DIALOGUES & ROLE PLAYS

Dialogue is a conversation between two or more people in a narrative work. As a literary technique, dialogue serves several purposes. It can advance the plot, reveal a character’s thoughts or feelings, or show how characters react in the moment.

Dialogue is written using quotation marks around the speaker’s exact words. These quotation marks are meant to set the dialogue apart from the narration, which is written as standard text. Together, let’s explore some dialogue examples.

Basic Quotation Mark Examples

Quotation marks (” “) are the key to writing clear dialogue. You’ll want to place them around the exact words your character speaks, but not around any tags that identify the speaker. For example,

“I love French toast.”

This use of quotation marks lets the reader know that someone said “I love French toast” out loud.

While it’s fine to have only the spoken words in quotes, too many sentences like this can become confusing. Who just said what? You may wish to add extra information to let the reader know who is speaking. For example:

“I love French toast,” my mother said.

Note that only the words spoken aloud by the mother are in quotation marks. The informative tag at the end is not part of what she said, so it does not get quotation marks. You can also put the tag before a line of dialogue:

After helping herself to three slices, my mother said, “I love French toast.”

Comma Examples

If you choose to add a tag that identifies the speaker, you’ll also need to use a comma to connect your tag to the dialogue.

When the tag comes first, it’s followed by a comma. After the comma is a space, followed by the quotation marks for the dialogue. Note that the punctuation at the end of the dialogue comes before the closing quotes. This is the order that dialogue punctuation always uses when the tag comes first:

Susan asked, “When will Daddy come home?”

I rolled my eyes at the thought of having to answer this question for the millionth time. “Soon, baby,” I offered in my most soothing tone.

“But, he said he would be home for dinner,” she wailed, “and it’s past dinnertime!”

“In life, you’ll learn there are many things that are out of our control,” I retorted through the massive wails. I continued, almost to myself, “But, we have to just carry on.”

When you choose to place your tag after the line of dialogue, the comma comes at the end of the spoken words, before the closing quotation marks. In this case, following the dialogue with a comma lets the reader know that there’s more information to come. After the comma comes the quotation marks to end the dialogue, then a space, then the tag, followed by a closing period to complete the sentence. For example:

“We were having a lovely dinner,” Michael prompted.

Doug made a short, chortling sound. “Yeah, until he showed up.”

“What’s the matter with Scott coming around?” I asked, rather astonished.

Michael dropped his fork and aimed daggers at me. “Are you kidding me, Jill? He’s a miserable, sarcastic punk.”

I blinked at him, astonished. “Well, yes,” I said. “I know that. But you two always carry on with him like you’re best friends.”

“Girl, please,” Doug retorted. “We thought you wanted us to keep the peace. Now that we know the misery he’s caused you…” He paused, seeming to search for the right words. “He’ll never walk through those two doors again.”

Note that the only exception to using a comma before the tag is when your quotation must end with a question mark or exclamation point. In this case, that punctuation replaces the comma:

“How many days until our vacation?” asked Margaret.

“Way too many!” William cried.

Paragraph Examples

You must begin a new paragraph each time a different character begins to speak. Paragraphs are your friend for dialogue between two or more people. For example:

“I don’t want to go home,” said Julia. “I like it here at the zoo. The animals are all so funny.” She began to cry and then wailed, “I didn’t even get to see the elephants!”

“I know,” replied her father. “Don’t worry. We’ll come back another time.”

“The zoo is now closing. Please make your way to the exit,” came the announcement over the speaker.

Note that, when Julia’s father speaks, a new paragraph begins. Another paragraph is introduced when the announcer speaks. This makes it easier for the reader to keep track of who is saying what because the new paragraph is a strong signal that someone else is speaking.

“You must know I’m very upset,” I snarled. “I even paid extra to insure the package!”

“Ms. Sullivan, please lower your voice,” the agent drawled. “I’ll search the system now.”

“Sheila Sullivan? Is this your package?” I didn’t know where the man appeared from, but I wanted to reach over the counter and give him a big, fat kiss. I’d never been so happy to see a cardboard box.

The only exception to this rule is when a character makes a long speech. In this case, you may wish to break up their dialogue into paragraphs as they change subject, just as you would in standard writing. When you do so, you begin each new paragraph with quotation marks to remind the reader that someone is still speaking, but you don’t use closing quotation marks until the speech has ended.

For example:

“I want to make sure everyone is ready for the field trip next week,” the teacher said. “That means you’ll need to pack your lunches the night before and make sure that you bring plenty of water and a bag that is comfortable to carry.

“It will be hot the day of the trip, so wear light, comfortable clothing and layers that you can remove as the day goes on. You will also need sunscreen, a hat, and sunglasses.

“Finally, make sure you have fun!”

In the example above, the teacher’s long speech is broken into paragraphs to keep topics well organized. Notice that only the final paragraph of her speech has quotation marks at the end of the quoted text. When a paragraph of dialogue does not have closing quotes, it lets the reader know that the same person is still speaking.

Famous Examples From Literature

Let’s take a moment to enjoy dialogue examples from some of the literary greats. No novel would be complete without an interesting volley between the main characters.

A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L’Engel

This is a great example. Watch L’Engel intertwine scene description with dialogue. Also, the main character, Meg, has dialogue written for her that continues with a tag in the middle.

Calvin licked his lips. “Where are we going?”

“Up.” Charles continued his lecture. “On Camazotz we are all happy because we are all alike. Differences create problems. You know that, don’t you, dear sister?”

“No,” Meg said.

“Oh, yes, you do. You’ve seen at home how true it is. You know that you’re not happy at school. Because you’re different.

“I’m different, and I’m happy,” Calvin said.

“But you pretend that you aren’t different.”

“I’m different, and I like being different.” Calvin’s voice was unnaturally loud.

“Maybe I don’t like being different,” Meg said, “but I don’t want to be like everybody else, either.”

Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte

Here’s a classic, straightforward block of dialogue.

“Now he is here,” I exclaimed. “For Heaven’s sake, hurry down! Do be quick; and stay among the trees till he is fairly in.”

“I must go, Cathy,” said Heathcliff, seeking to extricate himself from his companion’s arms. “I won’t stray five yards from your window…”

“For one hour,” he pleaded earnestly.

“Not for one minute,” she replied.

“I must–Linton will be up immediately,” persisted the intruder.

The Secret History, Donna Tartt

Now, let’s enjoy a block of dialogue that’s blended beautifully with ample description for the scene at hand. We’re instantly drawn in and then the dialogue picks up speed and lures us further into the story.

“Hi, Richard,” she said, and spit out a mouthful of toothpaste. She was wearing cut-off jeans that had bizarre, frantic designs drawn on them in Magic Marker and a spandex top which revealed her intensely aerobicized midriff.

“Hello,” I said, setting to work on my tie.

“You look cute today.”

“Thanks.”

“Got a date?”

Role-Playing

Think back to the last time you prepared for an important meeting.

Perhaps you needed to convince a prospective client to do business with your organization. Or maybe you had to present to executive board members, and you knew that they would be peppering you with questions about your proposal.

Whatever the situation, chances are that you were nervous about the meeting; and practicing in front of a mirror may not have helped you overcome your anxiety, especially with respect to answering difficult questions.

This is where role-playing can be useful. In this article, we’ll look at what it is, and we’ll see how you and your team can use this technique to prepare for a variety of challenging and difficult situations.

Uses and Benefits

Role-playing takes place between two or more people, who act out roles to explore a particular scenario.

It’s most useful to help you or your team prepare for unfamiliar or difficult situations. For example, you can use it to practice sales meetings, interviews, presentations , or emotionally difficult conversations, such as when you’re resolving conflict .

By acting scenarios like these out, you can explore how other people are likely to respond to different approaches; and you can get a feel for approaches that are likely to work, and for those that might be counter-productive. You can also get a sense of what other people are likely to be thinking and feeling in the situation.

Also, by preparing for a situation using role-play, you build up experience and self-confidence with handling the situation in real life, and you can develop quick and instinctively correct reactions to situations. This means that you’ll react effectively as situations evolve, rather than making mistakes or becoming overwhelmed by events.

You can also use role-play to spark brainstorming sessions, to improve communication between team members, and to see problems or situations from different perspectives.

How to Use Role Play

It is easy to set up and run a role-playing session. It will help to follow the five steps below.

Step 1: Identify the Situation

To start the process, gather people together, introduce the problem, and encourage an open discussion to uncover all of the relevant issues. This will help people to start thinking about the problem before the role-play begins.

If you’re in a group and people are unfamiliar with each other, consider doing some icebreaker  exercises beforehand.

Step 2: Add Details

Next, set up a scenario in enough detail for it to feel “real.” Make sure that everyone is clear about the problem that you’re trying to work through, and that they know what you want to achieve by the end of the session.

Step 3: Assign Roles

Once you’ve set the scene, identify the various fictional characters involved in the scenario. Some of these may be people who have to deal with the situation when it actually happens (for example, salespeople). Others will represent people who are supportive or hostile, depending on the scenario (for example, an angry client).

Once you’ve identified these roles, allocate them to the people involved in your exercise; they should use their imagination to put themselves inside the minds of the people that they’re representing. This involves trying to understand their perspectives, goals, motivations, and feelings when they enter the situation. (You may find the Perceptual Positions   technique useful here.)

Step 4: Act Out the Scenario

Each person can then assume their role, and act out the situation, trying different approaches where necessary.

It can be useful if the scenarios build up in intensity. For instance, if the aim of your role-play is to practice a sales meeting, the person playing the role of the potential client could start as an ideal client, and, through a series of scenarios, could become increasingly hostile and difficult. You could then test and practice different approaches for handling situations, so that you can give participants experience in handling them.

Step 5: Discuss What You Have Learned

When you finish the role-play, discuss what you’ve learned, so that you or the people involved can learn from the experience.

 

 

READ

Tourism has changed a lot over the past few decades. It is actually quite a new thing. It probably didn’t exist fifty years ago. The only people who travelled then were rich, and they were called travelers. I guess tourism started in the late 60s and early 70s when airplane travel became cheap. The idea of foreign travel suddenly became very popular with millions. Everyone wanted their two weeks of sun in the summer. Tourism today is a multi-billion-dollar industry. There is hardly a corner of the Earth untouched by tourism. The number of tourists is also rocketing. Millions of people from Russia, India and China are now taking vacations. Tourism really is making the world a global village. I’m not sure if this is a good or a bad thing.

THE ACTIVITIES

LISTENING GAP FILL

Tourism has _____________________ the past few decades. It is actually quite a new thing. It _____________________ fifty years ago. The only people who travelled then were rich, and they _____________________. I guess tourism started in the late 60s and early 70s when airplane travel became cheap. The _____________________ suddenly became very _____________________. Everyone wanted their two weeks of sun in the summer. Tourism today is a multi-billion-dollar industry. There _____________________ the Earth untouched by tourism. The number of tourists _____________________. Millions of people from Russia, India and China are now taking vacations. Tourism really is making the world a global village. I’m not sure _____________________ or a bad thing.

CORRECT THE SPELLING

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UNJUMBLE THE WORDS

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WRITING

Write about tourism for 10 minutes. Show your partner your paper. Correct each other’s work.

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET INFO: Search the Internet and find more information about tourism. Talk about what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. MAGAZINE ARTICLE: Write a magazine article about tourism. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.

4. TOURISM POSTER Make a poster about tourism. Show it to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your posters.

5. MY TOURISM LESSON: Make your own English lesson on tourism. Make sure there is a good mix of things to do. Find some good online activities. Teach the class / another group when you have finished.

6. ONLINE SHARING: Use your blog, wiki, Facebook page, My Space page, Twitter stream, Del-icio-us / StumbleUpon account, or any other social media tool to get opinions on tourism. Share your findings with the class.