Titles Variant Methods

Referring to Titles Titles are either italicized (underlined) or placed between “quotation marks.” Longer works are italicized. Shorter ones are put in “quotation marks.” The methods are not interchangeable or used in tandem.

Longer Works A longer work generally means one which contains smaller, though lengthy divisions, or which would take over an hour to read or perform. The following are all considered longer works, the titles of which would be italicized or underlined:

Italicize the titles of... Books Magazines Newspapers Periodicals Journals Plays Movies Operas etc.

Shorter Works A shorter work generally means one which would be contained within a longer one, or which would take an hour or less to read or perform. The following are all considered shorter works, the titles of which would be in quotation marks:

Put quotation marks around the titles of... Chapters Articles Short stories Poems Songs Serialized television programs etc.

Learn to Punctuate Titles Correctly The tendency among students seems to be to italicize titles regardless. Some stylistic manuals may allow this. However, MLA style is very specific about which titles may or may not be italicized. If in doubt, look it up.

Quiz 1.When I was a child, I loved to sing Old McDonald Had A Farm. 2.My mother read me Little House on the Prairie when I was small. 3.I never liked Titanic because Leonardo DiCaprio was in it. 4.There was a piece in Time magazine last week called War With Iran? 5.Have you ever read Lord of the Rings? 6.According to the News Sentinel, Matt Kelty still has a good chance of being elected mayor. 7.One of my favorite poems is Andrew Marvell’s To His Coy Mistress. 8.Today we are reading Cynthia Ozick’s The Shawl. 9.The Possessive was a poem about teenage rebellion. 10.Re-runs of Saved by the Bell suggest that the program remains popular.

Quiz—Answer Key 1.When I was a child, I loved to sing “Old McDonald Had A Farm.” 2.My mother read me Little House on the Prairie when I was small. 3.I never liked Titanic because Leonardo DiCaprio was in it. 4.There was a piece in Time magazine last week called “War With Iran?” 5.Have you ever read Lord of the Rings? 6.According to the News Sentinel, Matt Kelty still has a good chance of being elected mayor. 7.One of my favorite poems is Andrew Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress.” 8.Today we are reading Cynthia Ozick’s “The Shawl.” 9. “The Possessive” was a poem about teenage rebellion. 10.Re-runs of “Saved by the Bell” suggest that the program remains popular.

PowerPoint Presentation by Mark A. Spalding, BA, MEd, MA, Girl Reading, by Felix Milius The End