Punctuating Titles: Italics or “Quotes”?

When to Use Italics/underlining

Note: When you are handwriting, indicate italics by underlining the title. Never do both italics and underlining.

Titles of Books: The Great Gatsby Plays: A Streetcar Named Desire Very Long Poems: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Periodicals, Magazines and Newspapers: The

Washington Post ; The Economist ; Newsweek.

When to Use Italics/underlining

Titles of Works of Art: Starry Night; Mona Lisa, The Thinker

Movies: Star Trek Radio and TV Series: Breaking Bad; Deadliest

Catch Video Games: Call of Duty Albums/Long Musical Recordings: The Dark Side

of the Moon Comic Strips: Peanuts; Doonsbury

When to Use Italics/underlining

The General Rule: Put the title in italics (or underline it if

handwriting) if it is a long/big work and/or if the work can be broken down into smaller parts (ie. A TV series can be broken into individual episodes; a newspaper is broken up into individual articles.)

When to Use “Quotes” Around a Title

Never use quotes with italics/underlines. It’s always one or the other.

Titles of short stories: “The Minister’s Black Veil,” “To Build a Fire”

Poems: “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”

When to Use “Quotes” Around a Title

Essays: “A Stranger in the Village” Articles and Other Parts of Publication: “In Rust

Belt, A Teenager’s Climb From Poverty” Songs: “Money” Episodes of TV or Radio Series: “Long Sleepless

Nights” (an episode of Deadliest Catch) Chapters and Other Parts in a Book: “Epilogue.”

When to Use “Quotes” Around a Title

The general rule: Use quotation marks to enclose titles of short

works (often works that are part of a larger collection).

Elements of Literature -- “The Minister’s Black Veil”

The Washington Post -- “USPS Plans to End Saturday Mail”

Deadliest Catch -- “Long Sleepless Nights”

The Wasteland And Other Poems -- “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”

The Dark Side of the Moon -- “Money”