"So," Mister Gram R. Nazi said. "You want to know how to write you dialogue and use proper grammar, no?" he asked Stew Dent.
"Yes.' He said, "I"m not exactly sure I know how,"
"Excellent!" Gram R. Nazi said. "Let's get started with quotation marks," he said congenially. "You see, lad, when I start speaking, there are two little marks before my first word. Those are called quotation marks! Isn't it fun? I start and end my dialogue with them."
"I see." Said the boy.
"Now, let's talk about finishing sentences with dialogue," Gram R. Nazi said. "If I'm specifying who spoke, or how they spoke, I use a comma instead of a period," Gram told Stew. "Unless I'm using another kind of punctuation--for instance, an exclamation point!" he shouted.
"I see?" Asked Stew. "I"m not completely sure," He said.
"Ah, but there's more than just that, ol' chap!" he exclaimed jovially. "Because you're not technically done with the sentence, you don't capitalize 'he' or 'she.' Only if you were to say a proper name," Gram R. Nazi said. "Like you just read."
"What about if I"m ending the sentence right there, and not saying "he said"?" the boy asked.
"Ah! Fantastic question, lad!" Gram R. Nazi beamed. "When that happens, you capitalize the sentence." He took off his hat to show what he meant. "See?"
"I see!" Stew Dent confirmed. "But what if I'm quoting someone? Do I use quotation marks?"
"Ah, lad, now you're asking questions!" Gram said. "If I'm quoting someone, I often put the words in italics, or I can use apostrophes. Either one is perfectly fine."
"Can I get an example?" Stew Dent asked.
"'Can I get an example?' Why, yes, of course, lad! There's your example!" Gram R. Nazi said congenially.
"What about if I was quoting a novel, or a poem?" Stew Dent asked.
"You use both! 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?'"
"No, thank you." Stew Dent blushed. "I'm afraid I'm already taken."
"Any more questions, ol' chap?" Gram R. Nazi asked.
"What about if I were reciting something, like a prophecy, song, or a poem?" Stew asked.
"A half blood of the eldest gods,
"Shall reach sixteen against all odds. . ."
Mr. Nazi looked at Stew Dent. "Did that help?"
"I see. . . So you put the words in italics and make new paragraphs to follow the stanza! How do I use more than one paragraph, though? Do the rules differ between normal dialogue and poetry?" Stew Dent scratched his head, thinking.
"Well, that's very simple!
"You don't close the quotation marks. The first paragraph has quotation marks at the beginning, but when you change paragraphs, you don't add quotation marks. The second paragraph has opening quotation marks, and so forth.
"Only the final paragraph has closing quotation marks.
This rule applies to all dialogue." Gram R. Nazi took a breath, having finished his thought.
"What about irregular grammar? More difficult dialogue sentences?" Stew Dent asked.
"Ah, so you mean--" Gram R. Nazi scratched his head, thinking. "Sentences like these?"
"Yes! But what about continuing a sentence?"
"'Suffer the little children and forbid them not to come unto me,'" Gram. R Nazi quoted, "'for of such is the kingdom of heaven.'"
"I think I understand what you're saying. Because you haven't finished the sentence--or in this case, your quote--you place a comma, and the next word isn't capitalized."
"You're absolutely right!"
"What about if there are two people speaking? Like twins finishing each others' sentences?"
"Well, you'd use--"
"--hyphens," Gram R. Nazi's brother, Mister Lang Uage piped up. "That's how people cut each other--"
"--off," Gram. R. Nazi finished the sentence.
"I see!" Stew Dent said.
"I think you're ready to go out into the world, lad." Gram R. Nazi beamed. "Another wonderful day, teaching grammar!"
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This has to be one of the best ways to teach dialogue. It was funny, informative, and useful all at the same time!
It was fantastic!
I'm definitely going to come back to this so I can relearn my dialogue. This is really helpful!! I hope other users can find this and actually use it as a guide.
The puns were just perfect, by the way ٩(｡•ω•｡)و
Keep doing what you're doing! Maybe you can write a guide like this on apostrophes (your vs. you're, its vs. it's) because I'm positive it will be just as awesome as this!
An interesting concept!
I like the fact that it is quite useful. I love the characters. "Gram R. Nazi" cracked me up for sure. I love how you have made things interesting using appropriate humor (not overboard at all). It is perfect to teach the little ones some grammar.
Good job.
Cheers!
It's an interesting concept for a short story here, and I reckon this is a great way to teach people how to write. The names are amusing and whilst there is a little thing that irritates me, the idea is intriguing.
The errors at the beginning are on purpose, which are awesome, but after that, all of the dialogue ends with _(name)_ __(action)__, e.g. 'Gram. R. Nazi finished the sentence.' Personally, this bugs me because of the repetition, but you may think otherwise.
I also agree with Sparkawan with the overboard puns, but besides that personal annoyance, an applause to you for this short story.
I really enjoyed the Percy Jackson and Shakespeare reference too.
Hopefully this helped,
Jess
Yeah, I was debating on shortening the names to "Stew," "Gram," et cetera, but I decided against it, thinking if I abbreviated them I'd get rid of the joke.
Very interesting short here! I think it is a great way to help other writers with their grammar and writing skills. I really think that the names are quite great, such as Gram R. Nazi, (Grammar Nazi), Stew Dent, (Student) and Mister Lang Uage (Mister Language). Though these are quite amusing to have as teachers, you did seem to go a little bit overboard on their names being puns of grammar and school related things.
Other than that, I feel that this is an intriguing way to keep people with good grammar.