How to Properly to Cite Dialogue in MLA

Use this method for quotes that are longer than 3 lines or include speech from more than one character.

1. 1
   Introduce the block quote with a colon. Use a sentence in your paper to set up the block quote by explaining what it shows, summarizing its content, or describing its importance in relation to your paper's theme. End that sentence with a colon. ^[5]

   • For example, you might write:
     "You don't have to read far into Fitzgerald's book to encounter outright racism:" and then follow with a block quote about Tom discussing his white supremacist thoughts.
2. 2
   Set the left margin of the block quote 0.5 in (1.3 cm) over from your text. This new left margin applies to the entire block quote. The right margin doesn't change. For each new paragraph or line of dialogue, indent another 0.5 in (1.3 cm) from the block quote's margin. This includes the first line, so if your block quote starts at the beginning of a paragraph or first line of dialogue, the first line would be indented 1 in (2.5 cm)from the margin of your main text. ^[6]

   • With dialogue from a novel or short story, retain the paragraph format that appears in the original source and use double quotation marks around the spoken dialogue.
   • If you're quoting dialogue from a play, the margins are different. The entire quote is set off 1 in (2.5 cm) from the text of your paper. Each subsequent line beyond a character's first is indented an additional 0.25 in (0.64 cm) (about 3 spaces). ^[7]
3. 3
   Start each line with the character's name when quoting a play. Type the character's name in all capital letters, followed by a period. Then, copy that character's lines. If your block quote includes lines from more than one character, do the same for each character you quote. ^[8]

   • Don't use quotation marks anywhere in the dialogue when block-quoting dialogue from a play.
   • For example, you might quote the dialogue before Romeo and Juliet's first kiss:
     ROMEO. Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?
     JULIET. Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer.
     ROMEO. O then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do.
     They pray: grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.
     JULIET. Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake.
     ROMEO. Then move not while my prayer's effect I take. (Shakespeare 1.5.112-117)
4. 4
   Add the page number or range in parentheses at the end of the block quote. With a block quote, the page number or range goes outside the closing punctuation for the quote. No punctuation is necessary after the closing parenthesis. If you haven't included the name of the author in your text preceding the block quote, add it to your parenthetical before the page number or range. ^[9]

   • For example, the last lines of your block quote might look like this:
     And I hope she'll be a fool — that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool." (Fitzgerald 19-20)
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Use this method to organize information about the source in your Works Cited entry.

1. 1
   Start your Works Cited entry with the author's name. Type the author's last name first, followed by a comma, then their first name. Place a period at the end of the author's first name. Include initials as necessary, if they're included on the title page of the source. ^[10]

   • Example: Fitzgerald, F. Scott.
   • If there are 2 authors, list them in the order they appear on the title page of the book. Place a comma after the first author's first name, then type the word "and," followed by the second author's first and last name. (Example: Smith, John and Sally Ride)
   • If there are 3 or more authors, list only the first author's name, add a comma after their first name, then type the abbreviation "et al." (Example: Smith, John, et al.)
2. 2
   Add the title of the source. For most works of literature, the source is a book or similar volume, so you'd put the title in italics. If you happen to be quoting from a smaller work, such as a story in a magazine or literary journal or a play in a collected volume of plays, put the title in double quotation marks. Capitalize the first word of the title and all nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, and adjectives. Place a period at the end of the title (inside the double quotation marks, if you're using those). ^[11]

   • Book example: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby .
   • Short story example: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz."
3. 3
   Include the title of the larger work and editor if necessary. If the story or play you quoted came from a larger work, add the title in italics after the title of the source. Capitalize it the same way you capitalized the title of the source, with a comma at the end. If there's an editor, add the words "edited by" followed by their name. Place a comma at the end of the name. ^[12]

   • Short story example: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz." The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald , edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli,
   • For literary journals or other periodicals , include the volume and issue numbers as well.
4. 4
   List the publisher and year of publication. Type the name of the publisher, followed by a comma, then add the year the source was published. Place a period at the end. ^[13]

   • Book example: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby . Scribner, 2004.
   • Short story example: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz." The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald , edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli, Scribner, 1995.
5. 5
   Close your entry with a URL if the source is available online. Copy and paste the direct URL for the source, without the "http://" portion. Place a period at the end of the URL. ^[14]

   • Book example: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby . Scribner, 2004. gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200041h.html.
   • Short story example: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz." The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald , edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli, Scribner, 1995. public-library.uk/ebooks/28/56.pdf.
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