You need to write an additional sheet with your thesis statement (not your introductory paragraph), and your 3-4 supporting points in jot note form.

Tips on Quoting

For quotes in verse:

Following the exit of the rest of the court, Hamlet wishes aloud for his own death: “O that this too too solid flesh would melt, / Thaw and resolve it into a dew” (1.2.29-30).

For quotes in verse over three lines:

Following the exit of the rest of the court, Hamlet wishes aloud for his own death:

O that this too too solid flesh would melt,

Thaw and resolve it into a dew,

Or that the Everlasting had not fixed

His canon ’gainst self-slaughter. (1.2.129-32)

For quotes (either in verse or in prose) that are set aside, either use a colon (as above) or integrate the quote into the sentence that precedes it:

Following the exit of the rest of the court, Hamlet wishes aloud that

. . . [his] too too solid flesh would melt,

Thaw and resolve it into a dew,

Or that the Everlasting had not fixed

His canon ’gainst self-slaughter. (1.2.129-32)

(note that for quotes set aside you indent twice for each line. Also, for quotes set aside you place the period and two spaces before the parentheses)

For quotes in prose:

Polonius slowly begins to realize that Hamlet may not be as mad as he seems: “How pregnant his replies are! A happiness that often madness hits on, which reason and sanity could not so prosperously be delivered of” (2.2.207-10).

For quotes in prose over three lines:

Hamlet mocks Polonius when he describes the book he has been reading thus:

Slanders, sir; for the satirical rogue says here that old men have grey beards beards, that their faces are wrinkled, their eyes purging thick amber or plum-tree gum, and that they have a plentiful lack of wit, together with most weak hams . . . . (2.2.196-200)

(note that for quotes set aside in prose you do not follow the line stops provided by the text. Instead, write the prose out as it is and allow that line stops to occur when they normally would)

When integrating a quote into your sentence, make sure that it fits grammatically:

Following the exit of the rest of the court, Hamlet wishes aloud for his own death. However, since “the Everlasting” has “fixed / His canon ’gainst self-slaughter” (1.2.131-32), Hamlet cannot commit suicide.

Amazed by Hamlet’s “pregnant . . . replies” (2.2.207-08), Polonius slowly begins to realize that Hamlet may not be as mad as he seems.

For some quotes you may have to change from past to present tense, from plural to singular, etc. in order to make the sentence grammatically correct:

Hamlet declares to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern that “dream[s]” are only “shadow[s]” (2.2.258).

Hamlet is perplexed by all that is happening around him, declaring that “there is something in this more than natural, if [only] philosophy could find it out” (2.2.362-63).

Hamlet chides Polonius’ taste in drama, for he “sleeps” unless he can see “a jig or a tale of bawdry” (2.2.491).

Inspired by the players’ acting, Hamlet hits on the idea of “set[ting] down and insert[ing]” “some dozen or sixteen lines” into their play for the performance before the court (2.2.529-30).

When to include the title of the work in the parenthetical reference:

Many critics believe that Shakespeare may have instructed his fellow actors at the Globe Theatre thus:

Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue. But if you mouth it, as many of your players do, I had as life the town-crier had spoke my lines. Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand, thus, but use all gently; for in the very torrent, tempest, and, as I may say, the whirlwind of your passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness. (Hamlet 3.2.1-8)

For many critics, Hamlet’s advice to the players may be similar to the kind of advice Shakespeare may have given to his fellow actors at the Globe Theatre:

Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue. But if you mouth it, as many of your players do, I had as life the town-crier had spoke my lines. Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand, thus, but use all gently; for in the very torrent, tempest, and, as I may say, the whirlwind of your passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness. (3.2.1-8)

When quoting from a critic who only has one entry in your bibliography:

Robert N. Watson notes that although “revenge and ambition had meanings in Shakespeare’s world significantly different from” today, “we can still easily recognize them” nevertheless (160).

Although “revenge and ambition had meanings in Shakespeare’s world significantly different from” today, “we can still easily recognize them” nevertheless (Watson 160).

(note that quotes from critics that are more than three lines should be set aside the same way that the prose quotation above is)

If you are quoting from a critic who has more than one entry in your bibliography, include the title of the book or article instead of the critic’s name:

Robert N. Watson notes that although “revenge and ambition had meanings in Shakespeare’s world significantly different from” today, “we can still easily recognize them” nevertheless (“Tragedies of Revenge and Ambition” 160).

(note that the titles of articles—such as “Tragedies of Revenge and Ambition”—are in quotation marks while the titles of books—such as The Cambridge Companion to Shakespearean Tragedy—are in italics)

For your bibliography, use MLA format. Place all of your entries in alphabetical order with a space between each entry. Also note that if someone has more than one entry, place “--.” in place of their name and arrange the two (or more) entries alphabetically according to title (as with the Peter Brook example below). If the title is the same (as with the Julius Caesar example below) arrange the entries alphabetically according to the next available designation (as with the editor in the example below):

Barton, John. Playing Shakespeare: An Actor’s Guide. New York: Anchor, 1984. Print.

Barton, John, and Hall, Peter. The Wars of the Roses, Adapted for the Royal Shakespeare Company from William Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Parts I, II, III and Richard III. London: BBC, 1970. Print.

Bate, Jonathan, and Jackson, Russell, eds. The Oxford Illustrated History of Shakespeare on Stage. Oxford: OUP, 2001. Print.

Beauman, Sally. The Royal Shakespeare Company: A History of Ten Decades. Oxford: OUP, 1982. Print.

Brook, Peter. The Empty Space. London: Penguin, 1968. Print.

--. The Open Door. London: Anchor, 2005. Print.

Chambers, Colin. Inside the Royal Shakespeare Company: Creativity and the Institution. London: Routledge, 2004. Print.

Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar. Ed. David Daniell. London: Arden, 1998. Print.

--. Julius Caesar. Ed. T. S. Dorsch. London: Metheun, 1969. Print.

--. Julius Caesar. Ed. Arthur Humphreys. Oxford: OUP, 1984. Print.

--. Julius Caesar. Ed. Marvin Spevack. Cambridge: CUP, 2004. Print.

(note that the entries here are all books. For the specifics on citing articles, web pages, etc. check the MLA website)

If you are quoting from two works from the same book, cite as seen below:

McDonald, Russ. “The Language of Tragedy.” The Cambridge Companion to Shakespearean Tragedy. Ed. Claire McEachern. 2002. Cambridge: CUP, 2006. 23-49. Print.

Watson, Robert N. “Tragedies of Revenge and Ambition.” The Cambridge Companion to Shakespearean Tragedy. Ed. Claire McEachern. 2002. Cambridge: CUP, 2006. 160-181. Print.

For more information on citations, please check the MLA guidelines page provided by the Patrick Power Library:

(On citations)

http://www.smu.ca/administration/library/documents/MLAtext09.pdf

(On bibliographies)

http://www.smu.ca/administration/library/documents/MLAlist09.pdf