Formatting for Inner/Outer Dialogue. A bit of explanation. See next post, below, for a specific student’s example.

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Name of Student: You

Name of Professor: Prof. Schmerler

Title and Section of Class: English 1101 Section Number Here

Date: October whatever

[PARAGRAPH OF INTRO blah blah blah, for example…]This dialogue was observed by me on the A Train between West 4th Street in the Village and 59th Street in Midtown on Feb. 12. Two people got on the train and they sat next to me. One was dressed like a clown (Michael); the other was a lady of about 50 who seemed to know the man previously, but I wasn’t sure…..etc etc etc etc…blah blah.

Sarah: “Why are you on the subway?”

Michael: “Hey, stop being hostile — anyone can ride the subway.”

Sarah: “Michael, you should really get out of the way; that dancer is about to hit you in the face.”

Michael: “Thank you, wrist.”

Etc., etc., etc.

[Paragraph of further reflection and observation and subjective takeaway] This exchange was punctuated with sounds from the train. It felt absurd, at times. It reminded me of……blah blah blah.

Or, It might look like this:

Scene: The Subway; 17 minutes pass; people get on and off the train. Lots of them start speaking at once, but a group of about 5 people standing near the door are audible. The date is Feb 16, and the subway is the A Train.

“Why are you on the subway?”

“Hey, stop being hostile — anyone can ride the subway.”

“Michael, you should really get out of the way; that dancer is about to hit you in the face.”

“Thank you, wrist.”

There is a woman, around 52 years old, with grey hair and blue glasses, smiling; she eventually gets mad. There is a man, about 40 who seems to know her, though they don’t get on the train together…..

Length of Paper: 500 Words

Due Date: Oct. 24

Format: Double-spaced, typed, printed

You don’t necessarily have to use the person’s name, but do try to identify them in some way. When the dialogue overlaps, just keep going. You can also identify that another person is speaking by starting a new line, without identification.

Resources: Your textbook, Rules of Thumb, gives proper typing format for quotations. Please refer to it for guidance on punctuation. Pp 44 – 47.

Here is a link to how plays look, printed. You can use this format, too (also copied, below): http://ptfaculty.gordonstate.edu/lking/CPF_play_formatting2.pdf