What is the proper way to document a conversation in paragraph form?

It seems redundant doing: He said "such and such," she replied, "blah blah," and he replied....

I am sure there is a correct way to do this, I just do not know what it is... Please help!

3/19/2008 1:47:35 PM

in what context--essay, summary, annotated bibliography, etc?

[Edited on March 19, 2008 at 2:15 PM. Reason : you should probably paraphrase in this situation]

3/19/2008 2:05:31 PM

look up mla format. it may help.

3/19/2008 2:06:27 PM

It is for a project where I had to ask people questions and get their response. I can paraphrase some of the information, but most of it needs to be in direct quotes. It is in essay format. The stuff I found for MLA and in most books, just shows how to quote a single quote or one large quote.

3/19/2008 2:25:21 PM

some combination of quotation, summarization and paraphrasis is pretty much the standard way to integrate outside sources in an essay--i'm not sure there's any other 'correct' way to go about it.

if you find yourself using a lot of direct quotations, it usually means you're doing something wrong...

[Edited on March 19, 2008 at 3:28 PM. Reason : &]

3/19/2008 3:27:39 PM

try integrating the quotes into the flow and grammar of your own sentences

3/19/2008 5:46:15 PM

Last name, first name. year, Month date. Personal Communication.

3/19/2008 5:50:02 PM

i would treat it as a transcript

Bob Jones: sfhkjsdhfjkshdflshdflsjdf
Jane Jones: klfsjdfklsjfksjdfkljsdf
Bob Jones: sjfsdjf

etc

anything else might seem awkward. it also depends on how long the conversations are

3/19/2008 8:51:59 PM

MLA can suck my nuts. Chicago Manual of Style FTW.

3/19/2008 9:54:55 PM

Amen!

3/22/2008 2:06:59 PM

i know in newspaper writing we're really not supposed to ever stray from "___ said" or "said ___". Words like "replied" make the paper sound more story-like.

so says bradley of student media.

3/23/2008 3:51:10 PM