Quoting plays can be awkward, that's for sure. Here's some advice on making it easier.

According to the MLA Handbook, “If you quote dialogue in a pay or screenplay, set the quotation off from your text. Begin each part of the dialogue with the appropriate character’s name, indented half an inch from the left margin and written in all capital letters: HAMLET. Follow the name with a period and then start the quotation. Indent all subsequent lines in that character’s speech an additional amount. When the dialogue shifts to another character, start a new line indented half an inch. Maintain this pattern throughout the entire quotation.”

MLA Handbook Example:

Marguerite Duras’s screenplay for Hiroshima mon amour suggests at the outset the profound difference between observation and experience:

HE. You saw nothing in Hiroshima. Nothing. . . .

SHE. I saw everything. Everything. . . . The hospital, for instance, I saw it. I’m sure I did. There is a hospital in Hiroshima. How could I help seeing it?

HE. You did not see the hospital in Hiroshima. You saw nothing in Hiroshima. (15-17)

Updated example. This is how it would look in your outline.

A. Ruth complains about Walter's jealousy of wealthier men, and Walter in turn suggests that they would be better off if Ruth were not pregnant:

RUTH. Oh, Walter . . . (Softly) Honey, why can’t you stop fighting me?

WALTER. (Without thinking) Who’s fighting you? Who even cares about you? (71)

i. Walter’s phrasing is interesting because his last question can be taken two ways: either he

disrespects Ruth, or he doesn’t even concern himself with her. It seems Walter has become so

preoccupied with his own struggles that he forgets to care about his own wife.

OR

A. Ruth complains about Walter's jealousy of wealthier men, and Walter in turn suggests that they would be better off if Ruth were not pregnant. She says, "Oh, Walter . . . (Softly) Honey, why can't you stop fighting me?" He replies, "Who's fighting you? Who even cares about you?" (71).

i. Walter's phrasing is interesting because his last question can be taken two ways: either he

disrespects Ruth or he doesn't even concern himself with her. It seems Walter has become so

preoccupied with his own struggles that he forgets to care about his own wife.

For your in-text citation, you will use the page number since the version of the play we read does not supply Act.scene.line numbers. You only need to use the author’s last name in the FIRST quote. So, the first will look like this: (Hansberry 45). All others will look like this: (45).

Thanks Mrs. Steininger for the original – pieces of which still remain.