Understanding Characters from Actions and Dialogue

Understanding Characters from Actions and Dialogue exercise

• What is dialogue? What are actions?

  Hints

  Look at this example of dialogue: "Hey Zayd, I really love this library!" said Ari. "Me too!" said Zayd.

  Remember, when a character does an action, it means they are doing something.

  Solution

  Dialogue is when characters talk in a story.

  For example: Rabbit said, "I love carrots!"

  Actions are what a character does in the story.

  For example: Rabbit ate the carrots.

• Highlight the dialogue.

  Hints

  Remember, we use quotation marks (" ") to show dialogue.

  Look at this example: Togi walked into the store. "One tuna sandwich, please!" they said.

  "One tuna sandwich" is the dialogue. It is in quotation marks so it is something Togi said.

  Solution

  The dialogue in this story is in quotation marks:

  Togi was ready to fight the bad guy - a giant fish! "I am going to take over this city!" the giant fish said. Togi grabbed the fish by its tail. "Take that, giant fish!" Togi yelled, and they threw the bad guy into the lake. "And that is how you catch the tuna!" said Togi triumphantly.

• What can we look for to help us identify dialogue and action in a story?

  Hints

  A verb is an action word.

  Examples of verbs are: run, sing, talk, jump

  Look at this example: "I really want Mr. Black to sign my book!" Ari said. What do you notice is surrounding the dialogue?

  Solution

  When identifying or finding dialogue, look for the quotation marks that surround the sentence.

  For example: "I love to read!" said Zayd.

  When identifying or finding action, look for any verbs in the sentence with the character.

  For example: Mr. Black twirled into the bookstore, with his cape flowing behind him. The verb twirled tells us the action.

• Highlight the action.

  Hints

  Remember to look for verbs. Verbs are action words that tell you what the characters are doing in a story.

  Remember to highlight all the action words, both for Togi and the turtle.

  There are six action words to highlight.

  Solution

  The action words are: walking, jumped, grabbed, helped and walk. All of these words tell us what the characters are doing:

  Suddenly, Togi saw a little turtle walking into traffic. Togi jumped across the street. He grabbed the turtle, and helped him walk safely.

• Identifying what goes with action and what goes with dialogue.

  Hints

  Remember that dialogue is when characters talk to one another.

  Actions can help us understand character traits based on what the character does.

  Look at this sentence: Toshi said "come here little kitty!" What Toshi said is in quotation marks. Quotation marks show what Toshi said in the story.

  Verbs are action words, they tell us what a character is doing.

  Solution

  Dialogue:

  Uses quotation marks (" ")

  When characters talk in a story

  Actions:

  What characters do in a story

  Can be found by looking for verbs

• Where is the dialogue and action in this story?

  Hints

  Remember, dialogue is something a character says. Look for quotation marks (" ") to help you find dialogue.

  There are four action words to highlight in green.

  Solution

  Action words: looked, said, nodded, responded

  Dialogue: "I really hope we can see both characters today", "I hope so too!"

  Zayd looked at Ari and said, "I really hope we can see both characters today". Ari nodded her head. "I hope so too!" she responded..