Understanding Characters from Actions and Dialogue
Basics on the topic Understanding Characters from Actions and Dialogue
How can you understand characters from their action and dialogue?
In this video we explored how actions and dialogue can help us to better understand characters. The action helps us to understand characters to show us who they are by what they do and the dialogue helps us to understand characters by showing us who they are when they talk!
Interested in learning more? Check out the interactive exercises and worksheets that follow this video.
Transcript Understanding Characters from Actions and Dialogue
Zayd and Ari are out on their weekly outing to their favorite book store in order to see if there are any new books to get... but what's this on the front of the door? : "This Saturday join your favorite characters from Togi versus the world and Detective Mr. Black for a special fan signing event." : 'We have to go see Togi from Togi versus the world! I'm her biggest fan!" : "No, we HAVE to go see Mr. Black from Detective Mr. Black, he's my biggest inspiration." Let's help Zayd and Ari decide which character to meet by learning about understanding characters from actions and dialogue. When reading a story, we get a lot of information from the author about the characters. How can we talk about the characters using information from the story? One way is through actions and dialogue! You might know that dialogue is when characters talk in a story. Dialogue can help us understand characters better by showing character traits based on what they SAY. We can tell when someone is talking in a story because the author puts the words the character says in quotation marks that look like THIS. I wonder if Zayd and Ari will use dialogue to decide which character to meet? : "I want to meet Togi and hear her catchphrase 'and THAT is how you catch the tuna!'" : "She says that every time she wins against a bad guy, it's so funny." What was the dialogue that made Zayd want to meet Togi? And THAT is how you catch the tuna!' is the dialogue that Togi uses here. This tells us that Togi likes to say a catchphrase after she defeats a villian. We can also use action to help us understand characters in a story. The actions in a story tell us what the character or characters DO. Sometimes the author uses verbs to show the characters action. Actions can help us to understand characters better because they tell us character traits based on what the characters DO. You can find the action by looking for the verb in the sentence that the author uses. I wonder if Zayd and Ari will talk about actions to decide which character to meet? : "I want to meet Detective Mr. Black and see him tip his hat and wink!" : "He always does that when he solves a case, it's AMAZING how smart he is." What was the action that made Ari want to meet Detective Mr. Black? There are two verbs in Ari's sentence that show action, tip and wink. The action that made Ari want to meet detective Mr. Black is when detective Mr. Black tips his hat and winks after solving a case. Before we see who our friends decided to meet, let's remember. Today we learned about understanding characters from actions and dialogue. We can use actions and dialogue to understand more about characters in a story. When identifying or finding dialogue, look for the quotation marks that surround a sentence.. and when identifying or finding action, look for any VERBS in the sentence with the character. Now, let's see who Ari and Zayd decided to meet. : "You were right, Zayd! They're both here!" : "Now we can meet them both!" : "Can we have your paw-tograph?"
Understanding Characters from Actions and Dialogue exercise
-
What is dialogue? What are actions?
HintsLook 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.
SolutionDialogue 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.
HintsRemember, 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.
SolutionThe 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?
HintsA 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?
SolutionWhen 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.
HintsRemember 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.
SolutionThe 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.
HintsRemember 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.
SolutionDialogue:
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?
HintsRemember, dialogue is something a character says. Look for quotation marks (" ") to help you find dialogue.
There are four action words to highlight in green.
SolutionAction 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..
