MLA: Punctuating Titles

There is a trick There is a trick to remembering how to treat titles, and it works well enough that you can commit most types of titles to memory. It's the big and little trick.

Big things and things that can stand on their own, like books, are italicized in when typing and underlined when handwritten. Little things that are dependent or that come as part of a group, like chapters, are put into quotation marks.

WAIT.... Why use italics when typing or using a computer and underlining when handwriting???? This is done because you cannot write in italics when you handwrite. I t would be too difficult.

For example, a CD or album are major (big) works that can be divided into smaller parts, or songs. The song names (small part) are punctuated with quotation marks.

Underline or place in italics any published collection, like a book of poetry. Put the individual entry, like a poem, in quotation marks. However: a long, epic poem that is often published on its own would be treated like a book. The Odyssey is one example. This is typing! Use italics!

Punctuating Titles of Works of Art Creating a work of art is an enormous task, isn't it? For that reason, you can think of art as a big accomplishment. ▫ Okay, that might sound corny, but it will help you remember! Individual works of art like paintings and sculptures are underlined or italicized: Michelangelo's David Mona Lisa The Last Supper The Pieta ▫Note: A photograph, which is much smaller than a work of art, is placed in quotation marks Don’t forget, we are typing! If we were handwriting, these would be underlined!!

Titles and Names to Italicize when typing and Underline when handwriting Titles to Put Into Quotation Marks A novel A ship A play A film A painting A sculpture or statue A drawing A CD A TV Series A cartoon series An encyclopedia A magazine A newspaper A pamphlet Poem Short story A skit A commercial An individual episode in a TV series (like "The Soup Nazi" on Seinfeld) A cartoon episode, like "Trouble With Dogs" A chapter An article A newspaper story

Beware! Some works are left alone Religious works, like The Bible, The Koran, The Talmud Buildings Monuments Government charters and documents like the Magna Carta

Works Cited Fleming, Grace. "Punctuating Titles- How to Punctuate Titles." about.com. The New York Times Company, Web. 22 Sep 2011.

Exercise: Make a chart and list ten examples of each. BIG=UNDERLINE /ITALICS SMALL= QUOTE