Craft Lesson #3--Paragraphing and Punctuating Dialogue in Writing

Materials Needed:
Acceleration by Graham McNamee (2003 ed.)
Copies of the modified excerpt from Acceleration (or an overhead)
Pen and paper

Note to teacher: This lesson may be used during reading or after reading the book.
TEKS: (English III) 1b, 2bc, 3a, 7a, 11bf, 12a

Explanation: Incorporating dialogue into a piece of literature draws the reader into the story. It can also be used in place of narration to move the story along or to draw the reader into the thoughts of characters.

Explain to your students that every line of dialogue does not always have to be accompanied by description or with a notation of who is speaking.
Example: “Later,” I say, leaving Wayne to crisp in the sun. (p. 143)
However, it does need to be paragraphed and punctuated correctly to keep the reader from becoming confused.

Review the following general rules for incorporating dialogue into writing:
1. Put quotation marks around the speaker’s words.
2. Start a new paragraph anytime a new character speaks.
3. When the dialogue begins, indicate who is speaking. (Remember to remind your audience who is speaking after a few exchanges).
4. Only put narrative comments with the dialogue if it helps move the story along.

Have your students read the following excerpt from Acceleration. Explain to them that it has been modified (all paragraphing and quotation marks have been removed).

from Acceleration (pp. 130 – 131):

What am I looking at? Vin asks.
We’re in the living room of his apartment, with its tangerine walls, burgundy couch, and amber carpeting. It looks like a sunset puked in here. It’s closing in on nine in the morning and his mom has already left for work, so we’ve got the place to ourselves. It’s a receipt, I tell him. I can see that. Why am I supposed to care? I peeled it off a page of his diary. Right. So he shopped at Yorkdale a year ago. Not exactly a hot lead. I’m sort of pleased that I’m ahead of Vin for once, pointing out what he’s not seeing. Look at the line between the subtotal and the taxes. He holds the slip up to inspect it. Ten percent off, he says. So they had a sale? I shake my head. Look at the letters beside the ten percent. Emp dis, Vin reads. What is that, Latin? I allow myself a small smile. Emp dis: employee discount. He locks eyes with me, then studies the receipt under the lamp. No way. Yeah. He works at a hardware store? I shrug. Guess he’s got to work somewhere.
Vin walks over to the windows, thinking it all through. He peels back a section of the tinfoil that covers the glass to block out the harsh sun in the afternoon. White morning light shines on the street outside. Where do we go from here? he says.

After the students have read through this silently, discuss what difficulties they had reading it. List these on the board/overhead. Then show them the original version from the book. Note the paragraphing and the quotation marks.

Extension: For additional practice, have students work in partners to create a continuation of the dialogue between Duncan and Vinny. Have them pick up with Vinny’s line, “Where do we go from here?” (p. 131) and continue with a discussion of the plan they come up with. Remind students to use quotation marks and indent and begin a new paragraph each time a different boy begins speaking.