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GNED 1201 - Fall 2025 Library Session

Session Outline

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Here is a plan for what we will cover today:

  1. Go over assignment details.

  2. Go over MLA specific guidance on how to cite plays in-text and in Works Cited.

  3. 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

Citation Help

  • Use the "cite" feature in most search tools to get you started with most resources (you will need to review and correct the citation).

  • Cite Sources: Learn the correct way to cite sources by using these guides, tutorials, and videos.

  • Academic Success Workshops: Academic Success Workshops are 75 minutes long and are offered both in-person and online. Registration is required.

  • 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.

  • 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.

In-Text Citations to Plays

A short quotation of fewer than four lines from a play, spoken by a single character, can be incorporated into your text.

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 P, 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.

Librarian

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Joel Blechinger
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Contact:
Email: jblechinger@mtroyal.ca
Phone: 403.440.8624
Office: EL4423E
Website