TOPIC SHEET FOR DRAMA ESSAY
Professor Lybarger-Monson
English 1B
Drama (10% of grade)
Length: 1,000-1,500 words (3-5 pages)
Format: Use MLA format for the essay. Works Cited Formatting: Please alphabetize the entries if there are more than one and use hanging indent. Select the paragraph tab in Microsoft Word and choose Special: Hanging and Line spacing: Double.
Due Date: See Calendar.
Grade: This essay is graded and is worth 10% of your overall grade.
The book where the plays are to be cited(I do not own this book):
Literature: an introduction to fiction, poetry, drama, and writing, 14th edition
LINK TO MY DATABASE FOR SOURCES: https://moorparkcollege.libguides.com/az.php?q=gale&p=1
Topic:
Compare and contrast two plays that we have read by choosing one of the following topics for a literary analysis essay. Provide equal treatment for each play in the essay. Refer to the text as a play (place in italics) and the writer as a playwright. Use specific examples and details to support your position along with direct quotations from each play. As always, please use the textbook. You may cite the stage directions as well. You would cite it as a regular quote and keep the italics. Other than the two plays, you may not use outside sources.
MY TOPIC CHOICE:
According to Oscar Wilde, “In this world, there are only two tragedies: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.” Write an essay in which you analyze how this assertion relates to the respective desires of the character(s) in Jane Martin’s Beauty and David Ives’ Sure Thing.
MLA:
Integrate the quote into your paragraphs as you would for short fiction or a novel. The difference is the citation (see below). However, if you are quoting two or more characters, use a block quote and indent the lines two tabs (ten spaces) along with using all caps for the names followed by a period. Block a quote that is 4+ lines on the page as well. See the textbook for a sample of a block quote.
How to Cite a Verse Play: Citing the Last Scene of Doctor Faustus:
How to cite the 1588 version (Text A): If you are citing the last scene from Doctor Faustus, you will need to cite it differently than the one in the textbook. The last scene is taken from the original 1588 version, which includes 13 scenes so you would quote the scene and the line (13.20-25).
Marlowe, Christopher. The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, edited by Rev. Alexander Dyce, the Quarto of 1604, Project Gutenberg, www.gutenberg.org/files/779/779-h/779-h.htm.
How to cite the 1616 version (Text B): The 1616 version is the one from our textbook. For the textbook version, you will cite it as follows since it is split into Acts and Scenes: (2.1.5-10).
How to Cite a One-Act Play: For all other plays, you will note the playwright’s last name along with the page number:
In summary, the following shows you how to introduce quotes in three different ways:
Introduce the quote with an introductory phrase, which includes a present tense verb such as says, describes, or asserts. Use a COMMA.
As the sheriff states in Trifles, “Well, can you beat the women! Held for murder and worryin’ about her preserves” (Glaspell 853; act I).
Blended quote: Include a part of the quote for emphasis but place all changes in brackets.
The sheriff states in Trifles that the women are “worryin’ about [Mrs. Wright’s] preserves” (Glaspell 853; act I).
Full sentence: Introduce the quote with a complete sentence to set it into context. Use a COLON.
The sheriff makes an ironic assertion in Trifles since he doesn’t realize that the preserves are in the kitchen, which symbolizes Mrs. Wright’s state of mind along with her other belongings: “Well, can you beat the women! Held for murder and worryin’ about her preserves” (Glaspell 853; act I).
For stage directions, keep the italics in the quote.