Teaching Dialogue with Lord of the Flies

Dialogue can convey a lot about an individual.  How one acts and reacts to the words and actions of other helps define that character. Dialogue also reveal relationships, by can give us additional information that we can infer from their words, their use of slang, etc.  

Puncturing dialogue in a narrative:

1. Put quotation marks around the words each speaker says.

"Come on," said Ralph. "We've found out what we wanted to know."

2. If the tag line that identifies the speaker comes before the quotation, put a comma after it, before the quotation marks.

Piggy grinned reluctantly," So long as you don't tell the others--"

3.  (a) If the tag line follows the quotation, put a comma inside the final quotation mark if the quotation ends with a period.  (b) If the quotation ends with a question mark or exclamation mark, skip the comma.

(a) "I'm scared of him," said Piggy, "and that's why I know him."

(b) "The rules!" shouted Ralph.  "You're breaking the rules!"
(b) "What's grownups going to say?" cried Piggy.

4. If you place the tag line in the middle of the quotation, place a comma before it inside the quotation marks and after it, before the quotation marks.

 "I'm scared of him," said Piggy, "and that's why I know him."

5. Start a new paragraph each time there is a new speaker, or if a speaker switches topics.

Jack spoke.
"We've got to decide about being rescued."
There was a buzz.  One of the small boys, Henry, said that he wanted to go home.
"Shut up," said Ralph absently.  He lifted the conch. "Seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things."
"A chief!  A chief!"
"I ought to be chief," said Jack with simple arrogance, "because I'm chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp."
Another buzz.
Well then," said Jack, "I--"
He hesitated.  The dark boy, Roger, stirred at last and spoke up.
"Let's have a vote."
"Yes!"
"Vote for chief!" 

After discussion how dialogue can develop a character and reveal information about him/her, have students write a dialogue.  The dialogue might be among a group of children stranded on an island, or it could be dialogue in the cafeteria, on a bus, etc.