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TitlesItalics vs. Quotation Marks

Referring to Titles

Titles are either italicized or placed between “quotation marks.”

Longer works are italicized.

Shorter ones are put in “quotation marks.”

The methods are not interchangeable or used in tandem.

Longer Works

A longer work generally means one which contains smaller, though substantial divisions, or which would take over an hour to read or perform.

The following are all considered longer works, the titles of which would be italicized:

Italicize the titles of . . . •Books•Magazines•Newspapers•Periodicals•Journals•Anthologies•Plays•Movies•Operas•etc.

These are all long works with smaller divisions within them.

Shorter Works

A shorter work generally means one which would be contained within a longer one, or which would take an hour or less to read or perform.

The following are all considered shorter works, the titles of which would be in quotation marks:

Put quotation marks around the titles of . . .

•Chapters•Articles•Short stories•Poems•Songs•Serialized TV shows•etc.

These are generally all shorter works within a much larger work.

Learn to Punctuate Titles Correctly

The tendency among students seems to be to italicize titles regardless.

Some stylistic manuals may allow this. However, both APA and MLA style are very specific about which titles may or may not be italicized. If in doubt, look it up.

Longer Works Shorter WorksBooks ChaptersMagazines ArticlesNewspapers ArticlesPeriodicals ArticlesJournals ArticlesAnthologies Poems, short storiesPlays Acts, scenesMovies ScenesOperas/Musicals Songs

TV Shows

Quiz1. When I was a child, I loved to sing Old McDonald Had A Farm.2. My mother read me Little House on the Prairie when I was small.3. I never liked Titanic because Leonardo DiCaprio was in it.4. There was a piece in Time magazine last week called War With

Iran?5. Have you ever read Lord of the Rings?6. According to the News Sentinel, Matt Kelty still has a good

chance of being elected mayor.7. One of my favorite poems is Andrew Marvell’s To His Coy

Mistress.8. Today we are reading Cynthia Ozick’s short story The Shawl.9. The Possessive was a poem about teenage rebellion.10. Re-runs of Saved by the Bell suggest that the program remains

popular.

Quiz—Answer Key

1. When I was a child, I loved to sing “Old McDonald Had A Farm.”2. My mother read me Little House on the Prairie when I was small.3. I never liked Titanic because Leonardo DiCaprio was in it.4. There was a piece in Time magazine last week called “War With

Iran?”5. Have you ever read Lord of the Rings?6. According to the News Sentinel, Matt Kelty still has a good

chance of being elected mayor.7. One of my favorite poems is Andrew Marvell’s “To His Coy

Mistress.”8. Today we are reading Cynthia Ozick’s “The Shawl.”9. “The Possessive” was a poem about teenage rebellion.10. Re-runs of “Saved by the Bell” suggest that the program remains

popular.

PowerPoint Presentation by Mark A. Spalding, BA, MEd, MA, 2007.

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