PROBLEM: Some students find themselves getting confused when it is time to put a title of a movie, play, newspaper, or poem into a paper they are writing. This will serve as a tool to show when and when not to put certain works in italics, or underline, or "quotes."
HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF HOW YOU MAY GET TRIPPED UP:
Incorrect: Every Sunday I read the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Incorrect: The season finale of The West Wing was titled Two Cathedrals.
Incorrect: Will Smith landed a box office smash in the summer of 1996 with the release of Independence Day.
Incorrect: Edgar Allen Poe was a poet in the late 1800's: his most famous piece was The Raven.
THESE ARE THE OFFICIAL RULES:
- "Use quotation marks around the titles of short works: newspaper and magazine articles, poems, short stories, episodes of television and radio programs, and chapters or subdivisions of books."
- "Titles of books, plays, Web sites, television and radio programs, films, and names of magazines and newspapers are put in italics or underlined."
(Source: Hacker, Diane. The Bedford Handbook. 5th Edition. Boston: Bedford Books, 1998)
TRANSLATION OF THE RULES: If it is short not to major work, put it in quotes. If it is something major then it should probably be underlined or placed in italics.
CORRECTIONS:
Incorrect: Every Sunday I read the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The sentence is structured properly but because there is a title of a newspaper in there it should actually read:
Correct: Every Sunday I read the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Or
Every Sunday I read the Philadelphia Inquirer.
*You may want to know which is better to use. Well I would say italics. The reason there is two ways is because typewriters did not have a way to italicize a word. Older Professors may prefer underline because that’s how they did it when there were no computers.
Incorrect: The season finale of The West Wing was titled Two Cathedrals.
Once again a nice sentence; there are actually two mistakes here. The title of the show would appear in italics or underlined. Because the episode name is not as important as the name of the show itself, the title of the show should be placed in quotes:
Correct: The season finale of The West Wing was titled "Two Cathedrals."
Or
The season finale of The West Wing was titled "Two Cathedrals."
Incorrect: Will Smith landed a box office smash in the summer of 1996 with the release of Independence Day.
Titles of movies should appear in italics or underlined.
Correct: Will Smith landed a box office smash in the summer of 1996 with the release of Independence Day.
Or
Will Smith landed a box office smash in the summer of 1996 with the release of Independence Day.
Incorrect: Edgar Allen Poe was a poet in the late 1800's: his most famous piece was The Raven.
Because The Raven was a poem not a book it is placed in quotation marks.
Correct: Edgar Allen Poe was a poet in the late 1800's: his most famous piece was "The Raven."
Here are some steps to help you mark a title with greater ease:
