Today’s Journal Write• Have you ever been in trouble with your

parents or teachers• Create a dialogue (fiction or non-fiction)

between yourself and another person that starts, “Denise (your name), I told you never to……”

• Use your knowledge of the conventions for dialogue to help you

DialogueRules to Live By

What is Dialogue?•When people speak in a piece of writing whether real or imaginary

•The direct speech is set off by quotation marks

•Example: “Hi!”

Why Use Dialogue?•Makes writing more interesting

•Reveals more information about the characters and situation

Rules to Live By#1

•Put quotation marks around the words the speaker is saying

Ex: “Please sit down.”

Rules to Live By#2

•Capitalize the first word of a quotation

Ex: “It’s Friday!”

Rules to Live By #3• The tag is the part of the sentence

that tells who is talking. Try to avoid using “said” in your tag.

BORING Ex: “No homework tonight,” said Mrs. Bauckman

BETTER Ex: “No homework tonight,” announced Mrs. Bauckman

Other ways to say “said”• Exclaimed• Inquired• Called• Suggested• Confessed• Replied• Asked

• Announced• Screamed• Wondered• Laughed• Responded• Answered• Whispered• And many more…

Rules to Live By #4Use a comma to separate the quotation from the dialogue tag.

Remember: dialogue tag = words that tell who is speaking. The comma goes BEFORE the quotation mark.

Ex: Nathan confessed, “I don’t know what to do.”Ex: “I like math too,” agreed Matt.

Rules to Live By #5When a quotation is a question or an exclamation, use a ! or a ? instead of a comma.

Ex: “I love school!” boasted Cody.Ex: Haley asked, “May I use the

restroom?”

Rules to Live By#6

When writing dialogue for more than one person, start a new paragraph each time the speaker changes.

Example Conversation“I just love grade nine so much!” exclaimed Matt.Megan responded, “Me too! It’s the best!”“And isn’t Mrs. Bauckman the nicest and best teacher in the world?”“Definitely!”

Rules to Live By#7

• When the dialogue tag is in the middle of a one sentence quotation, use a comma before the tag inside the quotation marks and a comma after the tag

• There is no capital letter to continue the interrupted sentence

Example Conversation• “Well,” he advised John, “it’s

possible.”

Rules to Live By #8If the dialogue tag is in between two sentences:– use a comma before the dialogue tag

inside the quotation marks– use a period after the tag and a

capital letter to begin a new sentence

Example Conversation Rule #8

“Don’t be silly,” replied Ted. “Do you think a tent flap will keep out a curious bear?”

If there is a direct quote that is said by another speaker, use a single quotation marks inside the set of double quotation marks.

In other words, a quote inside another quote uses single quotation marks.

Rules to Live By #9

Ex: John said, “Do you remember when Mrs. Bauckman said, ‘always do your homework?’”

Now That You Are An Expert

1. Glue the list of words to use instead of said to your writing notebook

2. Using the list of words to use instead of ‘said’ and your ‘Dialogue Rules’, edit and revise your dialogue writing piece.

3. Hand in the edited version for tomorrow