1. Mrs. O’Brien 8th grade ELA
Dialogue
Mrs. O’Brien
8th grade ELA

2. Writing a Dialogue
Dialogue can make a story come to life. It serves as a great attention getter, and it adds another dimension to the details of a story. It reveals many characteristics of the people in a story.
Read the two openers that were written for a story. Which one would be more likely to catch your interest?
Jenny said she saw Joe walking home.
Jenny burst in shouting, “Hey, everybody, Joe’s come home!”

3. PARAGRAPHING RULES FOR WRITING DIALOGUE
Read the following example.
Mother opened her mouth and could not close it for several seconds.
“Most of my classmates have enlisted,” said Tom, serious for once. “I have decided to go help our country.”
“You cannot go, Tom!” Mother told him. “You must talk with Father. You cannot make such a decision alone.”
“Mother, I have already sent in my application,” said Tom. “I will take the written and physical examinations!”

4. Notice that the writer indents and begins a new paragraph EVERY time a different character speaks.
RULE #1: ___________ and begin a ___________________________________ ___ you switch speakers.

5. PUNCTUATION & CAPITALIZATION RULES
RULE #2: Use ________________________________ before and after a direct quotation.
Example: “Mrs. Johnson is a great teacher,” he proclaimed.

6. RULE #3: Use _____________________________ for ____________ parts of a divided quote.
Example: “My favorite subject,” Mary stated, “is language arts.”

7. RULE #4: Use a _______________________________ for the start of the quotation. __________________ capitalize the ________________________________.
Example:
Kevin asked, “Who is the main character?”
“Panchito is the main character,” replied Donna.

8. RULE #5: Use a ___________ to separate the speaker tag ( ______________ ) from the quote. ALWAYS put the comma on the _______________ of the quotation marks.
Example: “Mr. Jones is my favorite teacher,” he said. “He makes learning fun.”

9. RULE #6: ________________ put punctuation ____________________ the quotation marks.
Examples: Betsy said, “I really love to read.”
Bo asked, “What is your favorite book? Bryan yelled, “I got it!”

10. Exception to Rule #6:
Example: Did Ms. Welch say, “Use the proper MLA heading”?