Punctuating Dialogue and Quotations
I.
II.
Key Terms
A. Direct quotation: the exact words that a person has spoken or written
Ex. “You think . . . Stacey, you think it’s ‘cause of them burnings T.J. was talking ‘bout?”
B. Indirect quotation: a paraphrase of someone else’s words; basically what a person has said or written but not
the exact words. Indirect quotations should not be placed in quotation marks.
Ex. Mr. Morrison said that he got fired because he got in a fight with some white men.
C. Dialogue: conversation between two or more individuals
Ex.
“Pick it up,” she ordered.
“No!” defied Little Man.
“No?” I’ll give you ten seconds to pick up that book, boy,
or I’m going to get my switch.”
D. Speaker Tag: a statement that identifies a speaker within dialogue; the tag will show who is speaking and
often describe how the words are expressed.
Ex.
“Mary Lou Wellever,” Miss Crocker called primly, “have a seat.”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Mary Lou, eyeing me with a look of pure hate before turning away.
E. Dialect: a writer’s attempt to show how a character realistically speaks; this is accomplished by spelling words
in a manner that suggests their pronunciations; by including text features such as italics, bold print,
underlining, font choices, etc.; and by using slang, grammatical misusages, and idioms.
Ex. “It’s sho’ a shame all right,” said T.J.’s father. These folks gettin’ so bad in here. Heard tell they lynched a
boy a few days ago at Crosston.”
Rules to Remember
A. Use a comma to separate the quote from the speaker tag only if the speaker tag has a speech verb (said,
stated, expressed, yelled, asked, exclaimed, yelped, bellowed, cried, screamed, hollered, replied, retorted,
mumbled, objected, claimed, etc.). If a quotation ends in a question mark or exclamation mark, don’t replace
it with a comma.
Ex. “Oh, Lord, no child,” Big Ma exclaimed hastily.
Ex. “Well, you ain’t gonna,” said Stacey, tearing the paper in two.
Ex. After we left the Turners’, Stacey asked, “Mama, who you gonna get to sign?”
Ex. “What!” we exclaimed together.
Ex. “I’m not trying to show off,” he said, “and I wish you’d stop bugging me.” (Notice that the and is not
capitalized.)
B. If a dialogue tag contains a speech verb and interrupts the quote, then the second half of the quote should not
begin with a capital letter unless it is a proper noun or the personal pronoun “I.”
Ex. “Big Ma,” I said, “what Mr. Granger need more land for?”
C. If there is not a speech verb, the tag is considered a separate sentence. Consequently, the quotation and tags
should be separated by end marks, and both should begin with capital letters.
Ex. Mama sighed. “The boys, they’re not themselves either.”
Ex. “Has anyone seen my homework?” She clearly looked panic-stricken.
Ex. “I’m not fat!” She gave him a vicious look. “I’m just big-boned.”
D. When writing dialogue, begin a new paragraph each time a change in speaker occurs.
Ex.
Big Ma gazed down at me again, her voice cracking as she
spoke. “Go on, child . . . apologize.”
“But, Big Ma—“
Her voice hardened. “Do like I say.”
I swallowed hard.
“Go on!”
“I’m sorry,” I mumbled.
“I’m sorry, Miz Lillian Jean,” demanded Mr. Simms.
E. Unless parenthetical citation is added, periods and commas should be placed within quotation marks.
Correct: “You can’t sit here,” objected Gracey. “I’m saving it for Mary Lou.”
Incorrect: “You can’t sit here”, objected Gracey. I’m saving it for Mary Lou”.
Correct: In “Amigo Brothers,” Felix and Antonio fight each other in the main bout.
Incorrect: In “Amigo Brothers”, Felix and Antonio fight each other in the main bout.
Correct: I like the story “Amigo Brothers.”
Incorrect: I like the story “Amigo Brothers”.
Correct: “You can’t sit here,” objected Gracey. “I’m saving it for Mary Lou” (Taylor 18).
Incorrect: “You can’t sit here,” objected Gracey. “I’m saving it for Mary Lou.” (Taylor 18)
F. Question and exclamation marks, including all other punctuation marks, should only be placed inside
quotation marks whenever they are punctuating the quotation. If they are punctuating the sentence outside
of the quotation marks, then they should be placed outside of the quotation marks.
Correct: Do you like the story “Amigo Brothers”?
Incorrect: Do you like the story “Amigo Brothers?”
Correct: She asked, “Why did you do that?”
Incorrect: She asked, “Why did you do that”?
Correct: Did the teacher really say, “You are exempt from that assignment”?
Incorrect: Did the teacher really say, “You are exempt from that assignment?”
G. Use single quotation marks to designate quotes within quotes. The same rule applies whenever a title, which
normally would be in quotation marks, appears within a quote.
Ex. Darlene screamed, “You said, ‘We get two bathroom passes each quarter—not one!’”
Ex. She said, “The story ‘Seventh Grade’ is my favorite.”
Assignment #1: On a separate sheet of paper, respond to the following prompt.
Prompt: Imagine that you have built a time machine, and you can go back and visit any person in history. Write down
the conversation you would have with that person.
Your dialogue should be at least ten sentences in length. Purposefully add at least five mistakes—errors regarding how you
punctuated your dialogue—and then exchange your paper with another student. Your partner should use proofreading marks
in order to correct your mistakes.
Assignment #2: Turn to page 864 in your Writing with Power textbook. Read the information regarding quotation marks and
direct quotations and then complete the following tasks:
1. “Practice Your Skills,” numbers one through ten, on pages 865, 866, 867, and 868.
2. “Check Point,” numbers 1-12, on page 869.