GNED 1201 - Fall 2025 Library Session
Session Outline
Here is a plan for what we will cover today:
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Go over assignment details.
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Go over MLA specific guidance on how to cite plays in-text and in Works Cited.
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Show a couple of different ways to get help if you have questions.
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Assignment Details
For your final assignment you will be comparing 2 of the 3 plays we read during the semester.
Please outline your final essay using the following template. Make sure you have a clear thesis statement and text-based evidence supporting your points. Please note that there are two parts to this assignment 1) Thesis and 2) Text based evidence.
You may plan out the body of your essay using bullet points. I just want to know that you have planned how you will write your essay.
PLANNING:
What two plays are you comparing?
Thesis: (Play 1 title) and (Play 2 title) both (State similarity) but differ in their (state differences)
Example: Both Agamemnon and Where the Blood Mixes explore themes of intergenerational trauma but the causes of this trauma and trajectory of the characters are different.
Please outline your final essay using the following template. Please make sure you have a clear thesis statement.
INTRODUCTION:
Thesis:
BODY:
(There is no set number of points to be made. I just want to you to understand that each point must be backed up with evidence from the text.)
Point 1:
-Evidence from script
Point 2:
-Evidence from script
Point 3:
-Evidence from Script
CONCLUSION:
-What points were said to back up your thesis
Plays:
Agamemnon by Aeschylus
Macbeth by Shakespeare
Where The Blood Mixes by Kevin Loring
In-Text Citations to Plays
From MRU MLA guide pp. 5-6:
A short quotation of fewer than four lines from a play, spoken by a single character, can be incorporated into your text:
Tomson Highway’s Aria begins with the lyrical reminiscences of the Kokum, who recalls that she “[t]aught these seven daughters to tell the many moods of wind, rain of tomorrow, my five sons to hold conversation with fire and the northern lights” (81).
A long quotation of four or more lines, or dialogue between two or more speakers, should start on a new line indented a half inch (as what is called a block quote).
Dialogue should begin with the appropriate character’s name, followed by a period. All subsequent lines by that character should be indented an extra amount.
The citation should indicate the act, scene, and line numbers. If these details are not available, the citation should indicate the page number on which the quotation appears.
When quoting stage directions, treat them as any other quoted prose. Reproduce them as they appear in the original.
References to Plays (in Works Cited)
See citation template A11 on p.15 of the MLA guide.
Highway, Tomson. The Rez Sisters. Fifth House, 1988.
Other Examples (from Memorial University Libraries):
Published play script
Citation format:
Author Lastname, Firstname. Title of Play. Publisher/s, year of publication.
Sample Works Cited entry:
Mighton, John. The Little Years. Playwrights Canada Press, 2012.
Play that is part of a collection and also has an editor(s) or compiler(s)
Citation format:
Author Lastname, Author Firstname. “Title of Play.” Title of Book, edited by or compiled by Firstname Lastname, Publisher/s, year, page #(s).
Sample Works Cited entry:
Winter, Jack, and Cedric Smith. “Ten Lost Years.” The CTR Anthology: Fifteen Plays from Canadian Theatre Review, edited by Alan Filewood, U of Toronto P, 1991, pp. 133-90.
Citation Help
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Use the "cite" feature in most search tools to get you started with most resources (you will need to review and correct the citation).
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Cite Sources: Learn the correct way to cite sources by using these guides, tutorials, and videos.
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MRU Guide to MLA style for Academic Work (2025-2026)
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MRU Guide to Formatting Your MLA Paper (2025-2026)
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MLA Handbook Plus
The go-to resource for writers of research papers and anyone citing
sources. MLA Handbook Plus includes the full text of the ninth edition of
the handbook.
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Academic Success Workshops: Academic Success Workshops are 75 minutes long and are offered both in-person and online. Registration is required.
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Appointments: Personalized online or in-person 30-minute appointments with a Learning Strategist at Student Learning Services located on the 2nd floor of the Riddell Library & Learning Centre.
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Use the Service Desk on the 1st floor of the RLLC for assistance as well as the library chat feature on the library website for quick citation questions.
Activity: Citing Drama
To make sure we are all on the same page, let's put our knowledge to the test.
Examine the following citation examples available through the links keeping in mind the guidance previously discussed.
Vote whether you think the citation is Correct or Incorrect.
Number 1:
In Macbeth, the titular character claims, "If it were done, when 'tis done, then 'twere well / It were done quickly" (1.7.1-2).
Number 2:
This point is later confirmed by Lady Macbeth:
Lady M. That which hath made them drunk hath made me bold:
What hath quench'd them hath given me fire.—Hark!—Peace!
It was the owl that shriek'd, the fatal bellman,
Which gives the stern'st good night. He is about it. (2.2.1-4)
Number 3:
George tells the others about the Residential School settlement process early in the play:
GEORGE
No. People are getting compensated. I guess the government and the church are finally going to compensate people for what happened at those Residential Schools.
FLOYD
Yeah, yeah ... it depends on how bad it was, eh. Most people are getting about fifteen grand. If it was real bad, you get lots more. (24)
Number 4:
Works Cited
Aeschylus. Agamemnon, edited by Leah Himmelhoch, Bloomsbury, 2023.
