1. Lesson 4: Dialogue

2. Dialogue is the conversation among characters in a story. Good dialogue helps readers get to know the characters. Dialogue also moves the action of the story along.

3. Dialogue Example – She asked, “Was it Mrs. Refsal’s stall, then?”

4. The tag line tells who is speaking. A comma separates the tag line from the speaker’s words. The speaker’s first word begins with a capital letter, even if that word is not the first word of the sentence.

5. Quotation marks go before and after the speaker’s exact words. End punctuation goes inside the quotation marks.

6. Dialogue should sound like real people talking. A 12 year old should sound like a 12 year old. A grown-up should sound like a grown-up. People sound different from each other. People have different speech patterns based on where they grew up and where they live.

7. Dialogue Practice Who is Jeremiah I asked She smiled suddenly and said I went to grade school with him So, he been around here all these years I quizzed. Turn in when finished!