Direct usage of dialogue is shown in the story.
"'Really?'
'No,' I said, growing annoyed. 'I'm lying.'
'Sorry, Ellie. I just thought PErcy Academy was so chichi and white.'
'Well, it isn't.' I wanted her to say something different. Something smart-the way she always did.
We were silent.
'You're mad, aren't you?'
'No.'
'Then what are you?'
I sighed. 'Nothing. I gotta go. I have to study-'
'Ellie. Don't be like this. I'm just suprised, that's all.'
'You were all excited before. Before I told you he was black.'
'Well, I'm still excited. I can be surprised and excited at the same time. Geez. I just never thought about it-you know.'" (If You Come Softly, page 56)
This was a conversation between Ellie, and her sister Anne over the phone. By the usage of dialogue, you can picture them talking, picture them pausing to find the right words to say, and you can see that Ellie is disapointted in Anne.
Another type of dialogue used in this story is monologues; when the characters speak to themselves.
"Now, staring out the window, I thought about my own apartment, how small and cramped it felt compared to this place. Yes, it was big-more space than the three of us needed, but it wasn't this. It was pretty, not beautiful. And my parents in it were aging and set in their ways, not elegant and creative like Miah's. Doctor's daughter. All my life I had heard how lucky I was to be so. I had never imagined anything different, until now, until I met Miah." (If You Come Softly, page 163, paragraph 1)
Monologues also help you understand how a character feels inside. Things that normally, she won't say out loud.
Dialogue helps the readers to understand how a character is feeling, how a character interacts with another character, and also, it keeps the reader well interested throughout the book.
By: Michelle Xia
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