response paper

THR 100

DO NOT PAD THE LENGTH OF YOUR PAPER BY QUOTING LONG PASSAGES OF DIALOGUE

Drama is cited using the act, scene and line numbers if the play is written in verse, and the page numbers if the

play is a prose play. Act, scene and line numbers are presented in Arabic numbers, for example, Act 1, Scene

2, lines 1 through 10 should be written as 1.2.1-10. Play titles are italicized.

QUOTING ONE CHARACTER: THREE LINES OR LESS Use quotation marks when you are quoting one character and the passage is three lines or less.

Nora makes a fruitless attempt to reassure Torvald before she leaves when she says, “I’ve heard that

when a wife deserts a husband’s house just as I’m doing, then the law frees him from all responsibility.

In any case, I’m freeing you from responsibility. …There has to be absolute freedom for us both” (3.442-

445).

QUOTING DIALOGUE IN A VERSE DRAMA Indent the speakers one inch from the left margin and indent all other lines an additional quarter inch. Capitalize the entire name of the speaker, and follow the name with a period. Cite the act, scene and line numbers. Try to match the formatting of the original, as you would for a poem. Desdemona takes part in teasing Bianca, although she does not understand that she will soon find

herself unable to talk.

DESDEMONA. Alas, she has no speech!

IAGO. In faith, too much. I find it still when I have list to

sleep. (2.1.115-117)

QUOTING DIALOGUE IN A PROSE DRAMA Indent the speakers one inch from the left margin. All other lines are indented one and a quarter inches. The speakers should be written in all capital letters, followed by a period. Include stage directions as they appear in the original source. Cite the page number as you would for any other quoted prose. Early on in the play A Raisin in the Sun, Walter explodes when Ruth refuses to listen to his ideas:

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. (34)