Can you do a quote for me? please?

How to quote dialogue from a script MLA style? Can you please, please help me?

• I am writing an essay for my Comp 2 class. This teacher is a serious nazi (our class went from 34 people to 5 0.0). I have to quote some dialogue from a script of Seinfeld. Why Seinfeld? I don't know! Anyway, what I need to quote is this. George: Everybody's doing something, we'll do nothing. Jerry: So we go into NBC, we tell them we've got an idea for a show about nothing. George: Exactly. My instinct is telling me to block quote it for some reason but that doesn't seem right. Could anyone give me some advice on this, please?

• Answer:

  The MLA handbook (7th edition) says, "If you quote dialogue between two or more characters in a play, set the quotation off from your text." (3.7.4) I know TV isn't quite the same, but it's close. The manual says to put the character's name in ALL CAPS indented 1 inch, and if their speech takes more than 1 line, indent the subsequent lines an extra 1/4 inch (so 1 1/4 altogether). When you start a new character's speech, go back to the 1 inch. End the block quote with your citation. If it was a play, you'd go by Act, scene and line (2.4.254). I'd say, if your script is broken into scenes, number them and count lines. Good luck! BTW, Purdue University has a great Online Writing Lab (OWL) where you can find lots of info on citations & other paper-writing stuff if you don't have the manual handy. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/ Heather Lynn, Librarian Hancock County Library System, MS Librarians: we eat questions for breakfast! For answers to lots more questions, visit your local library in person or online.