New
New
Year 9

Crafting character through dialogue

I can carefully craft a character through the use of dialogue.

New
New
Year 9

Crafting character through dialogue

I can carefully craft a character through the use of dialogue.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Dialogue should be punctuated and laid out clearly and accurately to make it clear who is speaking.
  2. The reporting clause is helpful when crafting character.
  3. Strong verbs and adverbs are crucial for creating engaging dialogue that conveys characters' emotions.
  4. It’s important to include description when writing dialogue.
  5. The tone conveyed when crafting dialogue tells the reader a lot about the characters involved.

Common misconception

The most important part of dialogue is what is inside the speech marks.

What is said through dialogue is really important, but it's also crucial to consider how that dialogue is to be said. Careful selection of verbs and adverbs give the reader a crucial insight into how dialogue should be read.

Keywords

  • Dialogue - a conversation between two or more people

  • Tone - the overall mood or attitude in a text

  • Verb - a word used to describe an action, state, or occurrence

  • Adverb - a word that describes a verb, an adjective, another adverb or even a whole clause; often ends in '-ly'

  • Reporting clause - comes before or after speech to tell the reader who is talking or thinking

You may wish to prepare examples of excellent dialogue from texts your pupils are already familiar with for LC2.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You will need a copy of the example dialogue used in LC2 which is available in the additional materials.

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following verbs would be most effective for showing a character's anger?
Correct answer: stormed
walked
twirled
sat
Q2.
What is a key purpose of using adverbs in descriptive writing?
to provide historical context
to change the setting
Correct answer: to modify verbs and add detail to actions
Q3.
Which of these is an example of a simile?
Correct answer: Her smile was like sunshine.
Her smile was sunshine.
Her smile brightened the room.
Q4.
In fiction writing, how does juxtaposition help in character development?
Correct answer: by contrasting characters to highlight their differences
by summarising the character’s background
by showing the character's internal thoughts
Q5.
What is the purpose of using strong verbs in dialogue?
to show who is speaking
to introduce new characters
Correct answer: to make the dialogue more engaging
Q6.
What is an essential rule for punctuating dialogue?
Never use any punctuation in dialogue.
Correct answer: Always start a new line for each new character speaking.
Always use a full stop inside the speech marks.

6 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following is the correct way to punctuate dialogue?
"I'm not sure." she said
"I'm not sure", she said.
Correct answer: "I'm not sure," she said.
Q2.
Which example uses an effective verb to show surprise in dialogue?
"I can't believe it," she mentioned.
Correct answer: "I can't believe it," she gasped.
"I can't believe it," she replied.
Q3.
The overall mood or attitude in a text is the definition of ...
Correct Answer: tone
Q4.
What is the impact of using description alongside dialogue?
It is useful to extend the dialogue.
It makes the dialogue too confusing and should be avoided.
Correct answer: It adds depth to characters and makes the dialogue more interesting.
Q5.
Which of the following adverbs would best describe a character who is speaking angrily?
Correct answer: furiously
determinedly
ambitiously
Q6.
In the following dialogue, which sentence best demonstrates effective use of dialogue to reveal the character's emotions and intentions?
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said. “It’s not important.”
Correct answer: “I don’t want to talk about it,” he said, turning his back, voice trembling.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said quietly. “It’s not important.”

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