How to Cite Poems & Plays in MLA
- 1). Create a play's in-text citation. When referring to a play within your paper, underline or italicize the title. Ask your instructor which is preferred. In parentheses at the end of the quoted material, indicate the division where the material is found (act, scene, canto, etc.) and the line number. Use periods between the numbers. For example, if you quote a line appearing in Act 1, Scene 3, line 5, you would put (1.3.5) after the quoted line. Unless your instructor requests otherwise, use arabic numerals. If you did not mention the play's author when introducing the quote, place the last name before the division and line numbers: (Harold 1.3.5).
- 2). Write a works-cited entry for a stand-alone play. For a stand-alone copy of the play, begin the citation with author's name, last name first, followed by a period. Give the title of the play, underlined or italicized, followed by a period. Next is the publication information. List the city of publication, followed by a colon. After the colon comes the publisher's name, followed by a comma, and then the year of publication. End the entry with a period.
- 3). Write a works-cited entry for a play in an anthology. If the play appears in an anthology, begin as in the previous step with the author's name and the title of the play. Next, add the title of the anthology, either underlined or italicized, putting a period at the end. Follow with the anthology's editor, first name first, preceded by the abbreviation "Ed." A period comes after the name. Give the publication information, as explained in Step 2. After the year, add the page numbers on which the play appears in the anthology. Put a period at the end of the entry.
- 4). Create an in-text citation for a poem. If you refer to a poem in your paper, put the title in quotation marks. At the end of the quoted line, put the line numbers in parentheses. For example, if you quote lines four through six of a poem, your parenthetical citation would be (4-6). If you have not previously mentioned the author of the poem, place the last name in front of the line numbers in your parenthetical citation: (Booth 4-6).
- 5). Write a works-cited entry for a poem. Because poems are published within volumes of work rather than alone, follow Step 3's instructions for creating a works-cited entry in an anthology. The difference is that the title of the poem follows the author's name at the beginning of the entry and is enclosed in quotation marks.
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