomfortable as they first seemed.

Differentiation Suggestion: English learners or students who benefit from additional learning strategies could be given examples beforehand and utilize modified questions or teacher assistance when answering the questions. Advanced students could be given the option as an enrichment activity to imagine and write what the characters might have been thinking during the pauses in spoken conversation.