How To Cite Quotes From A Play In An Essay
Introduction
A good grade is not guaranteed by a well written paper, but instead it is by proper citation. The source material should always be cited to establish a strong essay.
After each quotation containing an act or a scene, one should place a parenthetical reference. When referencing use Arabic numerals. When you are making quotation marks it is advised to use periods and commas. When you are quoting a prose in an essay which runs below four lines, quotation marks are used to incorporate the text. In most plays, characters are written differently. I.e. the minor characters are often written in prose and major characters are in verse.
What to observe when quoting a prose.
- Quotation that runs more than four lines should be formatted as line block quotation.
- Make a space of one inch from the left margin, then start on a new line and set the quotation.
When quoting a verse.
- In case you want to quote all or part of a single line of a verse, you should always put it in quotation marks within your text.
- A slash with a space on each side can be used to incorporate two or three lines in the same way.
- When you are quoting a verse with more which has three or more lines, set it as block. Observe the one inch space from the margin, and start a new line.
- A good way to quote dialogue between two or more characters in a play is ; to set the quotation off from your text, use the appropriate characters name at the beginning of each part of the dialogue.
- When you want to talk about a different character in the same dialogue, make sure the first new line is indented one inch from the left margin.
Conclusion
Always use the play name in the citation rather than the author. In case you want to want to write about one play, replace the play title in the parenthetical citation for the authors’ last name. You can use the abbreviation to refer to the play in the rest of a paper. When you want to quote verse or prose while not including parts of a sentence or phrase, one should always use ellipses to mark the left out text. For example; heaven make me free of it! I follow three/… wretched queen, adieu!” (Shakespeare1.5.10-13).
Indentation is normally enough when making quotation that refer to one character, and are longer than three lines of verse or four lines of prose.
When making any quotation from poem and sonnet quotations;
- Do not change the set guidelines by the plays for prose and verse.
- The line numbers should be used instead of page numbers.