Italics: including titles of major works, and other terms

Italics

Including titles of major works, and other terms in your writing

Major Work Titles

STYLE MANUAL GUIDELINES	EXAMPLE
Major works are placed in italics. These include the title of a book, play, poem (published as book), pamphlet, newspaper, magazine, journal, Web site, online database, film, television broadcast, radio broadcast, album, dance performance, opera, long musical composition, painting, sculpture, ship, aircraft, spacecraft, and court cases. Formerly, major works were underlined. Presently, underlining is reserved for hypertext links in Web and word-processing environments. Underlining is still used in handwritten papers.	Stye manuals may vary using italics or quotation marks. It is a good idea to find out which style manual is selected for your business or academic institution. Note that the AP Stylebook (Associated Press) uses quotation marks in place of italics because "Italic type face cannot be sent through AP computers."
1. BOOK TITLES Italicize the title of a book. (Enclose chapter names in quotation marks.) (MLA 3.6.2) But not scriptural writings: Bible, Gospels, Talmud, Koran, Upanishads (MLA 3.6.5)	ITALICS We look in The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language for answers to grammar questions. Huddleston, Rodney and Geoffrey K. Pullum. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Print.
2. PERIODICAL TITLES Italicize the title of a magazine, newspaper, or journal. Also italicize all publications archived on microfilm. (Enclose article names in quotation marks.)	ITALICS We read an interesting article in The San Francisco Chronicle. Friedman, Thomas L. "The Earth is Full". Editorial. New York Times. 7 Jun 2011. Print. The Wall Street Journal is available in print or online. We saw the Second Census of the United States, 1800 in the library.
3. FILMS & VIDEO TITLES Italicize the title of a film, video, television show or audio recording, album. (Enclose the name of a music video, scene, or episode in quotation marks.) A Television or Radio Broadcast (MLA 5.7.1) A Film or Video Recording (MLA 5.7.6) Movies, Television, and Radio (CMOS 8.196-200 )	ITALICS Both The King's Speech and The Black Swan won a lot of Oscar awards in 2010. We rented the documentary Waiting for Superman. Ashton Kutcher will replace Charlie Sheen's role in the television show Two and a Half Men. Lady Gaga's Born This Way includes the song "Edge of Glory".
4. MUSIC, DANCE & PLAY TITLES Italicize the title of major works such as an opera, a symphony, a dance performance, an album. (Enclose the name of a song, scene, or dance in quotation marks.) A Sound Recording (MLA 5.7.2) A performance (MLA 5.7.4), A musical score (MLA 5.7.5) Musical Works(CMOS 8.201-5 ), Poems and Plays (CMOS 8.191-5)	ITALICS The ballet will add two additional performances of The Nutcracker. The opera Rigoletto was written by Giuseppe Verdi. Beethovan' s Symphony No. 9 in D minor is also known as Ode to Joy. They saw the musical Billy Elliot on Broadway.
5. VISUAL WORK OF ART TITLES Italicize the title of a painting, a sculpture, or photograph A Work of Visual Art (MLA 3.6.6), A Cartoon or Comic Strip (MLA 5.7.9), A Map or Chart (MLA 5.7.8) Paintings, Graphic Art, and Sculpture (CMOS 8.206-7) (APA	ITALICS Pablo Picasso's most famous proto-Cubist works are Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907) and Guernica (1937) The Thinker is a bronze and marble sculpture by Auguste Rodin. Ansel Adams Monolith, The Face of Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California, 1927. The comic strip, Dick Tracy, has been published in several languages in newspapers around the world.
6. WEB & ENTERTAINMENT TITLES Italicize the name of a Web site, comic strip, computer or video game (Enclose the name of a Web page, or a Web post in quotation marks.) Titles of software programs and computer language are capitalized but not put in quotations or italicized. (CMOS 7.81)	ITALICS We use Wikipedia.com to find encyclopedic information. The best known video game, Mario Bros. features two plumbers. The Huffington Post is an American news website, which was sold to AOL in February of 2011.

STYLE MANUAL GUIDELINES

EXAMPLE

Major works are placed in italics. These include the title of a book, play, poem (published as book), pamphlet, newspaper, magazine, journal, Web site, online database, film, television broadcast, radio broadcast, album, dance performance, opera, long musical composition, painting, sculpture, ship, aircraft, spacecraft, and court cases. Formerly, major works were underlined. Presently, underlining is reserved for hypertext links in Web and word-processing environments. Underlining is still used in handwritten papers.

Stye manuals may vary using italics or quotation marks. It is a good idea to find out which style manual is selected for your business or academic institution. Note that the AP Stylebook (Associated Press) uses quotation marks in place of italics because "Italic type face cannot be sent through AP computers."

1. BOOK TITLES

Italicize the title of a book.

(Enclose chapter names in quotation marks.)

(MLA 3.6.2)

But not scriptural writings: Bible, Gospels, Talmud, Koran, Upanishads (MLA 3.6.5)

ITALICS

We look in The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language for answers to grammar questions.

Huddleston, Rodney and Geoffrey K. Pullum. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Print.

2. PERIODICAL TITLES

Italicize the title of a magazine, newspaper, or journal.

Also italicize all publications archived on microfilm.

(Enclose article names in quotation marks.)

ITALICS

We read an interesting article in The San Francisco Chronicle.

Friedman, Thomas L. "The Earth is Full". Editorial. New York Times. 7 Jun 2011. Print.
The Wall Street Journal is available in print or online.

We saw the Second Census of the United States, 1800 in the library.

3. FILMS & VIDEO TITLES

Italicize the title of a film, video, television show or audio recording, album.

(Enclose the name of a music video, scene, or episode in quotation marks.)

A Television or Radio Broadcast (MLA 5.7.1) A Film or Video Recording (MLA 5.7.6)
Movies, Television, and Radio (CMOS 8.196-200 )

ITALICS

Both The King's Speech and The Black Swan won a lot of Oscar awards in 2010.

We rented the documentary Waiting for Superman.

Ashton Kutcher will replace Charlie Sheen's role in the television show Two and a Half Men.

Lady Gaga's Born This Way includes the song "Edge of Glory".

4. MUSIC, DANCE & PLAY TITLES

Italicize the title of major works such as an opera, a symphony, a dance performance, an album.

(Enclose the name of a song, scene, or dance in quotation marks.)

A Sound Recording (MLA 5.7.2) A performance (MLA 5.7.4), A musical score (MLA 5.7.5)
Musical Works(CMOS 8.201-5 ), Poems and Plays (CMOS 8.191-5)

ITALICS

The ballet will add two additional performances of The Nutcracker.

The opera Rigoletto was written by Giuseppe Verdi.

Beethovan' s Symphony No. 9 in D minor is also known as Ode to Joy.

They saw the musical Billy Elliot on Broadway.

5. VISUAL WORK OF ART TITLES

Italicize the title of a painting, a sculpture, or photograph

A Work of Visual Art (MLA 3.6.6), A Cartoon or Comic Strip (MLA 5.7.9), A Map or Chart (MLA 5.7.8)

Paintings, Graphic Art, and Sculpture (CMOS 8.206-7) (APA

ITALICS

Pablo Picasso's most famous proto-Cubist works are Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907) and Guernica (1937)

The Thinker is a bronze and marble sculpture by Auguste Rodin.

Ansel Adams Monolith, The Face of Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California, 1927.

The comic strip, Dick Tracy, has been published in several languages in newspapers around the world.

6. WEB & ENTERTAINMENT TITLES

Italicize the name of a Web site, comic strip, computer or video game

(Enclose the name of a Web page, or a Web post in quotation marks.)

Titles of software programs and computer language are capitalized but not put in quotations or italicized. (CMOS 7.81)

ITALICS

We use Wikipedia.com to find encyclopedic information.

The best known video game, Mario Bros. features two plumbers.

The Huffington Post is an American news website, which was sold to AOL in February of 2011.

Also see Quotation Marks

Italics

Other uses

Word Examples, Technical Terms, Foreign Words, Unfamiliar Words

STYLE MANUAL GUIDELINES	EXAMPLE
Most style manuals designate specific terms to be italicized.	Note that if a plural can be formed, the suffix -s is not italicized.
7. A LETTER, WORD, OR PHRASE USED AS A LINGUISTIC EXAMPLE Place individual letters, words, or phrase in italics. (MLA 3.6.2) (CMOS 7.62) (APA 4.2.1)	ITALICS The word vacuum has one c and two u's. the plural marked is not italicized A good turn out (rotatation of the feet and legs outward) is necessary for ballet.
8. INTRODUCTION OF A NEW TECHNICAL TERM Place a new, technical, key word, or label in italics. Thereafter, it can be written in without italics. Italicize a word to distinguish it as a greater element than a bold element. (CMOS 7.79)	ITALICS The ducking effect in the sound editor can be appliedto a music track when a speech track is present. The average tweeter checks his or her Twitter account more than twenty times a day. (APA 4.21) She pocket dialed him, a situation in which a phone is activated by the movement of one's pocket or purse and then accidentally sends a call. new terms (CMOS 7.62) The blue team has to go to the other side of the field. The file introduction.docx can be opened from the File menu.
9. UNFAMILIAR FOREIGN WORDS & PHRASE Place foreign words that are not found in an English dictionary in italics. Common words such as hors d'oeuvres, in vitro and rendezvous found in an English dictionary should not be italicized. (They are italicized in this example because they are given as word examples.) Use italics for words not found in Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, 2005. (APA 4.21) Set the foreign words in italics and translate the word using single quotes. (CMOS 7.52 )	ITALICS Young Greeks talk of sweeping away the kleftes (thieves) in the parliament building. Blake's joie de vivre makes him a favorite among friends. His droit de seigneur (the lord's right) manner caused his ruin. (APA 4.21) His "droit de seigneur" manner, meaning the lord of the land has first right to choose of his serfs' goods and daughters, caused his ruin. (AP 99)
10. BIOLOGY Italicize words in biology referring to species and varieties. (genes, genera)	The botanical name for the Valley Oak is Quercus lobata. Leprosy was caused by Mycobacterium leprae.
11. MATH VARIABLES Italicize math variables.	ITALICS a/b = c/d, sinX, logX
12. MUSICAL TERMS Italicize muscial terms for dynamics.	ITALICS piano, mezzoforte, andante
13. SHIPS AND AIRCRAFT Italicize the name of a ship, aircraft, or space craft. (also trains)	ITALICS The spacecraft Challenger will make its last flight in June 2011. The USS Arizona lies at the bottom of Pearl Harbor as a memorial.

STYLE MANUAL GUIDELINES

EXAMPLE

Most style manuals designate specific terms to be italicized.

Note that if a plural can be formed, the suffix -s is not italicized.

7. A LETTER, WORD, OR PHRASE USED AS A LINGUISTIC EXAMPLE

Place individual letters, words, or phrase in italics.

(MLA 3.6.2) (CMOS 7.62) (APA 4.2.1)

ITALICS

The word vacuum has one c and two u's. the plural marked is not italicized

A good turn out (rotatation of the feet and legs outward) is necessary for ballet.

8. INTRODUCTION OF A NEW TECHNICAL TERM

Place a new, technical, key word, or label in italics. Thereafter, it can be written in without italics.

Italicize a word to distinguish it as a greater element than a bold element. (CMOS 7.79)

ITALICS

The ducking effect in the sound editor can be appliedto a music track when a speech track is present.

The average tweeter checks his or her Twitter account more than twenty times a day. (APA 4.21)

She pocket dialed him, a situation in which a phone is activated by the movement of one's pocket or purse and then accidentally sends a call. new terms (CMOS 7.62)

The blue team has to go to the other side of the field.

The file introduction.docx can be opened from the File menu.

9. UNFAMILIAR FOREIGN WORDS & PHRASE

Place foreign words that are not found in an English dictionary in italics.

Common words such as hors d'oeuvres, in vitro and rendezvous found in an English dictionary should not be italicized. (They are italicized in this example because they are given as word examples.)

Use italics for words not found in Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, 2005. (APA 4.21)
Set the foreign words in italics and translate the word using single quotes. (CMOS 7.52 )

ITALICS

Young Greeks talk of sweeping away the kleftes (thieves) in the parliament building.

Blake's joie de vivre makes him a favorite among friends.

His droit de seigneur (the lord's right) manner caused his ruin. (APA 4.21)
His "droit de seigneur" manner, meaning the lord of the land has first right to choose of his serfs' goods and daughters, caused his ruin. (AP 99)

10. BIOLOGY

Italicize words in biology referring to species and varieties. (genes, genera)

The botanical name for the Valley Oak is Quercus lobata.
Leprosy was caused by Mycobacterium leprae.

11. MATH VARIABLES

Italicize math variables.

ITALICS

a/b = c/d, sinX, logX

12. MUSICAL TERMS

Italicize muscial terms for dynamics.

ITALICS

piano, mezzoforte, andante

13. SHIPS AND AIRCRAFT

Italicize the name of a ship, aircraft, or space craft. (also trains)

ITALICS

The spacecraft Challenger will make its last flight in June 2011.

The USS Arizona lies at the bottom of Pearl Harbor as a memorial.

Resources

AP Stylebook. The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law. 42nd ed. New York: Basic Books, 2007. Print.
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America. 2009. Print
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. 6th ed. Washington, D.C: American Psychological Association, 2010. Print
University of Chicago Press. The Chicago Manual of Style. 15th edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003. Print.

Practice 1

Identifying correct use of italics

Is the sentence punctuated correctly?

Select the option: correct or incorrect.
Read the feedback to check your response.

Note: formerly, major works were underlined. However, now word processsors and HTML editors mark hypertext links with underlines, so major works are being distinguished by italics. In electronic environments that do not support formatting text with italics, it is common to place one underline before and after each word or group of words that would be italicized in print. _The Godfather_ (MLA 3.3)

#	SENTENCE	YOUR RESPONSE & FEEDBACK
1.	Fans finally were able to hear music from the Broadway play "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" on the early morning television show Good Morning America (10 Sept. 2010).	Correct Incorrect Feedback 1
2.	The fourteen-song album, including "Boy Falling From the Sky", was released by Interscope Records.	Correct Incorrect Feedback 2
3.	Marvel Comics has featured Spider-Man in several comic book series, the first and longest-lasting of which is titled The Amazing Spider-Man.	Correct Incorrect Feedback 3
4.	Ben Brantley of the New York Times writes that Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark "is not only the most expensive musical ever to hit Broadway; it may also rank among the worst."	Correct Incorrect Feedback 4
5.	The movie, Spider-Man (2002) starring Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker, was translated into Greek as Spiderman, o Anthropos-Arahni.	Correct Incorrect Feedback 5
6.	Comic book writer-editor and historian Paul Kupperberg, in The Creation of Spider-Man, calls the character's superpowers "nothing too original". Rosen Publishing Group (July 2006)	Correct Incorrect Feedback 6
7.	Spider-Man was also an occasional character in the 1970s children's educational show "The Electric Company" which presented brief tales using a combination of animation and live action called the "Spidey Super Stories".	Correct Incorrect Feedback 7
8.	Spider-Man also appeared in the Spider-Woman series in the episodes "Pyramids of Terror" and "The Kongo Spider".	Correct Incorrect Feedback 8

Also see Said Synonyms

Practice 2

Puccini

Select the correct punctuation

Select the response from the menu that best completes the sentence.
Compare your response to the answer by clicking the "check" button.

Note: formerly, major works were underlined. However, now word processors and HTML editors mark hypertext links with underlines, so major works are being distinguished by italics. In electronic environments that do not support formatting text with italics, it is common to place one underline before and after each word or group of words that would be italicized in print. _The Godfather_ (MLA 3.3)

#	YOUR RESPONSE	CHECK YOUR ANSWER
9.	is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini. See note above regarding how italics or _underlines_ are represented in this and other environments where their formatting is not supported.
10.	In Act 1, Scene 8, Butterfly sings .
11.	The song is played pianoforte – soft then immediately loud (song dynamics)
12.	is a 1993 romantic drama film directed by David Cronenberg.
13.	Puccini was born in Lucca in , into a family with five generations of musical history behind them, including composer Domenico Puccini.
14.	The photograph, (1956), was taken by an unknown photographer.
15.	More information can be found on Wikipedia.org on the page called .

Practice 3

Editing

The following is a shortened story from a book.

Read each sentence and edit it adding italics and quotation marks if needed.
To add an italic marking, use the underline before and after method: _Casablanca_.
Compare your edits to the answers on the right.

#	YOUR RESPONSE	CHECK YOUR ANSWER
16.	In Malcom Gladwell's book, Blink, he explains how we often know something in an instant without thinking. EDIT THIS: In Malcom Gladwell's book, Blink, he explains how we often know something in an instant without thinking.
17.	In the chapter called The Statue Didn't Look Right, he details how the Getty Museum received an ancient Greek statue called a kouros. Everyone's first impression was that it was a fake. fake (n.) - a copy, not real EDIT THIS: In the chapter called The Statue Didn't Look Right, he details how the Getty Museum received an ancient Greek statue called a kouros. Everyone's first impression was that it was a fake (a copy, not real).
18.	Mr. Getty called in a scientist from the University of California to examine the statue. He looked at it with a microscope and x-ray machines, and the statue passed all his tests. So Mr. Getty bought the kouros for his museum. EDIT THIS: Mr. Getty called in a scientist from the University of California to examine the statue. He looked at it with a microscope and x-ray machines, and the statue passed all his tests. So Mr. Getty bought the kouros for his museum.
19.	In fall of 1986, the statue went on display for the first time. The New York Times put the story on its front page, A Kouros at the Getty Museum. EDIT THIS: In fall of 1986, the statue went on display for the first time. The New York Times put the story on its front page, A Kouros at the Getty Museum.
20.	There was just one problem. It didn't look right. It looked fresh (new). So Mr. Getty shipped it to the Acropolis Museum in Athens for more expert opinion. One expert after the other looked at it and had the same response, "Something is not right." EDIT THIS: There was just one problem. It didn't look right. It looked fresh (new). So Mr. Getty shipped it to the Acropolis Museum in Athens for more expert opinion. One expert after the other looked at it and had the same response, "Something is not right."
21.	Everyone had a gut feeling that something was not right about it — the size, the color, the shape, the style. Their internal computer was telling them something that scientific examination had missed. gut feeling (n.) – an unthinking, internal feeling EDIT THIS: Everyone had a gut feeling that something was not right about it — the size, the color, the shape, the style. Their internal computer was telling them something that scientific examination had missed.
22.	In the first two seconds of looking — in a blink — they were able to understand more about the authenticity of the statue than Mr. Getty was able to learn in fourteen months. authenticity (n.) – the quality of being real or true EDIT THIS: In the first two seconds of looking — in a blink — they were able to understand more about the authenticity of the statue than Mr. Getty was able to learn in fourteen months.

Gladwell, Malcom. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. New York: Little, Brown and Company. 2005. Print.

Grammar-Quizzes.com

PRACTICE ON POINTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR

Italics

Including titles of major works, and other terms in your writing

Major Work Titles

Italics

Other uses

Word Examples, Technical Terms, Foreign Words, Unfamiliar Words

Resources

Practice 1

Identifying correct use of italics

Is the sentence punctuated correctly?

Practice 2

Puccini

Select the correct punctuation

Practice 3

Editing

The following is a shortened story from a book.