WRITING TITLES

TITLES are informative, clear, specific, concise point to thesis suggest or state the point of essay identify the Rhetorical Strategy give readers an idea of the paper’s concerns catch readers’ attention stir thought and curiosity are not too long or too short can include part of the thesis statement

TITLES: Don’ts do NOT rename the assignment do NOT use boring, uninformative titles “School & Work” do NOT strain for an effect “Suppose You Were a Toe” — don’t be too cute do NOT use cute, amusing, ambiguous titles

TITLES: Examples TOPIC + MAIN IDEA The Causes and Effects of Teen Smoking College Is Like a Rite of Passage Abortion: Two Sides to the Debate Should the Death Penalty Be Supported or Revoked? The Elements of Argument Found in The Great Debaters TOPIC + MAIN IDEA

TITLES: Format Centered beneath the header Single-Spaced as the header Not Bold-Faced Not Italicized Not Underlined Unless it contains a title that must be Not enclosed with Quotation Marks Unless it contains a title that must use them

TITLES: Capitalization CAPITALIZATION in TITLES: Always capitalize the FIRST word and the LAST word.

TITLES: Capitalization CAPITALIZATION in TITLES: Capitalize all NOUNS PRONOUNS ADJECTIVES VERBS ADVERBS SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS as, because, although “LONG” PREPOSITIONS five characters or more after, among, between

TITLES: Capitalization CAPITALIZATION in TITLES: Lowercase all ARTICLES COORDINATE CONJUNCTIONS and, or, nor PREPOSITIONS shorter prepositions the "to" in an infinitive when they are not the first or last word

SUMMATION *TITLES* Topic + Main Idea Keep it simple, clear, concise Don’t be cute, uninformative, long, vague Capitalize the major words