E4FA: Writing Dialogues

What is the primary purpose of dialogue in a story?

• To fill space on the page
• To reveal character personalities and move the plot forward
• To confuse the reader
• To make the story longer

Which of the following is NOT a function of dialogue in storytelling?

• Revealing character emotions
• Providing information to the reader
• Creating tension and conflict
• Describing the setting in detail

What punctuation is used to enclose spoken words in dialogue?

• Parentheses ( )
• Quotation marks " "
• Em dashes — —
• Square brackets [ ]

Which of the following is the correct way to punctuate dialogue?

• "I love pizza!" Exclaimed Tom.
• "I love pizza!," exclaimed Tom.
• "I love pizza!" exclaimed Tom.
• "I love pizza"! exclaimed Tom.

When should you start a new paragraph in dialogue?

• Every time a character speaks
• Only when the scene changes
• When the topic of conversation changes
• At random intervals

Which of the following is an example of a dialogue tag?

• He danced
• The sun was setting
• She said
• It was raining

How should internal dialogue (thoughts) typically be formatted?

• In quotation marks
• In parentheses
• In italics
• In bold

Which sentence correctly uses a dialogue tag at the beginning?

• Sarah asked, "what time is the movie?"
• Sarah asked "What time is the movie?"
• Sarah asked, "What time is the movie?"
• Sarah asked: "What time is the movie?"

When a dialogue tag comes after the spoken words, where should the comma be placed?

• After the closing quotation mark
• Before the closing quotation mark
• After the dialogue tag
• No comma is needed

Which of the following is the correct way to punctuate a question in dialogue?

• "Where are you going?", asked Mary.
• "Where are you going?" Asked Mary.
• "Where are you going?" asked Mary.
• "Where are you going", asked Mary?