how to write act and scene in essay

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How to Quote and Cite a Play in an Essay Using MLA Format

Last Updated: October 12, 2023

This article was co-authored by Christopher Taylor, PhD . Christopher Taylor is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Austin Community College in Texas. He received his PhD in English Literature and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014. This article has been viewed 389,862 times.

MLA (Modern Language Association) format is a popular citation style for papers and essays. You may be unsure how to quote and cite play using MLA format in your essay for a class. Start by following the correct formatting for a quote from one speaker or from multiple speakers in the play. Then, use the correct citation style for a prose play or a verse play.

Template and Examples

Quoting Dialogue from One Speaker

• For example, if you were quoting a character from the play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, you would write, In Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , the character Honey says...

• For example, if you are quoting the character George from the play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee, you would write, “George says,…” or “George states,…”.

• For example, if you are quoting from Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , you would write: Martha notes, "Truth or illusion, George; you don’t know the difference."

• For example, if you were quoting from Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure , you would write: Claudio states “the miserable have no other medicine / But only hope.”

Quoting Dialogue from Multiple Speakers

• You do not need to use quotation marks when you are quoting dialogue by multiple speakers from a play. The blank space will act as a marker, rather than quotation marks.

• MARTHA. Truth or illusion, George; you don’t know the difference.
• GEORGE. No, but we must carry on as though we did.
• MARTHA. Amen.

• Verse dialogue is indented 1 ¼ inch (3.17cm) from the left margin.

• RUTH. Eat your eggs, Walter.
• WALTER. (Slams the table and jumps up) --DAMN MY EGGS--DAMN ALL THE EGGS THAT EVER WAS!
• RUTH. Then go to work.
• WALTER. (Looking up at her) See--I’m trying to talk to you ‘bout myself--(Shaking his head with the repetition)--and all you can say is eat them eggs and go to work.

Citing a Quote from a Prose Play

• If you are quoting dialogue from one speaker, place the citation at the end of the quoted dialogue, in the text.
• If you are quoting dialogue from multiple speakers, place the citation at the end of the block quote.

• For example, you may write: “(Albee…)” or “(Hansberry…)”

• For example, you may write, “(Albee, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ...).”
• If you have mentioned the title of the play once already in an earlier citation in your essay, you do not need to mention it again in the citations for the play moving forward.

• For example, you may write, “(Albee 10; act 1).
• If you are including the title of the play, you may write: “(Albee, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 10; act 1).”

Citing a Quote from a Verse Play

• For example, if the quote appears in act 4, scene 4 of the play, you will write, “(4.4…)”.

• For example, if the quote appears on lines 33 to 35, you will write, “(33-35).”
• The completed citation would look like: “(4.4.33-35)”.

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About This Article

To quote and cite a play in your essay using MLA format, start by referencing the author and title of the play in the main body of your essay. Then, name the speaker of the quote so it’s clear who’s talking. For example, write, “In Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? the character Honey says…” After introducing the quote, frame the dialogue with quotation marks to make it clear that it’s a direct quote from a text. If your dialogue is written in verse, use forward slashes to indicate each line break. For more tips from our English co-author, including how to quote dialogue between multiple speakers in your essay, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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• How to cite Shakespeare in MLA

How to Cite Shakespeare in MLA | Format & Examples

Published on January 22, 2021 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on March 5, 2024.

The works of Shakespeare, like many plays , have consistently numbered acts, scenes, and lines. These numbers should be used in your MLA in-text citations, separated by periods, instead of page numbers.

The Works Cited entry follows the format for a book , but varies depending on whether you cite from a standalone edition or a collection. The example below is for a standalone edition of  Hamlet .

If you cite multiple Shakespeare plays in your paper, replace the author’s name with an abbreviation of the play title in your in-text citation.

Scribbr’s free MLA Citation Generator can help you quickly and easily create accurate citations.

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Upload your document to correct all your mistakes in minutes

Table of contents

Citing a play from a collection, citing multiple shakespeare plays, quoting shakespeare in mla, frequently asked questions about mla citations.

If you use a collection of all or several of Shakespeare’s works, include a Works Cited entry for each work you cite from it, providing the title of the individual work, followed by information about the collection.

Note that play titles remain italicized here, since these are works that would usually stand alone.

If you cite several works by Shakespeare , order them alphabetically by title, and replace “Shakespeare, William” with a series of three em dashes after the first one.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

If you cite more than one Shakespeare play in your paper, MLA recommends starting each in-text citation with an abbreviated version of the play title, in italics. A list of the standard abbreviations can be found here ; don’t make up your own abbreviations.

Introduce each abbreviation the first time you mention the play’s title, then use it in all subsequent citations of that play.

Don’t use these abbreviations outside of parentheses. If you frequently mention a multi-word title in your text, you can instead shorten it to a recognizable keyword (e.g. Midsummer for A Midsummer Night’s Dream ) after the first mention.

Shakespeare quotations generally take the form of verse  or dialogue .

Quoting verse

To quote up to three lines of verse from a play or poem, just treat it like a normal quotation. Use a forward slash (/) with spaces around it to indicate a new line.

If there’s a stanza break within the quotation, indicate it with a double forward slash (//).

If you are quoting more than three lines of verse, format it as a block quote (indented on a new line with no quotation marks).

Quoting dialogue

Dialogue from two or more characters should be presented as a block quote.

Include the characters’ names in block capitals, followed by a period, and use a hanging indent for subsequent lines in a single character’s speech. Place the citation after the closing punctuation.

Oberon berates Robin Goodfellow for his mistake:

No, do not use page numbers in your MLA in-text citations of Shakespeare plays . Instead, specify the act, scene, and line numbers of the quoted material, separated by periods, e.g. (Shakespeare 3.2.20–25).

This makes it easier for the reader to find the relevant passage in any edition of the text.

If you cite multiple Shakespeare plays throughout your paper, the MLA in-text citation begins with an abbreviated version of the title (as shown here ), e.g. ( Oth. 1.2.4). Each play should have its own  Works Cited entry (even if they all come from the same collection).

If you cite only one Shakespeare play in your paper, you should include a Works Cited entry for that play, and your in-text citations should start with the author’s name , e.g. (Shakespeare 1.1.4).

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2024, March 05). How to Cite Shakespeare in MLA | Format & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved June 10, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/mla/shakespeare-citation/

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How to Quote Shakespeare

Title and reference format.

Richard III or Othello

Twelfth Night (1.5.268–76)

In 3.1, Hamlet delivers his most famous soliloquy.

“Periods and commas,” says Dr. Womack, “ always go inside quotation marks.”

Prose Quotations

The immensely obese Falstaff tells the Prince: “When I was about thy years, Hal, I was not an eagle’s talon in the waist; I could have crept into any alderman’s thumb ring” (2.4.325–27).

In Much Ado About Nothing , Benedick reflects on what he has overheard Don Pedro, Leonato, and Claudio say: This can be no trick. The conference was sadly borne. They have the truth of this from Hero. They seem to pity the lady. It seems her affections have their full bent. Love me? Why, it must be requited. I hear how I am censured. They say I will bear myself proudly if I perceive the love come from her; they say too that she will rather die than give any sign of affection. (2.3.217–24)

Verse Quotations

Berowne’s pyrotechnic line “Light, seeking light, doth light of light beguile” is a text-book example of antanaclasis (1.1.77).

Claudius alludes to the story of Cain and Abel when describing his crime: “It hath the primal eldest curse upon’t, / A brother’s murder” (3.3.37–38).

Jaques begins his famous speech by comparing the world to a theater:                                         All the world’s a stage And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. (2.7.138–42)

He then proceeds to enumerate and analyze these ages.

Dialogue Quotations

The Christians in Venice taunt Shylock about his daughter’s elopement: SHYLOCK.  She is damned for it. SALARINO.  That’s certain, if the devil may be her judge. SHYLOCK.  My own flesh and blood to rebel! SOLANIO.  Out upon it, old carrion! Rebels it at these years? SHYLOCK.  I say my daughter is my flesh and my blood. SALARINO.  There is more difference between thy flesh and hers than between jet and ivory, more between your bloods than there is between red wine and Rhenish. (3.1.29–38)

From their first conversation, Lady Macbeth pushes her husband towards murder: MACBETH.                         My dearest love, Duncan comes here tonight. LADY MACBETH.                 And when goes hence? MACBETH. Tomorrow, as he purposes. LADY MACBETH.                                 O, never Shall sun that morrow see. (1.5.57–60)

• How to Cite
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The Correct Way to Cite Shakespearean Works

If you quote directly or paraphrase from a source, you must cite the source within the text. This can be problematic when you are citing a classical work such as a Shakespearean play, because classical works are published in so many different formats that page numbers become meaningless. Luckily, both the Modern Language Association (MLA) and the American Psychological Association (APA) set guidelines for the proper in-text citation of Shakespearean plays.

Citing Shakespeare in MLA Format

List the abbreviation for the title of the play you are citing. The MLA lists abbreviations for all plays; see the reference list of this article for more information. The abbreviation for the title of the play should appear in italics.

List the act, scene and lines that you are referring to. These should be separated by periods. Enclose your citation in parentheses. For example:

(Mac. 1.3.14-17) refers to Act 1, Scene 3, Lines 14 to 17 of "Macbeth."

Omit the abbreviation for the title if the play you are referring to is clear from the context of your paper. In this case, the citation would simply appear as

follows: (1.3.14-17)

Format your reference list entry in the following format:

Author. Title of Play. Name of Editor. City of Publication, Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication. For example: Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Ed. James Smith. Boston, English Play Press, 2010. Print. Be sure to italicize the name of the play.

Citing Shakespeare in APA Format

List "Shakespeare" as the author's name, followed by a comma.

List the year of translation, followed by a comma, if translated. For example:

trans. 2010,

List the act, scene, and lines you are citing, separated by periods. For example:

Enclose the entire citation within parentheses. For example:

(Shakespeare, trans. 2010, 1.3.14-17).

Only use this if the play you are citing is obvious and has been mentioned in your paper. If the play appears in the original Shakespearean English, you need only give the year of publication. In this case, omit "trans." from your citation. For example:

(Shakespeare, 2010, 1.3.14-17).

Author. (Year). Title. (Translator.). City, State of Publication: Publisher. (Original work published year). For example: Shakespeare, W. (2010). Macbeth. (B. Smith, Trans.). Boston, MA: English Play Press. (Original work published 1699).

Be sure to italicize the name of the play. If the publication appears in the original Shakespearean, omit translation information form your citation. For example:

Shakespeare, W. (2010). Macbeth. Boston, MA: English Play Press. (Original work published 1699).

Need help with a citation? Try our citation generator .

• Louisiana State University: MLA Citation of Shakespeare
• Carson-Newman College: List of MLA Abbreviations for Shakespearean Titles
• Pursue Online Writing Lab: APA Abbreviations
• Purdue Online Writing Lab: APA Reference List for Books

How to Use Shakespeare Quotes

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You can make your essays interesting by adding a famous quote, and there is no source more illustrious than Shakespeare to quote! However, many students feel intimidated at the thought of quoting Shakespeare. Some fear that they may use the quote in the wrong context; others may worry about using the quote verbatim and missing the precise meaning, owing to the archaic Shakespearean expressions. Navigating these difficulties is possible, and your writing may be greatly enhanced if you use quotes from Shakespeare with skill and attribute the quotes correctly. 

Find the Right Shakespeare Quote

You can refer to your favorite resources, found in your school library, a public library, or your favorite content destinations on the Internet. With all theater quotations, make sure that you use a reliable source that gives you complete attribution, which includes the name of the author, the play title, the act , and the scene number.

Using the Quote

You will find that the language used in Shakespeare plays have archaic expressions that were used during the Elizabethan era . If you are unfamiliar with this language, you run the risk of not using the quote correctly. To avoid making mistakes, be sure to use the quote verbatim—in exactly the same words as in the original source.

Quoting From Verses and Passages

Shakespeare plays have many beautiful verses; it's up to you to find an appropriate verse for your essay. One way to ensure an impactful quote is to ensure that the verse you choose does not leave the idea unfinished. Here are some tips for quoting Shakespeare:

• If you are quoting verse and it runs longer than four lines, you must write the lines one below the other as you do when you write poetry. However, if the verse is one to four lines long, you should use the line division symbol (/) to indicate the beginning of the next line. Here is an example: Is love a tender thing? It is too rough, / Too rude, too boisterous; and it pricks like thorn ( Romeo and Juliet , Act I, Sc. 5, line 25).
• If you are quoting prose , then there is no need for line divisions. However, to effectively represent the quote, it is beneficial to first provide the contextual relevance of the quote and then proceed to quote the passage. Context helps your reader to understand the quote and to better grasp the message that you wish to convey by using that quote, but you should exercise caution when deciding how much information to supply. Sometimes students give a brief synopsis of the play to make their Shakespeare quote sound relevant to their essay, but it is better to provide short, focused background information. Here is a writing example in which a small amount of context, provided before a quote, improves its impact:

Miranda, daughter of Prospero, and the King of Naples' son, Ferdinand, are to get married. While Prospero is not optimistic about the arrangement, the couple, Miranda and Ferdinand, are looking forward to their union. In this quote, we see the exchange of viewpoints between Miranda and Prospero: "Miranda: How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, That has such people in't! Prospero: 'Tis new to thee." ( The Tempest , Act V, Sc. 1, lines 183–184)

Attribution

No formal Shakespeare quote is complete without its attribution. For a Shakespeare quote, you need to provide the play title, followed by act, scene, and, often, line numbers. It is a good practice to italicize the title of the play.

In order to ensure that the quote is used in the right context, it is important to reference the quote appropriately. That means you must mention the character's name who made the statement. Here is an example:

In the play Julius Caesar , the relationship of the husband-wife duo (Brutus and Portia), brings out the conniving nature of Portia, in startling contrast to Brutus' gentleness: "You are my true and honourable wife;/As dear to me as are the ruddy drops/That visit my sad heart." ( Julius Caesar , Act II, Sc. 1)

Length of the Quote

Avoid using long quotes. Long quotes dilute the essence of the point. In case you have to use a specific long passage, it is better to paraphrase the quote.

• A Complete List of Shakespeare’s Plays
• Quotes From Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'
• 'The Tempest' Summary for Students
• 'The Tempest' Overview
• Overview of Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'
• 'The Tempest' Characters: Description and Analysis
• Shakespeare's New Year and Christmas Quotes
• A Guide to Using Quotations in Essays
• A Collection of Shakespeare Lesson Plans
• 10 Shakespeare Quotes on Tragedy
• 'The Tempest' Quotes Explained
• Top Quotes From Shakespeare
• Romantic Shakespeare Quotes
• 'The Tempest' Summary
• 'The Tempest' Themes, Symbols, and Literary Devices
• How to Speak Shakespearean Verse

How to Write a Scene: The Definitive Guide to Scene Structure

by Joe Bunting | 0 comments

Once you have a great story idea, the next step is to write it. But do you want to take your brilliant idea and then write a book that bores readers and causes them to quit reading your book?

Of course not. That's why you need to learn how to write great scenes.

Scenes are the basic building block of all storytelling. How do you actually write them, though? And even more, how do you write the kind of scenes that both can keep readers hooked while also building to the powerful climax you have planned for later in the story?

In this post, you'll learn what a scene actually is. You'll explore the six elements every scene needs for it to move the story forward. Then, you'll learn how to do the work of actually putting a scene together, step-by-step.

We'll look at some of the main scene types you need for the various types of stories, and we'll also look at some scene examples so you can better understand how scenes work. Finally, we'll put it all together with a practice exercise.

Table of Contents

Want to jump ahead? Here's a table of contents for this article:

What Is a Scene? The 4 Criteria of a Scene Scene Writing and “Show, Don't Tell” Scene Structure: The 6 Steps to Scene Structure Scene Structure Examples Practice Exercise

What Is a Scene? Scene Definition

A scene (in a story) is an event that occurs within a narrative that takes place during a specific time period and has a beginning and an end.

A scene is a story event, in other words, or a single unit of storytelling. It is the bedrock of every kind of narrative, from a novel, film, memoir, short story, theatrical play, and graphic novel.

Scenes can vary in length, but they tend to be 500 to 2,500 words long. The average book or film has fifty to seventy scenes.

5 Criteria of a Scene

For a section of narrative to be considered a scene, it must meet several criteria.

• A story event . The scene must contain at least one story event.
• A change. A character begins the scene believing one thing, feeling one way, or doing one thing, but by the end of the scene they’re believing, feeling, or doing something else.
• One period of time (e.g. a few minutes in one day). Most scenes will be just a few minutes in one day.
• (In film) One setting . Novels can bend this, but in film, scenes take place in one setting.
• Contains the six elements of plot:  exposition, inciting incident, rising action, dilemma, climax, and denouement. We'll discuss these elements in detail below.

How “Show Don't Tell” Impacts Writing Scenes: Show Your Scenes, Tell Your Transitions

One quick thing to note: you might have heard of the common writing advice to “Show, Don't Tell.”

Show, Don’t Tell refers to showing the reader what happens in a story using dialogue, action, or description rather than telling the reader with inner monologue or exposition/narrative.

Scenes are, by their nature, shown. You the writer are showing the reader what is happening.

That's why good writers find the most important, most dramatic pieces in their story to  show  in scenes.

Then, they use  telling  to link between scenes and give the context, information, and backstory that's still important but not necessarily dramatic.

In other words, show your scenes, tell your transitions. If you don't, if you tell  your  most important pieces and show your  least  important, least dramatic moments, you'll end up with jumbled scenes and a jumbled story in general.

What Are the Elements of Scene? 6 Steps to Scene Structure

At The Write Practice, we teach a story structure framework called The Write Structure. It's a universal and timeless way of thinking about story that writers have been applying for thousands of years. (Read our master plot post here .)

Within this framework, there are six elements of plot. These elements don't just occur in every story. They also occur in every scene.

So if you want to write a good scene, make sure that it has each of these six structural elements. You can even use these as  steps  in your scene writing.

Step 1. Exposition: Set the Scene

First, set the scene.

Where are we? Who are we with? What should we the audience be seeing or imagining?

Set the scene, usually with description or action , to ground the reader's experience.

Learn more in our full exposition guide here .

Step 2. Inciting Incident: Start the Drama

The inciting incident is an event in a scene that puts the characters into a new situation, upsetting the status quo and beginning the scene's movement.

That situation is the key ingredient to the inciting incident.  It can be something going wrong, a complication that arises, or even something going really well. Check out the examples below to get more ideas for your inciting incident.

The inciting incident doesn't have to be a big thing. That comes later, in the climax. It can be subtle, but the point is that it builds into a much larger thing.

The key point about the inciting incident of a scene is that it must occur  early  in a scene, usually within the first five paragraphs.

Don't get me wrong, you still need to set the scene with exposition. But your exposition will either follow the inciting incident or quickly give way to the inciting incident.

You can learn more in our full inciting incident guide here .

Step 3. Rising Action: Throw Rocks at Your Characters

You know that writing advice to get your characters up a tree, then throw rocks at them? This is rock-throwing time.

Your inciting incident begins the action and conflict of the scene, but the rising action is where most of the action and conflict builds and takes place.

This will often be the largest section of your scene, and builds directly into the dilemma.

Here you start raising the stakes and begin building towards the story’s climactic moment. It’s important that your audience know exactly what’s at risk here, so work to reveal what's important to your characters here (e.g. their lives, their relationship, their identity) and why that is at risk.

Learn more in our full rising action guide here .

Step 4. Dilemma: The Heart of Your Scene

This is the most important (and overlooked) element of every great scene, and it's what all the action in your scene has been building toward.

A dilemma is when a character is put into a situation where they're stuck and have to make a difficult choice with real consequences.

Here are some example choices:

• Go through the wardrobe into the magical portal or shut the door and miss out
• Take the red pill or the blue pill
• Call the cute crush or stay alone forever
• Fight or flight
• Quit or persevere
• Do what you're told or do what you want
• Share something vulnerable or keep everyone at a distance

These are the dilemmas that drama is  made  out of, and in some form or other, they belong in  every  single scene in your story. Together with the previous scenes and the scenes that follow, these are the moments that create the character arc the drives the story forward.

Learn more in our full dilemma guide here .

5. Climax: Create the Moment Out of Highest Action

Coming immediately after the dilemma, the climax shows the consequences of your characters' choices. As such, it is the moment of highest action in the scene.

Taking our example choices from above, here's what might happen next:

• They go through wardrobe and arrive in a magical kingdom
• They take the red pill and wake up in a creepy, dystopian world with a tube down their throats
• They call the cute crush and then crash and burn
• They fight and are mauled by a giant bear
• They quit, only to be visited by an angel who offers to show them the consequences of quitting
• They do what they want and get into a fight with a dragon which results in burning down the village
• They decide to share and finally feel truly accepted and known for the first time in their lives

You see how it works, right? You start the movement, raise the stakes, create a dilemma, and pay it all off with a climax full of dramatic energy.

If you did it right, this is either the best or worst moment in your scene. This is also where to insert any plot twists you can think of.

Learn more in our full climax guide here .

Step 6. Denouement: Pause to Take Things In

But your scene isn't over just yet. Finally, you have to create a brief pause, often only a paragraph or three, to allow the audience to take in what just happened and prepare the ground for the next scene.

If the exposition is the “before,” the denouement, also called the resolution, is the “after.”

You don't need much writing here, just a few paragraphs, but this element is key to the rhythm of your storytelling.

Learn more in our full denouement guide here .

Scene Structure Examples

Now that you know the steps, let's look at a few examples from popular scenes to better understand how this works.

How to Train Your Dragon: Opening Scene Structure

For reference, you can watch the scene here:

I love this scene and this film as a whole (the books are great too!). It instantly sets up not just the stakes of the scene, but the story as a whole, and in general, has nearly perfect structure.

Let's break it into the six elements of plot that we just discussed.

Exposition: “This is Berk.” Bucolic, pastoral, peaceful. Narrated by Hiccup, the viewpoint character.

Inciting incident: Actually nope, there are dragons stealing the sheep.

Rising action: Dragons burn things, people fight dragons, we meet the story's cast of characters, and most of all, we get to know Hiccup, the protagonist, who really wants to prove himself. But Hiccup is told he's not allowed to fight the dragons.

Dilemma: To do what he's told, stay put, and risk being looked down on his whole life OR to do what he wants, go fight with his fancy machine, and risk dying and/or humiliating himself?

Climax: Hiccup does what he wants, hits a dragon, gets into a fight with another dragon, and then burns down most of the village.

Denouement: No one believes he hit the dragon, and he is humiliated in front of the village.

Note especially the location of the dilemma, which occurs about halfway through the scene and comes to a head immediately. It's subtle, implied more than it is spelled out specifically, and yet it creates the drama that follows.

Frozen: Climactic Scene Structure

For reference, you can watch the scene here ( spoiler alert in case you somehow have never seen this film!):

I like to use this scene because it perfectly displays how a dilemma works.

Exposition: Princess Anna is dying, about to become frozen after being struck by Princess Elsa's magic.

Inciting Incident:  With an act of true love, she can be cured, and Kristoff is running toward her to give her the “kiss of true love.”

Rising Action: There's a storm, so this is all very difficult. Oh, and Prince Hans is about to kill her sister.

Dilemma: Princess Anna looks both ways, not sure what to choose. Does she run to Kristoff and save herself but allow her sister to be killed OR does she save her sister and sacrifice herself?

Climax: She chooses to save her sister, running to stop Prince Hans and freezing in the process. The storm immediately ceases.

Denouement: Princess Anna herself supplied the act of true love, removing the magic's curse and restoring her to life.

Again, pay special attention to the dilemma, which lasts for just a few seconds as she pauses, looking both ways, trying to decide. The stakes couldn't be higher (which is good because this is the climax of the story), and her choice immediately results in not just the climax of the scene, but the climax of the entire story.

How to Write a Great Scene Every Time

Writing compelling scenes doesn't require you to be a genius or know everything there is about writing.

You just need to follow the six scene tasks: exposition, inciting incident, rising action, dilemma, climax, and denouement.

If you just do that, you'll be able to reliably craft a perfect scene that, when brought together, will end up with an amazing story.

So go get writing!

Which of these six steps and elements do you find easiest? which is most difficult or confusing?  Let us know in the comments .

Now that you know how a perfect scene works, let's put it to practice. Today, I have two scene prompts for your practice:

• Study a scene from one of your favorite books or films, finding the six elements of plot.
• Outline a scene you've written or a new scene using the six elements of plot.

Take fifteen minutes to practice. Once you've created your outline, share it in the Pro Practice Workshop .

And if you share, be sure to give feedback to at least three other writers.

Happy writing!

Joe Bunting

Joe Bunting is an author and the leader of The Write Practice community. He is also the author of the new book Crowdsourcing Paris , a real life adventure story set in France. It was a #1 New Release on Amazon. Follow him on Instagram (@jhbunting).

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How to Write Scenes: Structure, Examples, and Definitions

What is a scene.

Scenes are the building blocks of our stories. These STORY UNITS dramatize definable VALUE SHIFTS for the AVATARS (or characters) and their CONTEXT (or setting). The value shifts that occur in each working scene of the story incrementally build the global arcs of change. 

Many writers define scenes by chapter breaks or changes in location or the AVATARS at the center of the conflict. While these transitions may coincide with a value shift, without a consistent definition of when a scene starts or ends, we cannot talk about a story’s scenes consistently or examine masterwork scenes to improve our own scene work.

Download the Math of Storytelling Infographic

In the Story Grid Universe, we understand that stories are about life-altering change that happens when the protagonist makes an active choice in response to the global INCITING INCIDENT . As the building blocks of story, scenes dramatize smaller events and changes that when combined create the experience of the whole story. Executing effective scenes is one of the most important skills for story writers to master.

Scene Structure

We describe and identify whole scenes by using the Story Grid SCENE EVENT SYNTHESIS. This is a one-sentence summary that helps us analyze our own scenes or those in masterworks we seek to emulate. The Synthesis includes the following components.

• Ending value: This is how things stand at the end of the scene.
• Outcome of ABOVE THE SURFACE initial strategy: This describes the result of the protagonist’s initial attempt to reach their scene goal.
• ON THE SURFACE CLIMAX: This is the protagonist’s choice in response to the CRISIS .
• Tradeoff of the CRISIS : This is what the protagonist risks with their choice.

The summary captures what happens after the protagonist’s initial strategy succeeds or fails and the protagonist acts in the CLIMAX , despite the potential risks of the CRISIS tradeoff.

Scenes are different from TROPES or SEQUENCES . A trope is a change in microstrategies that build to a value shift of the scene. A sequence is an irreversible change in stakes that builds from the value shifts in scenes.

Scene Function

Scenes allow storytellers to show the incremental change over time as the protagonist makes sense of and assigns meaning to the unexpected event that kicks off the story. Each scene presents a manifestation or instance of that global INCITING INCIDENT and the global CRISIS to communicate the CONTROLLING IDEA of the story. This also means that every scene should illuminate an aspect of SAM ’s problem from the NARRATIVE PATH .

Scene Organization

Scenes are made up of a series of TROPES . The microstrategies in tropes are used by the AVATARS to navigate the problems presented in each scene. The FIVE COMMANDMENTS OF STORYTELLING are dramatized through the trope microstrategies. 

The inciting incident of a scene catalyzes change with an unexpected event that is complicated by another unexpected event, which we call the turning point progressive complication. That event begins to turn the scene and forces the protagonist to face a crisis. When the protagonist implements their active choice in the climax, and they experience the immediate effects of the value shift or change in the resolution of the scene.

What are the key features of a Scene?

• FIVE COMMANDMENTS OF STORYTELLING . Each scene in a story will include an INCITING INCIDENT , TURNING POINT PROGRESSIVE COMPLICATION , CRISIS , CLIMAX , and RESOLUTION .
• Beyond the surface VALUE SHIFTS . Each scene contains a value shift, which describes a universal change from the beginning of the scene to the end of the scene.
• Above the surface essential tactics. The protagonist is forced to act or respond to crisis when above the surface essential tactic fails or succeeds and is not what they expected. 
• On the surface action. The change in value comes as the result of on the surface climax action in response to the crisis.

How do we identify Scenes within masterworks?

A scene should have a defined value shift. The scene will not end until the value has shifted. 

Writers should look for a change in value throughout the scene. One way to find the value shift is to identify the place in the story where the question raised by the inciting incident is resolved. Once the question has been resolved, the protagonist should have undergone a value shift.

We analyze scenes through the STORY GRID 624 ANALYSIS, which helps us identify key features in every scene that we should study.

What are some examples of Scenes?

Hamilton by lin manuel miranda, scene 1 (global inciting incident).

Scene Event Synthesis

Hamilton is recognized when, after his last relative dies, he overcomes his circumstances by fending for himself despite the risk of failure.

Five Commandments

Inciting Incident : Causal. When Hamilton is ten years old, his father abandons him and his mother.

Turning Point Progressive Complication : Active. Hamilton’s cousin commits suicide, leaving the young man alone and penniless.

Crisis : Best Bad Choice. Hamilton can fend for himself or accept a life of squalor.

Climax : Hamilton decides to educate himself. He borrows and reads books while working for his late mother’s landlord. He publishes his writing.

Resolution : A group of men are impressed by Hamilton’s writing about the hurricane. They offer to pay for his travel and college.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Scene 34 (Global Turning Point Progressive Complication)

Darcy is devastated when Elizabeth insults his character after he asked her why she would not marry him despite knowing that any answer she gave would hurt him.

Inciting Incident : Causal. Darcy pays another visit to Elizabeth knowing she is alone and unwell. 

Turning Point Progressive Complication : Active. Elizabeth refuses Darcy’s proposal of marriage.

Crisis : Best Bad Choice. Should Darcy ask Elizabeth why she is refusing him and risk deep personal pain or blow Elizabeth off as being incapable of making a rational and beneficial choice? 

Climax : Darcy asks her why she won’t marry him.

Resolution : Elizabeth tells him in no uncertain terms why she won’t marry him and insults him many times in the process.

The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris, Scene 59 (Global Climax)

Clarice preserves life when she trusts herself by going down the steps to find Buffalo Bill despite knowing that she is walking into a trap.

Inciting Incident : Causal. Clarice knocks on the door of Buffalo Bill’s house to ask him questions about the death of Fredricka Bimmel.

Turning Point Progressive Complication : Revelatory. Clarice realizes that the man who had called himself Jack Gordon is really Buffalo Bill.

Crisis : Best Bad Choice. Should she go down the steps when she knows it can only be a trap or call the FBI for backup?

Climax : Clarice goes down the steps to find and kill Buffalo Bill.

Resolution : Cathrine Martin is saved.

Additional Scene Resources:

• Story Grid: What Good Editors Know by Shawn Coyne
• Story Grid 101: The Five First Principles of the Story Grid Methodology by Shawn Coyne
• The Five Commandments of Storytelling by Danielle Kiowski

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Citing a Shakespearean Play: What Constitutes a "Line"?

According to many sources that I've searched, it seems that the in-line citations for dramatic works, such as Shakeaspearean plays, are cited in the following form: act.scene.line(s). So for example, Act I Scene I lines 20-22 would be cited like so:

"some quote in here," (I.i.20-22).

But my question is the following: what constitutes a line? Do the narrator's lines count as lines? For example, I want to cite Hamlet Act I Scene I, and it begins like so:

Act I SCENE I. Elsinore . A platform before the castle. FRANCISCO at his post. Enter to him BERNARDO BERNARDO Who's there? FRANCISCO Nay, answer me: stand, and unfold yourself. BERNARDO Long live the king!

So if I were to cite Bernardo's first line ("Who's there?"), which of the following would I count as line 1?

• "SCENE I. Elsinore. A platform before the castle."
• "FRANCISCO at his post. Enter to him BERNARDO"

• I think when an actor says I forgot my line , it's normally a reference to one continuous speech within the play/film (uninterrupted by utterances by other characters). Which could be multiple sentences taking up several "lines" in the written version (a variable number of lines, since usually nothing in the "original" text dictates where the line-breaks should occur). –  FumbleFingers Jan 17, 2016 at 14:38
• 2 @FumbleFingers: in Shakespeare's plays, the original text is generally iambic pentameter, and breaks naturally into lines. There are some parts of some plays written in prose, and I don't know whether the line counts are consistent across different editions there. –  Peter Shor Jan 17, 2016 at 14:40
• 4 Stage directions are not a "narrator". These lines are not spoken on stage. –  TimR Jan 17, 2016 at 14:40
• @Peter: Probably most of the "great quotable speeches" we tend to focus on are indeed iambic pentameter, but off the top of my head I'd have thought it's unlikely most of the total text of all Shakespeare's output conforms to that constraint (esp if we exclude the sonnets). –  FumbleFingers Jan 17, 2016 at 14:43
• 1 @FumbleFingers: it looks like the majority of most of Shakespeare plays are iambic pentameter, but there are only five that are entirely iambic pentameter, and Hamlet is 72% iambic pentameter. Statistics from here . So the line numbers in print editions vary, depending on the column width. –  Peter Shor Jan 17, 2016 at 15:05

3 Answers 3

Each edition of Shakespeare's plays has its own numbering of lines (or in some cases, lacks line numbering). So when you cite a line you need to:

Cite the edition of the play you are using. (Unless you're doing some kind of comparative study, you aren't going to change edition halfway through your essay, so you only need to mention the edition once, not once for each citation.)

Use the line number from the edition you are using. Typically these are printed in the margin. If you're using an edition without line numbers, then don't make them up, just use the act and scene numbers.

If you need to refer to a stage direction, and your edition doesn't number the stage directions, then you cite it using the line before the stage direction. For example, "Enter Rosencrantz. (IV.3.11 s.d.)" In these editions the stage direction at the start of the scene has no line number, so just give the act and scene numbers, for example, "A platform before the castle. (I.1 s.d.)"

Why do different editions have different numbering? Well:

There are editorial decisions as to exactly what material to include. For example, Hamlet has three sources (the "first quarto", "second quarto" and "first folio" editions) that each contains material missing from the other two, and the modern editor has to decide how to combine them.

The edition can decide to number the stage directions or not.

When dialogue is in the form of prose rather than verse, the division into lines depends on the width of the page and the size of the type.

• The reason I chose your response as the selected is because my edition actually doesn't use numbering, which is what concerned me the most. Thanks to everyone else who contributed as well. –  Aleksandr Hovhannisyan Jan 17, 2016 at 15:20

The edition you're using will typically have line numbers on the page. The editions I've used (e.g. The Arden Shakespeare series) do not typically count stage directions as lines in verse sections. Verse lines shared between characters count as a single line.

• Thank you! I wish I could accept both your post and Gareth Rees'. –  Aleksandr Hovhannisyan Jan 17, 2016 at 15:22

Most print editions count only spoken lines in numbering lines within a scene, and start afresh with each scene. (MLA uses Hindu-Arabic numerals exclusively, separated by periods, for citations by act and scene or by act, scene, and line.) The line numbering in various editions will be consistent in the case of an all-verse play, such as Richard II, but will vary in scenes that contain some prose, since different column widths and typefaces will determine where line breaks fall in prose. Even verse passages that follow prose ones within the same scene will thus be line-numbered differently from one edition to the next.

The only entirely reliable system for citing loci in Shakespeare’s plays involves specifying an early printing (Q2 or F, say, for the second quarto or [first] folio text of Hamlet) and a line number that counts all the printed lines in that printed text from first to last, including stage directions and everything—what is called TLN (Through Line Numbering).

In dealing with the early printings, which serious Shakespeareans in both academe and the theater tend to do, be prepared for very minimal stage directions. Also, the quartos printed in Shakespeare’s lifetime generally did not divide a play at all; it was only the posthumous 1623 first folio that divided the plays into five acts each and in some cases subdivided each act into numbered scenes as well. Notations regarding where each scene is set, plus lists of Dramatis Personae, were contributed only by later editors, starting with Nicholas Rowe.

On-line access to exact transcriptions of the early printings, with TLN, can be had via the Internet Shakespeare Editions site, hosted by the University of Victoria (British Columbia, Canada). Complete facsimile images of many of the early printings are also available there.

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Script Writing Format for the Stage

#scribendiinc

The essentials of formatting your script for the theater

1. style guide specifics.

Like any other kind of formatting, the rules for script writing format vary depending on the style guide you're following. Different theatre companies, schools, and contests have different requirements for how to format script submissions. Check the website of the company you're sending your script to for submission and formatting requirements.

2. Title page

Just as Glinda the Good Witch tells Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz , "It's always best to start at the beginning." This is one rule that applies to both traveling down the Yellow Brick Road and script writing format. Your title page should be the first page of your book. It should not have a page number on it. The placement of the title on the page depends on the style guide you're following; however, most title pages have the title located about one-third of the way down the page, with the author or authors' name(s) located below it. The title is always written in all capital letters. The name(s) and contact information of the author(s) should be written on the bottom of the page in either the left or right corner, depending on the style guide being followed.

3. Character list, or dramatis personae

The next page of your script should be the list of characters . This may be titled Character List or Dramatis Personae . The characters should be listed in order of importance. Their names should be written in all capital letters and located on the left side of the page, with their corresponding descriptions located on the right side of the page. It should look something like this:

ROMEO MONTAGUE             Son of MONTAGUE and LADY MONTAGUE. In love with JULIET. Very impulsive and slightly mentally unstable.

JULIET CAPULET             Daughter of CAPULET and LADY CAPULET. Thinks she is in love with ROMEO, but is betrothed to PARIS. Far too young to be getting married either way.

Please note that, once you begin using the names of the characters in your actual script, you will only refer to them by their first name (given name) or last name (family name or surname).

4. Setting and time

Standard script writing format also calls for a setting and time page. This should occur after the character list. This page will not have a title. The word setting should be written in capital letters and centered at the top of the page. Beneath this should be a description of the setting. Next, the word time should be capitalized and centered on the page. Beneath this should be a description of the time during which the action is taking place. If your play has several different settings, some script writing formats require a scene-by-scene breakdown of each setting and time. Check your style guide. A basic setting and time page should look something like this:

The Capulet and Montague homes, Verona, Italy.

Three days of the year in the year 1600.

5. Act and scene labeling

Each act and scene should be labeled to achieve proper script writing format. Acts should be designated using roman numerals, while scenes should be labeled with Arabic numbering. For example, the first scene in your play should be Act I, Scene 1. All pages from the first scene onward should be numbered, and the page numbers should be placed in the upper right-hand corner of the page. Courier or Courier New are the fonts used in most script writing formats.

6. Scenes and dialogue

All stage directions, including introductory scene information, should be in parentheses. The first letter of the name of the character who is speaking should be centered, with the rest of the name continuing to the right margin. Use the Tab key rather than the centering function of your word processer. Script writing format requires that characters' names always be in all caps unless they are being used within the dialogue of other characters. The dialogue should appear directly beneath the character's name. It should look something like this:

                                   JULIET

Romeo, Romeo! Why must you be Romeo? Forget about your father and change your name. Or, if you won't do that, just swear to love me. If you do that, I'll stop being a Capulet.

                                   ROMEO

                           (to himself)

Should I keep eavesdropping, or should I let her know I'm here?

Please note that, depending on which style guide you're following, the first paragraph of a new scene may need to be indented further to the right than subsequent paragraphs.

Still need some help?

If, after reading this guide, you still find the art of script writing format to be overwhelming, don't worry. Do your best to format your script properly, and when you're finished, send it to the script editors at Scribendi.com. We'll make sure that your finished product looks polished and professional.

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Writing Act One: The Setup – An ESSENTIAL and SIMPLE Breakdown

So you’ve prepared your story idea and want to put pen to paper. But where to start? No matter if you’re preparing to write the beat sheet or redrafting a finished product it’s always worth putting extra care into your first act.

While it might not be as exciting as the brilliantly executed plot twist at the end of act two or the satisfying, tear-jerking ending, act one is a vital opportunity for your screenplay to start as it means to go on. As brilliant as the rest of your screenplay might be, nobody will read or see it if they’re turned away by a slow or disjointed beginning.

Act one is your hook, your selling point, your set-up. It is one of the most important parts of writing and also the most useful. But how do you execute a gripping act one? We’ve broken down some key steps to get you started; an overview of what NEEDS to go into your act one.

Table of Contents

Writing act one, active, multi-dimensional characters, 2. creating a consistent tone, but what if you’re not writing fantasy or sci fi, 4. introducing your themes, 5. setting your story in motion, in conclusion: structuring act one.

Writing your first act or rather, the period of time before your story really kicks off with the truly dramatic event (the inciting incident), is essential to several elements of your screenplay. Character, theme , tone and your story world are all introduced here. While act one doesn’t give us the overarching conflict just yet it helps to set up and foreshadow that which is to come.

Act one is your status quo. It is how you show the audience what your world and characters were like before the conflict came along and turned it all upside down. Be it a city right before the outbreak of a zombie plague, a happy couple before the scandal that ruins their relationship, a miserable protagonist or the group of cheerful teens before the killer arrives.

When structuring your first act it should be building up to that dramatic moment where the central conflict comes into play. Whatever structure you choose for your script having that build-up is essential. If we began in the middle of the conflict without prior build-up, it would likely be jarring for the audience.

1. Introducing Your Characters

Act one is the place, crucially, for character introductions, specifically those at the core of your story. Your protagonist , antagonist and major supporting characters should all have made at least some appearance or mention in your first act. And even if the antagonist , for instance, hasn’t made an appearance, they must have some kind of presence.

This means, overall, that you don’t have to introduce essential characters during a pivotal gunfight or thrilling chase. Instead, you’ve laid the groundwork of character for the audience to enjoy the ride without having to catch up with essential information.

Baby Driver Example

So how do you introduce your characters when writing act one? Well for a good example let’s look at the opening scene of Baby Driver .

This first scene is not only technically impressive but it also gives us key insight into our protagonist without him even really saying a word himself.

We can tell from this scene alone who he is as a person.

• Baby is a getaway driver but he obviously doesn’t like to see people hurt or scared.
• He’s a demon behind the wheel and evades the police effortlessly.
• He’s generally fun and light-hearted but above all else, he has an insatiable taste in music. Music, in turn, is essential to his skills as a getaway driver.

It’s important that your character introduction gives us a sense of who this person is. It’s vital that by the end of that first scene with said character your audience at least somewhat understands who they are and remembers them.

• What is your character wearing?
• What are they doing?
• And how are they acting? How do they carry themselves?
• How do they relate to the characters and the world around them?

These are all useful and important questions to ask yourself when introducing a character. And the answers can manifest in the subtlest of actions, clothes, mannerisms and/or lines of dialogue.

Baby Driver ‘s opening also gives us a glimpse at the film’s twist antagonist : Buddy (played by Jon Hamm). While he initially appears as an ally and is the more friendly face out of the crew for most of the film, this scene demonstrates his violent tendencies and separateness from the group before we’ve even really met him, giving us as the audience a great dose of foreshadowing.

When writing act one of your screenplay be sure to add in some key character-driven moments. This is important to get across who your characters are early on. These moments not only give your audience a closer look at the character in question but also set up character development in later acts.

This will be a scene or set-piece where we learn something about the character functioning in their world. It may be how they handle a particular situation or something about what they typically do in their day to day life.

Furthermore, something to avoid with your key characters, specifically your protagonists and antagonists is to make sure none of them are flat and/or passive.

• So have them doing things constantly, even if these are only small actions.
• If your hero just sits around waiting for the villain to do something it will be boring for the audience.
• Similarly, if the antagonist is just in the background waiting for the protagonist, then tension is lost.
• The characters must be active and not passive in this first act. The inciting indent will drive them into action and into act two. But they must still be actively participating in the world around them, affecting it with their actions.

Moreover, remember to establish your characters’ flaws. Establishing these early on gives your characters more time to work on these flaws. This, in turn, means more time for character development and more in-depth arcs for those characters. A character flaw set up early on means the potential for this character flaw to be solved by the script’s subsequent acts. You’re laying the ground for potential sub-plots, moments of drama, development and ultimately change.

Another important element to consider when writing act one is tone. What are you trying to write? Is it a dark, moody neo-noir? A fun light-hearted comedy? Introducing a tone early on and keeping that tone for the remainder of your script is crucial to creating an even and consistent story.

An inconsistent tone can result in a disjointed mess.

• If someone picks up your script and finds the first few minutes to be a hilarious slapstick joyride about some soldiers at base camp but soon it becomes a story about the horrors of war, you risk losing them.
• Tone can, of course, be subverted. But the groundwork for this must still be laid. A very sudden shift in tone is difficult to pull off without the requisite build-up.

So how do you write tone into your first act? Scene descriptions can be a vital tool in this regard. Detailed world-building helps you set up the color of the characters’ environment and the elements that will bear down on them throughout the story.

Environmental descriptions, for example, are useful for introducing tone when writing your first act. Tell the reader how the moss creeps up the walls of your haunted house or how messy the room of your teenage protagonist is. You want those first images to tell your viewer what kind of film they’re in for via the detail of your writing.

Also, consider the action you write in that first scene. What happens during those first few moments of your film? And how does this set the tone for the rest of the story?

Atomic Blonde Example

The cold open from Atomic Blonde serves up a great example of how to set up tone.

• Agent Gascoigne is chased through a dingy East Berlin alleyway in his bathrobe before being viciously and unceremoniously executed, then dumped into a river.
• This sets up the film’s brutally violent and treacherous story of espionage and deceit. Whilst it also piques the interest of the audience with an instant flash of the kind of action they can expect throughout the film.
• Even Gascoigne’s bathrobe tells us that you can always be caught off guard. This is the world of the story; one where every character has to be on their toes.

The film starts with a bang and throws us into a fast-paced world of espionage. Not only do we get key information about the context, but we know exactly what kind of exploration of the context this will be. This is no historical drama, it’s an action-thriller. A more studied and slower introduction might make the audience think they are watching a drama, particularly given the context. But the action and style of that action lay out the genre and tone in no uncertain terms.

3. Introducing Your World

World building is something that can be useful to split into two parts; exposition and backstory. These two things may sound the same, but they are very different.

• Exposition is what you’ve written into your script.
• Backstory is your overall world, such as fictional historical events or a character’s life story.

When writing act one it can be tempting to have a great big exposition dump. If you’ve written a vibrant fantasy world to accompany the hero’s quest, for example, you might want to write your first act to be full of all the magic systems and long, detailed history you’ve conjured up. Avoid this at all costs!

Remember your first act needs to sell the script to your audience.

• If it is good for your tone or character introductions to have a scene with part of your protagonist’s backstory then do it.
• But don’t include it if you can’t think of a dramatic, imaginative way to express it.
• Don’t feel the pressure to convey everything all at once. Trust in other elements of your world and characterisation to pull the audience in.

Don’t slow down the narrative progression by including a moment where the action stops and the script essentially talks to the audience. Instead, the exposition has to be woven into the action itself. How can you illustrate the world at hand alongside introducing the character and their actions?

Green Knight Example

Take The Green Knight for example.

• The titular Green Knight’s introduction isn’t given any fanfare.
• He appears at King Arthur’s celebrations after being summoned through a magical ritual. He isn’t explained or even given much dialogue.
• This scene doesn’t tell us who the Green Knight is or where he comes from but it does tell us a lot about the world.
• Firstly there is magic in this world. We don’t know how it works or where it comes from but we don’t need to. We just need it to be established early in the story. Secondly, there are magical creatures in this world.

This means that later in the film we don’t bat an eye at the ghosts, witchcraft and giants that Gawain encounters because we understand that this world has magic and magical creatures from the world the first act establishes. It sets the stakes in this regard, allowing us to understand the reality of the world so that we can become fully enveloped in the story as a whole.

You want to pull your audience in. They don’t have to understand everything at this point, it’s more important they understand the essential rules of this world and feel invested in the protagonist navigating it. An effective character introduction, enticing tone and a rich world will significantly help achieve this.

This goes for any genre, not just fantasy. Even modern-day dramas need to have some kind of world established. Is this a world where an ex-cop can take on a gang of gun-toting criminals? Where one woman can investigate a corrupt legal system? Establishing these things are possible even in a small way makes the rest of your story believable.

Something that is important to consider in your world-building is the stakes.

• If you’re writing a story where your antagonist could destroy the world, for example, you need to establish its plausibility within your script’s world.
• For instance, if you were to write a gritty crime drama and suddenly the villain’s goal is world domination it might result in the breaking of the audience’s suspension of disbelief. But in a world of superheroes and operatic plot movements, this kind of development will likely feel more at home.

In addition, keep in mind that bigger isn’t always better. Even if your antagonist ‘s end goal is world domination, make the stakes personal to the protagonist . If you establish what is precious to your protagonist in the first act you make the audience care about the goal they’re striving towards.

This is why often even in grand stories about saving the world, the protagonist will have a love interest to save alongside the wider world. It helps makes the stakes personal and intimate, relatable and grounded.

Ultimately, the world around the protagonist is crucial in making the stakes believable. Your act one must set the rules of this world, whatever the genre. The audience will consequently be comfortable in whatever direction you take them in, implicitly understanding the parameters and stakes of the story world.

What is your story about? Friendship? Corruption? Money? Establishing this in act one is extremely important. Something can’t really be an undercurrent of the story if it shows up halfway through.

Take the beginning sequence of Star Wars .

• We immediately see the overarching theme of hope.
• The sequence aboard the Tantive IV at the start of the film sets up how outmatched the crew are with that initial shot. However, they are still able to get the plans away from Vader and the empire.
• This then unfolds throughout the film. From the daring rescue attempt on the Death Star to the climactic trench run. It all relies on a few good people versus an overwhelming tide of evil.

There will most likely be several themes running throughout your script. It’s good to think about and apply those themes that you intend for your story when writing act one.

But how does that theme manifest? Well, the theme should be visible in the characters’ actions, the tone of the world and action and the structure of how each scene pieces together.

There are many different ways to represent a theme in your act one.

• You may start with a cold open, for example.
• Or you may have the protagonist engage in a conversation with another character.
• A scene or set-piece full of action may establish the theme.
• Or imagery might highlight your theme, even if it’s subtextual.

Overall, what your story is essentially about needs to be present in act one, ideally in as much of a cinematic manner as possible, woven into the very fabric of the unfolding narrative. Your method may be subtle and almost imperceptible or clear and distinct. But either way, the audience needs to understand, implicitly or explicitly, what your story is about.

So you’ve got your characters, themes, tone and world set up, but how do you bring it all together? For an example of all of these elements in action let’s look at Bladerunner 2049 .

Blade Runner 2049 Example

• In act one we see K introduced as a merciless hunter of his fellow replicants.
• However, we also see how lonely he is and how he himself suffers his co-workers’ prejudice.
• His only companion is his store-bought holographic girlfriend, Joi.
• At the end of the first act, he is given a ray of hope and sent after a mysterious replicant child, someone that shouldn’t exist.

This series of events in the first act introduces every element we’ve discussed.

• The opening fight with Sapper sets up K’s world for us as an audience. We know that replicants who go rogue are hunted. We also know that K too is a replicant sent to execute or recapture those that escape.
• The grimy homestead, the fields of solar panels, the maggot farm and the flying car in this scene let us know that this is a dystopian future before we even see a neon-lit skyscraper or the wall holding the sea back from Los Angeles. Simply through scene descriptions in those opening moments, we garner both tone and setting.
• The initial confrontation with Sapper and the introduction of Joi demonstrate the theme of what it means to be human; Sapper questioning K’s robotic focus. Furthermore, does Joi actually care for K or is she just programmed to? The entire central theme of the film is set up over the course of those first minutes; what does it mean to be human?

Combining all of these elements and trying to keep away from pitfalls such as exposition dumps will keep your audience both engaged and make the rest of your story much easier to write by getting the set-up out of the way. This lays the ground for your story to start moving forward, heading into act two.

Act one is the set-up of your entire script. It’s the part of the story which allows you to prepare and combine each element of your story into an overarching narrative. These combined aspects allow you to create a solid foundation for your entire story. With a successful and balanced act one, you have a licence to take the audience on any journey you wish.

The first act is essentially a combination of all the different elements we’ve outlined above. Laying out these elements separately and then combining them all together is a great way to start when writing act one.

• Introduce your characters.
• Set up and color the story world.
• Set up your theme(s).
• Establish the tone.
• Then bring all these elements together.

This is the essential structure of a successful act one. It doesn’t necessarily matter what order these elements come in. Ultimately, they’re all working to support each other. But miss one and your first act won’t be robust in supporting the rest of the story.

These missing elements will always rear their head later on in the script. This might be, for example, via a jarring shift in tone, a character action that doesn’t feel justified, or a theme that seems tacked on. Act one is where you lay the foundations for the rest of your story to make sense. If you miss this opportunity, your script won’t forget.

– What did you think of this article? Share It , Like It , give it a rating, and let us know your thoughts in the comments box further down…

– Struggling with a script or book? Story analysis is what we do, all day, every day… check out our range of script coverage services for writers & filmmakers . 

This article was written by Callum Scambler and edited by IS Staff.

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An Analysis of the Structure of Anansi by Alistair Campbell- CSEC English B

Structure of a play

Plays are often structured by the playwright (writer of the play) into acts and scenes. An Act is a major division in a play; whereas, a scene occurs within an Act. The scene allows the action of the play to be broken into different segments. In so doing, each scene is often comprised of different characters and locations, which allows the plot of the play to progress. 

The Structure of Anansi by Alistair Campbell

In the play, Anansi by Allistair Campbell, the playwright does not divide the play into the traditional Acts or scenes. Instead, the playwright presents different aspects of the story (what might have traditionally been scenes) in the form of events happening in different sections of the boat (The Hold, The Cabin, etc.) along with different Anansi stories. 

The first question is: “Why?”.  Why did the playwright choose to present the action of the play in this way? What is the significance of this? 

I can posit that Campbell structured the play in this way to allow the events of the play to mirror the journey and feelings of the characters. At first glance, there is a sense of disorientation as one reads the play. However, the structure of the play allows the playwright to weave all the events of the plot together like a web. 

Yet, if you look closely, you will realize that the playwright has retained the traditional play structure ( Acts and scenes). 

The Acts are indicated by large bold lettering, starting first with The Good Hope Ship, West African Coast, 1781, then moving on to The Forest of Stories, then back to the ship in On Board. This is the general pattern of the play. The playwrights, in relating the events of the play, often move us (the audience)  from the ship to stories, then back to the ship and back to the stories. It is almost as if we are taken from the real world to fantasy and back to the real world again. 

whereas “the scenes’ are physically separated by dotted lines and held in different locations. The playwright juxtaposes the action in the cabin to that of the deck and the hold to show perspective on the slave trade along with its impact. 

In a number of Shakespeare’s plays; he presents the subplot in different scenes. This allows the subplot to run in parallel (alongside) with the main plot. This allows the subplot to be a secondary storyline in the play.

• Are the stories of Anansi a subplot?
• Do they have moral lessons that can be learnt from the plot?

In closing, it must be noted that this is just one perspective on the structure of the play. I would love to hear your analysis and thoughts on the structure of the play. 

4 thoughts on “An Analysis of the Structure of Anansi by Alistair Campbell- CSEC English B”

describe the personalities of boy, girl, woman and sailor

Put the types of parallelism, how they’re used and quotes of the okay that include them

Trickery is used to gain the upperhand on other characters. Discuss with detailed examples and what does it reveal about them.

why do yall just leave your hw go away

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Part A: Mark Scheme and Model Answer ( OCR A Level English Literature )

Revision note.

English Senior Content Creator

Mark Scheme and Model Answer

The best way to improve any essay is to know how you are assessed, and what skills you are being assessed on. This page has been created to give you a sense of what examiners are looking for in a full-mark response. It contains:

Mark scheme

Examp le task

Model answe r

Unannota ted model an swer

In Section 1, part (a), the Assessment Objectives are AO1 and AO2. AO1 requires you to write an articulate personal and creative response to the Shakespeare text, and use concepts and terminology written in a coherent way. AO2 requires you to explore Shakespeare’s use of language and its dramatic effects.

Model Answer

Below you will find a full-mark, A* model answer for this unseen extract task. The commentary labelled in each section of the essay illustrates how and why it would be awarded an A*. Despite the fact it is an answer on Hamlet, the commentary is relevant to any of the other Shakespeare plays because it is modelling how to structure an answer incorporating the relevant assessment objectives. AO1 is demonstrated throughout in terms of the coherence of the overall response.

Examiners often comment that students perform most successfully when they think flexibly and creatively during the examination, even when the extract chosen and question for the text were perhaps not as expected. This is better than offloading pre-prepared information about the play.

Unannotated model answer

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Author: Nick Redgrove

Nick is a graduate of the University of Cambridge and King’s College London. He started his career in journalism and publishing, working as an editor on a political magazine and a number of books, before training as an English teacher. After nearly 10 years working in London schools, where he held leadership positions in English departments and within a Sixth Form, he moved on to become an examiner and education consultant. With more than a decade of experience as a tutor, Nick specialises in English, but has also taught Politics, Classical Civilisation and Religious Studies.

Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, how to get a perfect 12 on the act writing essay.

ACT , ACT Writing

There is no part of the ACT more mysterious to students than the essay, and very few people seem to know what exactly the ACT is looking for in a "perfect" essay (particularly since September 2015 was the new ACT Writing test's debut). Luckily, we've got the expertise to give you some insight into how the essay works and what you can do to push your score those extra few points up the scale.

Whether you're trying to impress your dream school or just want to boost your ACT score, the essay is a great thing to work on. Some of the tips below stand alone, while others are part of larger categories that have been assembled based our ACT expertise.

Important: If you haven't read these two other ACT Writing guides before , take a minute and read them now:

The ACT Writing Rubric: Analysis, Explanation, and Strategies

How to Write an ACT Essay, Step by Step

This will make the rest of the article make more sense.

Part I: What a 12 on the ACT Essay Means

If you're already scoring an 8 or above in every domain on practice (or real) ACT essays, you have a shot at completely nailing what the graders want, represented by a score of 12, with a little practice.

But there's something important to remember in your quest for perfection: on the ACT essay, a 12 is not always achievable. We've got good news and bad news for those of you who are determined to know how to get a 12 on the ACT essay.

The Big Secret

You'll have to practice this specific essay. The perfect ACT essay is like a puzzle that happens to be in writing form—it can be mastered, but to do it well and completely every time requires a few month's practice. Knowing how to write other kinds of essays will only help you a limited amount.

The Bad News

Because the whole essay must be written in 40 minutes, getting a 12 requires some luck. You have to pick a thesis and think of relevant and convincing evidence to support it before you can even start writing, so a lot depends on how quickly you can decided on a point of view and relevant support for whatever the prompt happens to be. And because perfect-scoring essays are almost always at least two pages long , you won't have any time to spare.

The Good News

Because the essay is so formulaic, it's always possible to get at least a 10 in each domain. And, on top of this, no college worth its salt is going to base your college admission on getting those last two points on an essay you had to write in 40 minutes. The goal, really, is to show that you can write a decent essay in that time, and a 10 in each domain shows that just as well as a 12 does.

Part II: The Difference Between a 10 and a 12

If we asked the ACT what the difference is between a 10 and a 12 ACT essay, they would direct us to their scoring criteria (replicated in the table below) that describes the difference between the 5 and 6 essay scores in each domain. As you may already know, a total domain score of 12 comes from two readers separately giving your essay a 6; the four domain scores are then averaged to calculate your total essay score of 12.

We've marked the differences between the 5 and 6 criteria in bold . Later, we'll look at these differences in the context of a sample essay.

Part III: Applying the Criteria in a Real ACT Essay Example

Now we'll look at a sample essay and how it demonstrates the characteristics of the 6 essay above. First, let's look at the prompt:

Intelligent Machines

Many of the goods and services we depend on daily are now supplied by intelligent, automated machines rather than human beings. Robots build cars and other goods on assembly lines, where once there were human workers. Many of our phone conversations are now conducted not with people but with sophisticated technologies. We can now buy goods at a variety of stores without the help of a human cashier. Automation is generally seen as a sign of progress, but what is lost when we replace humans with machines? Given the accelerating variety and prevalence of intelligent machines, it is worth examining the implications and meaning of their presence in our lives.

Perspective One: What we lose with the replacement of people by machines is some part of our own humanity. Even our mundane daily encounters no longer require from us basic courtesy, respect, and tolerance for other people.

Perspective Two: Machines are good at low-skill, repetitive jobs, and at high-speed, extremely precise jobs. In both cases they work better than humans. This efficiency leads to a more prosperous and progressive world for everyone.

Perspective Three: Intelligent machines challenge our long-standing ideas about what humans are or can be. This is good because it pushes both humans and machines toward new, unimagined possibilities.

Write a unified, coherent essay about the increasing presence of intelligent machines.

Now, read the ACT essay example below , and try to notice how it meets the criteria in the table above.

     From the simplest system of pulleys and ropes to the most complex supercomputer in the world today, machines have had (and continue to have) a profound influence on the development of humanity. Whether it is taking over monotonous, low-skill tasks or removing that messy "human" element from our day-to-day interactions, machines have answered the call to duty. The increasing prevalence of intelligent machines challenges us to change long held beliefs about our limitations and to continue forward to new and even more advanced possibilities.     One common argument against the increased presence of machines in our day to day lives is that machines leach from us our basic humanity. Indeed, certain people whose only social interactions are anonymous text-based conversations with other anonymous Internet forum dwellers over computers may begin to lose basic human courtesy and empathy. This is crystal clear with a glance at the comments section of any popular news article. Yet machines are also capable of enhancing people's abilities to communicate. An example of this can be found in Tod Machover's lab at MIT, where breakthroughs in neurotechnology have made it possible for quadripalegics to manipulate text on computers with their minds. Such interactions would be impossible without the existence of intelligent machines. Therefore, I must disagree with Perspective one. Rather than losing part of our own humanity to machines, we instead make that most-essential-to-humanity of acts, communication, possible.     Another school of thought (Perspective Two) argues that machines are good at how and high skill repetitive jobs, which leads to a more prosperous and progressive world for everyone. This can be seen in the human work hours that are saved daily with automated phone menus. Before intelligent machines made automatic telephone menus possible, every customer service call ate up valuable employee time. Now, menus allow callers to choose the number that best suits their needs, routing calls to appropriate destinations without the need for human employees to waste time explaining for the hundredth time that "our business hours are 10am-6pm." On the other hand, no mechanized system of this kind is perfect, because it can't predict all future outcomes. In terms of automated telephone menus, this means that sometimes, no menu options are correct. While automated systems may take the burden off of human workers, it is a mistake to think that they can replace humans entirely. Why else would the last line of resort for most automated phone menus be "Dial "0" to speak to an operator/customer service representative?" Perspective Two is true, but it only goes so far.     A final example will demonstrate how intelligent machines challenge longstanding ideas and push us towards new, unimagined possibilities (perspective three). At my high school, all students had to take diagnostic tests in every main subject to figure out our strengths and weaknesses, and we were then sorted into class by skill level. A truly remarkable pattern emerged as a result of this sorting: it turned out that every kid in my medium-level physics class was also a talented musician. The system that sorted us allowed us to find this underlying pattern, which changed the way our teachers taught us; we learned about mechanics through examples that were more relevant to our lives (answering questions like "how many pulleys are needed to lift a piano?"), which in turn made our classes both more enjoyable and also more effective. When before I had struggled with physics and simply assumed it was a subject I "wasn't good at," the intelligent, automated sorting system allowed me to discover that I could in fact understand mechanics if taught in the right way. This discovery pushed me toward previously unimagined academic possibilities.     In conclusion, intelligent machines help us to move forward as a species to greater heights. While machines can cause problems and may in some cases need human input to function optimally, it is how we react and adapt to the machines that is the real takeaway.

This was a real essay written by me within the time limit. What do you think?

Now let's look at an annotated version of this ACT essay example that points out the essay's features.

What Makes This ACT Essay a 12, Rather Than an 8 or 10?

Considerations That Aren't Included in the ACT's Published Guidelines

The essay is long enough to analyze and compare the author's perspective to other perspectives in a nuanced way (one positive example for each perspective with an addition negative example comparing two perspectives the author disagreed with to her own perspective) and include an introductory paragraph and a conclusion.

While ACT, Inc. doesn't acknowledge that length is a factor in scoring ACT essays , most experts agree that it is. But length means nothing if there isn't valuable information filling the space, so long ACT essays also need to be detailed—this author uses the space to give lots of analysis of and context for her examples.

Paragraph Breaks

You may have noticed that the essay is broken up into multiple paragraphs (into the standard five-paragraph format, in fact). This makes the essay easier to read, especially for the ACT readers who have about two to three minutes to read (and score!) each essay. If your points can easily be split up into small parts, then it makes sense to split it up into even more paragraphs, as long as your essay's organization and logical progression remains clear.

Content and Examples

This essay uses a personal example, which may or may not be made up (spoiler alert: it is). But the point is that it could be made up, as can anything you use in your essay. Being able to think of examples (that are not too obviously made up) can give you a huge advantage on the ACT essay.

Do's and Don'ts for a 12 ACT Essay

The key to a perfect score on the ACT essay is to use every second of your time wisely. To this end, here are a few tips to avoid common time-wasters and put your energy where it will get you the most points.

Do spend time:

#1: Writing as much as you can without including repetitive or irrelevant information.

#2: Revising the first and last paragraphs (they stand out in readers' minds).

#3: Making sure you have transitions.

Don't spend time:

#1: Thinking of 'smart' sounding evidence— examples from your own life (or made up about your own life) are just as viable as current events, as long as you keep your example focused and concise.

#2: Trying to correct every error—the grammar and spelling do not have to be perfect to score a 12 in the Language Use domain.

#3: Adding as many vocabulary words as you can—you only need enough to avoid repeating the same basic words or phrases multiple times; you'll max out fancy vocab's potential at two words per paragraph.

How To Practice Your Writing To Get A Perfect 12 In Each Domain

• Start with our list of ACT essay prompts.
• Create a list of evidence examples—from literature, history, or personal experience—that you can use for many or most prompt arguments.
• Practice first with extended time—50 minutes—so you can get an idea of what it takes to get a top-scoring essay.
• Find a way to grade your essay, using the ACT Writing Rubric . If you can be objective about your writing, you can notice weak spots, especially if you ran out of time but know what to do. Otherwise, try to get help from an English teacher or a friend who's a better writer than you are.
• Start narrowing the time down to 40 minutes to mirror the actual test.
• Stay confident! The ACT essay is just like a puzzle—every time you do one, you get better at doing it.

What's Next?

Find out more about how to write an ACT essay with this step-by-step example .

Use our analysis of the ACT Writing Rubric to learn about how your essay will be scored—and discover strategies you can use to get the score you want.

Want to aim for perfection on the ACT with a 36? Read our guide on how to score a perfect ACT score, written by our resident 36 scorer.

Make sure your ACT score is high enough for the schools you want to apply to. Find out how to find your ACT target score .

Laura graduated magna cum laude from Wellesley College with a BA in Music and Psychology, and earned a Master's degree in Composition from the Longy School of Music of Bard College. She scored 99 percentile scores on the SAT and GRE and loves advising students on how to excel in high school.

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Essays That Worked

The essays are a place to show us who you are and who you’ll be in our community.

It’s a chance to add depth to something that is important to you and tell the admissions committee more about your background or goals. Below you’ll find selected examples of essays that “worked,” as nominated by our admissions committee. In each of these essays, students were able to share stories from their everyday lives to reveal something about their character, values, and life that aligned with the culture and values at Hopkins.

Read essays that worked from Transfer applicants .

Hear from the class of 2027.

These selections represent just a few examples of essays we found impressive and helpful during the past admissions cycle. We hope these essays inspire you as you prepare to compose your own personal statements. The most important thing to remember is to be original as you share your own story, thoughts, and ideas with us.

Ordering the Disorderly

Ellie’s essay skillfully uses the topic of entropy as an extended metaphor. Through it, we see reflections about who they are and who they aspire to be.

Pack Light, But Be Prepared

In Pablo’s essay, the act of packing for a pilgrimage becomes a metaphor for the way humans accumulate experiences in their life’s journey and what we can learn from them. As we join Pablo through the diverse phases of their life, we gain insights into their character and values.

Tikkun Olam

Julieta illustrates how the concept of Tikkun Olam, “a desire to help repair the world,” has shaped their passions and drives them to pursue experiences at Hopkins.

Kashvi’s essay encapsulates a heartfelt journey of self-discovery and the invaluable teachings of Rock, their 10-year-old dog. Through the lens of their companionship, Kashvi walked us through valuable lessons on responsibility, friendship, patience, and unconditional love.

Classical Reflections in Herstory

Maddie’s essay details their intellectual journey using their love of Greek classics. They incorporate details that reveal the roots of their academic interests: storytelling, literary devices, and translation. As their essay progresses, so do Maddie’s intellectual curiosities.

My Spotify Playlist

Alyssa’s essay reflects on special memories through the creative lens of Spotify playlists. They use three examples to highlight their experiences with their tennis team, finding a virtual community during the pandemic, and co-founding a nonprofit to help younger students learn about STEM.

More essays that worked

We share essays from previously admitted students—along with feedback from our admissions committee—so you can understand what made them effective and how to start crafting your own.

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Guest Essay

Trump’s Third Act? American Gangster.

By Samuel Earle

Mr. Earle is the author of “Tory Nation: How One Party Took Over.”

In recent months, Donald Trump has been trying out a new routine. At rallies and town halls across the country, he compares himself to Al Capone. “He was seriously tough, right?” Mr. Trump told a rally in Iowa in October , in an early rendition of the act. But “he was only indicted one time; I’ve been indicted four times.” (Capone was, in fact, indicted at least six times.) The implication is not just that Mr. Trump is being unfairly persecuted but also that he is four times as tough as Capone. “If you looked at him in the wrong way,” Mr. Trump explained, “he blew your brains out."

Mr. Trump’s eagerness to invoke Capone reflects an important shift in the image he wants to project to the world. In 2016, Mr. Trump played the reality TV star and businessman who would shake up politics, shock and entertain. In 2020, Mr. Trump was the strongman, desperately trying to hold on to power by whatever means possible. In 2024, Mr. Trump is in his third act: the American gangster, heir to Al Capone — besieged by the authorities, charged with countless egregious felonies but surviving and thriving nonetheless, with an air of macho invincibility.

The evidence of Mr. Trump’s mobster pivot is everywhere. He rants endlessly about his legal cases in his stump speeches. On Truth Social, he boasts about having a bigger team of lawyers “than any human being in the history of our Country, including even the late great gangster, Alphonse Capone!” His team has used his mug shot — taken after he was indicted on a charge of racketeering in August — on T-shirts, mugs, Christmas wrapping, bumper stickers, beer coolers and even NFTs. They’ve sold off parts of the blue suit he was wearing in that now-infamous photo for more than $4,000 a piece (it came with a dinner with Mr. Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort).

Commentators have long pointed out that Mr. Trump behaves like a mob boss: The way he demands loyalty from his followers, lashes out at rivals, bullies authorities and flaunts his impunity are all reminiscent of the wiseguys Americans know so well from movies and television. As a real-estate mogul in New York, he seems to have relished working with mobsters and learned their vernacular before bringing their methods into the White House: telling James Comey, “I expect loyalty”; imploring Volodymyr Zelensky, “Do us a favor”; and pressuring Georgia’s secretary of state, “Fellas, I need 11,000 votes.” But before, he downplayed the mobster act in public. Now he actively courts the comparison.

Mr. Trump’s audacious embrace of a criminal persona flies in the face of conventional wisdom. When Richard Nixon told the American public, “I am not a crook,” the underlying assumption was that voters would not want a crook in the White House. Mr. Trump is testing this assumption. It’s a canny piece of marketing. A violent mobster and a self-mythologizing millionaire, Capone sanitized his crimes by cultivating an aura of celebrity and bravery, grounded in distrust of the state and a narrative of unfair persecution. The public lapped it up. “Everybody sympathizes with him,” Vanity Fair noted of Capone in 1931, as the authorities closed in on him. “Al has made murder a popular amusement.” In similar fashion, Mr. Trump tries to turn his indictments into amusement, inviting his supporters to play along. “They’re not after me, they’re after you — I’m just standing in the way!” he says, a line that greets visitors to his website, as well.

Mr. Trump clearly hopes that his Al Capone act will offer at least some cover from the four indictments he faces. And there is a twisted logic to what he is doing: By adopting the guise of the gangster, he is able to recast his lawbreaking as vigilante justice — a subversive attempt to preserve order and peace — and transform himself into a folk hero. Partly thanks to this framing, it seems unlikely that a criminal conviction will topple his candidacy: not only because Mr. Trump has already taken so many other scandals in his stride but also because, as Capone shows, the convicted criminal can be as much an American icon as the cowboy and the frontiersman. In this campaign, Mr. Trump’s mug shot is his message — and the repeated references to Al Capone are there for anyone who needs it spelled out.

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