Personal Character Monologues: Journal Entry, 10-Item List, Outline, Selected Object & Outline

due Thursday, 8/16

A. Give your character something to hold:

In the Pocket/Purse/Knapsack
Think about personal items you carry around with you (in your backpack, purse, pocket, etc.) or would
carry around with you. Have a very clear picture in your mind about each of the objects. (ex: if it is a
pencil, be specific. Is it brand new, newly-sharpened, is it dull and non-descript, is it half-chewed?) Now
make a list of 10 items you do or would carry around with you. Make the list long and detailed.
The more detailed the items, the easier the second part of the monologue exercise will be. Once you have
made a descriptive list of your items, one of them will inform the purpose of your monologue and will
become a part of the performance.

Examples
- small piece of a twig
- a half-eaten box of nerds candy
- a 4 times folded piece of paper from his teacher asking his parents to
 make an appointment, crumpled as if it had been fidgeted with many
 times throughout the day.
- a Derek Jeter baseball card

B. Give your character something to say:

All monologues, in their own way, have a beginning, middle and end. Create an outline for your
monologues that include those three points. Nothing needs to be solved by the end of the monologue but
the monologue itself needs to have a sense of closure.

Allow your journals and your selected object to inform the purpose of your monologue, what emotion(s)
your character will need to exhibit, and what information your character needs to convey. You will need
to decide the following:

 Character: Who you ARE in this MOMENT

 Purpose of monologue
 Object that will inform the monologue
 Emotion(s) necessary for the monologue
 Mannerisms and Tone (facial and gestures) needed for the delivery of the monologue
 Audience for the monologue

A Simple Example (Jane: Purpose of Monologue: I’m Mad!)

Character/Name: Jane the “volcano”
Purpose: What I am mad about: My brother ate the last cookie last night.
Object: Empty bag of Chips Ahoy.
Emotion: “Hangry,” Extremely disappointed
Mannerisms and Tone: Condescending, whiny (shrill); exaggerated gestures
My Audience: My brother Sam

Outline for Monologue:

Beginning: I am going to tell Sam that I am mad at him and see if he
can guess what I am talking about. I will get frustrated
when he doesn’t answer.

Middle: I am going to tell him that it was about the cookie and
that it really hurts my feelings that he doesn’t think about me before he does stuff like that.

End: I am going to tell him that he can’t come to my birthday

party.
Next: Writing & Delivering the Monologue