Dialogue Network

Network Model

There were 3 characters present in the chapter: Scout, Jack and Alexandra; although another character named Atticus was the main topic of discussion, so I included him as well. That’s why Atticus only receives arrows directed from Scout and Jack. Most of the chapter was a discussion between Scout and Jack, which is why their “edges” (arrows) are the largest (40 and 45 respectively).

Alexandra also talks to both Scout and Jack, although her interactions are brief, and not about Atticus. Although Atticus isn’t even physically present in the chapter, he makes more of a “presence,” since his “node” has a heavier “weight” (20 + 20 = 40) than Alexandra (24).

I made Scout and Jack’s circles significantly larger since their nodes are significantly “heavier” (130, 110). These two characters also talk to themselves–that is to say, they have inner monologue, which I reflected through the small arrows pointing back upon themselves (7, 2).

Reflection

Modeling a chapter in this way provides insights. As discussed earlier, we see that Atticus is a larger player (weightier node) than Alexandra, even though he’s not physically there. This tells us that he is a major part of the discussion between Scout and Jack, but not when Alexandra is around.

We also see that Aunt Alexandra has more lines of dialogue than Scout during their conversations, and Uncle Jack has more lines in his conversations with both of the women. This provides subtle insights into the social hierarchy of the time. Alexandra is older than Scout, and thus gets to talk more (10>8). Jack is an older male, and thus talks the most in all his conversations (45>40 and 4>2).

But Scout is the protagonist of the novel, so even though she has the least lines in all her conversations (40«span style=”color: #0000ff”>45</span> and 8«span style=”color: #000000”>10</span>), when they all add up she gets the most lines out of any character in the chapter, and thus has the “heaviest node” (130).

It was interesting to see how it is to actually make a network model like this. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to use any cool software to generate our images, although I think those would help make the final product more professional and precise. I couldn’t help but feel like doing this by hand left mine feeling like a kindergarten drawing in Microsoft Paint circa 1999. I tried to color-code my Excel sheet and my Network Model, as well as any numerical references in the above paragraphs, but all this only gives the whole project a childish appearance.

On the other hand, the color-coding makes Lab 6 more intuitive to understand, which is kind of the whole point of making models anyway. So perhaps I succeeded in making a complex idea more simple–even though when looking at the final product, I feel like a 7 year old finger painting refrigerator art.