Long Conversations
1. Conversations: (Find a partner and practice these dialogues.)
A:
Mark: ... I'm sorry, but I just can't sit here any longer and let this go on. This woman is romanticizing. Now, I can understand why she's doing it. I mean, she's a writer, I've read her stuff, and I can tell her heart's in the right place. But this is my life here, and she's turning it into some kind of Gothic novel. (To Jessie.) Please, forgive me. I don't mean to ruin your little what-ever-this-thing-is, but there's a certain amount of nonsense going on, and I'd like to take the opportunity to set the record straight. You don't mind, do you?
Jessie(horrified): What are you doing?
Mark: I just thought I'd correct a few misconceptions. Okay with you?
Jessie: No. I'm sorry, but it is not okay with me. I'll admit I've allowed myself a little artistic license, but all writers do that. Now, maybe I haven't gotten all the facts completely straight, but since this is fiction---
Mark: This is not fiction. This is my life you're serving up before everyone, and I think I have the right to put in my two cents worth.
Jessie: Well, could you maybe do it after I've told the whole story?
Mark: No. Sorry. I thought I could at first, but that last monologue of yours was so over the top, I just had to say something. Listen, I don't mean to rain on your parade. But I should think in the interests of accuracy, you'd like to hear what I have to say.
Jessie(wounded): Fine. Go Ahead.
Mark: I've hurt your feelings, right?
Jessie: No, no. Say what you have to say. (Pause.) But I'd just like to add that this story is meant to be a tribute to you. I have worked very hard to present your story in a light that will be an inspiration for others, and perhaps even immortalize you.
Mark: Immortalize me? Boy, are you barking up the wrong tree. I'm just one other person who got cancer. No more or less mortal than anybody else.
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