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What about MLA format?
All research papers on literature use MLA format, as it is the universal citation method for the field of literary studies. Whenever you use a primary or secondary source, whether you are quoting or paraphrasing, you will make parenthetical citations in the MLA format [Ex. (Smith 67).] Your Works Cited list will be the last page of your essay. Consult the OWL handout on MLA for further instructions.
Note, however, the following minor things about MLA format:
- Titles of books, plays, or works published singularly (not anthologized) should be italicised unless it is a handwritten document, in which case underlining is acceptable. (Ex. Hamlet , Great Expectations )
- Titles of poems, short stories, or works published in an anthology will have quotation marks around them. (Ex. "Ode to a Nightingale," "The Cask of Amontillado")
Tip If you're using Microsoft Word, you can easily include your name and page number on each page by following the these steps:
- Open "View" (on the top menu).
- Open "Header and Footer." (A box will appear at the top of the page you're on. And a "Header and Footer" menu box will also appear).
- Click on the "align right" button at the top of the screen. (If you're not sure which button it is, hold the mouse over the buttons and a small window should pop up telling you which button you're on.)
- Type in your last name and a space.
- Click on the "#" button which is located on the "Header and Footer" menu box. It will insert the appropriate page number.
- Click "Close" on the "Header and Footer" window.
That's all you need to do. Word will automatically insert your name and the page number on every page of your document.
What else should I remember?
- Don't leave a quote or paraphrase by itself-you must introduce it, explain it, and show how it relates to your thesis.
- Block format all quotations of more than four lines.
- When you quote brief passages of poetry, line and stanza divisions are shown as a slash (Ex. "Roses are red, / Violets are blue / You love me / And I like you").
- For more help, see the OWL handout on using quotes .
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How to Quote and Cite a Play in an Essay Using MLA Format
Last Updated: October 12, 2023
This article was co-authored by Christopher Taylor, PhD . Christopher Taylor is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Austin Community College in Texas. He received his PhD in English Literature and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014. This article has been viewed 397,263 times.
MLA (Modern Language Association) format is a popular citation style for papers and essays. You may be unsure how to quote and cite play using MLA format in your essay for a class. Start by following the correct formatting for a quote from one speaker or from multiple speakers in the play. Then, use the correct citation style for a prose play or a verse play.
Template and Examples
Quoting Dialogue from One Speaker
- For example, if you were quoting a character from the play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, you would write, In Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , the character Honey says...
- For example, if you are quoting the character George from the play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee, you would write, “George says,…” or “George states,…”.
- For example, if you are quoting from Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , you would write: Martha notes, "Truth or illusion, George; you don’t know the difference."
- For example, if you were quoting from Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure , you would write: Claudio states “the miserable have no other medicine / But only hope.”
Quoting Dialogue from Multiple Speakers
- You do not need to use quotation marks when you are quoting dialogue by multiple speakers from a play. The blank space will act as a marker, rather than quotation marks.
- MARTHA. Truth or illusion, George; you don’t know the difference.
- GEORGE. No, but we must carry on as though we did.
- MARTHA. Amen.
- Verse dialogue is indented 1 ¼ inch (3.17cm) from the left margin.
- RUTH. Eat your eggs, Walter.
- WALTER. (Slams the table and jumps up) --DAMN MY EGGS--DAMN ALL THE EGGS THAT EVER WAS!
- RUTH. Then go to work.
- WALTER. (Looking up at her) See--I’m trying to talk to you ‘bout myself--(Shaking his head with the repetition)--and all you can say is eat them eggs and go to work.
Citing a Quote from a Prose Play
- If you are quoting dialogue from one speaker, place the citation at the end of the quoted dialogue, in the text.
- If you are quoting dialogue from multiple speakers, place the citation at the end of the block quote.
- For example, you may write: “(Albee…)” or “(Hansberry…)”
- For example, you may write, “(Albee, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ...).”
- If you have mentioned the title of the play once already in an earlier citation in your essay, you do not need to mention it again in the citations for the play moving forward.
- For example, you may write, “(Albee 10; act 1).
- If you are including the title of the play, you may write: “(Albee, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 10; act 1).”
Citing a Quote from a Verse Play
- For example, if the quote appears in act 4, scene 4 of the play, you will write, “(4.4…)”.
- For example, if the quote appears on lines 33 to 35, you will write, “(33-35).”
- The completed citation would look like: “(4.4.33-35)”.
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About This Article
To quote and cite a play in your essay using MLA format, start by referencing the author and title of the play in the main body of your essay. Then, name the speaker of the quote so it’s clear who’s talking. For example, write, “In Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? the character Honey says…” After introducing the quote, frame the dialogue with quotation marks to make it clear that it’s a direct quote from a text. If your dialogue is written in verse, use forward slashes to indicate each line break. For more tips from our English co-author, including how to quote dialogue between multiple speakers in your essay, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No
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AP Style Composition Titles
Home » AP Style » AP Style Composition Titles
The following guidelines are rules set out in the AP Stylebook for AP style book titles, computer game titles, AP Style movie titles, opera titles, play titles, poem titles, album titles, AP Style song titles, radio and television titles, and the titles of lectures, speeches, and work of art.
In AP Style, magazines names and titles are governed by their own rules. See AP Style Magazine Names .
How to Capitalize Composition Titles
Capitalize the principal words, including prepositions and conjunctions of four or more letters.
Capitalize an article (a, an, the) or words of fewer than four letters if it is the first or last word in the title.
Put quotation marks around the names of all of the aforementioned types of works except the Bible and books that are primarily catalogs or reference materials. Items of reference include almanacs, directories, dictionaries, encyclopedias, gazetteers, handbooks, and other such similar publications. You should not include quotations around such software titles such as Adobe Photoshop or Windows.
You should translate a foreign title into an English one unless the specific word is commonly known by its foreign name. There is one exception to this and that is for reviews of musical performances. In such instances, you should generally refer to the work in the language that it was sung in, so as to differentiate it for your reader. However, musical compositions in Slavic languages are always referred to in their English translations.
For other classical music titles, use quotation marks around the composition’s nicknames but not compositions that are identified by their sequence. For example,
- Beethoven’s “New World Symphony,” but Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.
Below are a number of examples for composition titles in AP Style,
AP Style Book Titles
- “To Kill a Mockingbird”
- “The Magician’s Nephew”
- “Of Mice and Men”
AP Style Movie Titles
- “Saving Private Ryan”
- “Trouble With the Curve”
- “The Dark Knight Rises”
AP Style Song Titles
- “Stairway to Heaven”
- “Good Vibrations
AP Style Videogame Titles
- “Call of Duty”
- “God of War”
- “Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell”
AP Style Opera Titles
- “A Night in the Chinese Opera”
- “Nixon in China”
- “The Lighthouse”
AP Style Play Titles
- “The Sound of Music”
- “The Book of Mormon”
- “Fiddler on the Roof”
AP Style Poem Titles
- “The Road Not Taken”
- “A Pretty a Day”
- “Seeker of Truth”
AP Style Album Titles
- “Appetite for Destruction”
- “And Justice for All”
- “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”
AP Style Television Titles
- “How I Met Your Mother”
- “The Tonight Show”
- “Good Morning America”
AP Style Website Titles
Most websites and apps are capitalized without quotations. For example,
“Farmville” and similar computer games apps are an exception and should be in quotes.
For classical compositions, use quotation marks around the composition’s nicknames but not compositions identified by its sequence. For example,
- Dvorak’s “New World Symphony.”
- Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9.
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