Formatting Titles Lesson

Titles

How do you write different titles? How are titles capitalized?

Italics

When writing the title of a complete work, italics are used in typing, and underlining is used in handwritten documents. When trying to decide, think about whether the title is a small part of another work or is complete by its self.

Complete Works

• Books

• Full-length Plays

• Long Poems

• Music Albums

• Newspapers, Magazines

• Movies, TV Shows

• Radio Shows

More Complete Works

• Ships (USS and HMS not italicized), Airplanes, Space Crafts, Trains

• Court Cases

• Art

• Musical Works (Operas and Musicals)

• Computer and

• Video Games

Multiple Select

Select the options that need italics.

• Vehicle names

• Stories

• Poems

• Books

• Magazines

Quotation Marks

Quotes are used on works that are a part of a whole (short works). If it is one item in a complete work then it is in quotation marks.

Short Works

• Chapters

• Articles

• Songs

• Short Stories

• Essays

• Poems

• Short Films and Episodes

Multiple Select

Which options should have quotation marks?

• Stories

• Books

• Movies

• Episodes

• Court Cases

When Not to Use...

There are certain titles that are not in quotations or italicized.

Do Not Use Titles

• Scriptures of major religions (italicize the title of the published version)

• Constitutional Documents

• Legal Documents

• Traditional Games (Like leapfrog)

• Sofware

• Commercial Products

Multiple Choice

Which option should not be treated as a title?

• Magazine

• Commercial Product

• Chapter of a Book

• Video Game

Rules on Capitalization

How to Properly Capitalize Titles

(Grammarcheck.net)

Capitalization in Titles

According to most style guides, nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are the only words capitalized in titles of books, articles, and songs. Prepositions, articles, and conjunctions aren’t capitalized (unless they’re the first or last word). (Grammarly.com)

Rule 1:

Always capitalize the first and last word of a title, no matter what the word is.

Rule 2: Always capitalize the following five-word categories

• Nouns

• Pronouns

• Verbs

• Adjectives

• Adverbs

Rule 3:

Always capitalize words of five or more letters, regardless of whether the word falls into one of the aforementioned five categories. This rule will help you avoid making errors when using conjunctions and prepositions in your titles. You see, many moons ago, writers did NOT capitalize any conjunctions or prepositions. However, today’s standard practice is to capitalize conjunctions and prepositions of five or more letters.

Capitalization in Titles

What to Not Capitalize in Titles

Rule 1:

Never capitalize prepositions and conjunctions of four or fewer letters. However, remember the above rule: words with five or more letters, regardless of whether the word is a conjunction or preposition, must be capitalized.

Prepositions- at / by / down / for / from / in / into / like / near / of / off / on / onto / over / past / to / upon / with

Conjunctions- and / as / but / for / if / nor / once / or / so / than / that / till / when / yet

Rule 2:

Never capitalize the particle “to”, even when used as an infinitive (meaning with a verb). For example: to See, to Read, to Write, etc.

Rule 3:

Never capitalize articles: a, an, the

Do Capitalize

About / Above / Across / After / Against / Along / Although / Among / Around / Because / Before / Behind / Below / Beneath / Beside / Between / During / Except / Inside / Outside / Since / Through / Toward / Under / Underneath / Unless / Until / Whenever / Where / Whereas / Wherever / While / Within / Without

Don't Capitalize

and / as / as if / as long as / at / but / by / even if / for / from / if / if only / in / into / like / near / now that / nor / of / off / on / on top of / once / onto / or / out of / over / past / so / so that / than / that / till / to / up / upon / with / when / yet

Confusing Groupings

• as Though

• even Though

• in Front of

• in Order that

• Instead of

• Rather than

Multiple Choice

Capitalize "above"?

• Yes

• No

Multiple Choice

Capitalize "and"?

• Yes

• No

Multiple Choice

Is this capitalized right?

as though

• Yes

• No

Multiple Choice

Is this capitalized right?

in Front of

• Yes

• No

Multiple Choice

Is this capitalized right?

Through the Looking glass

• Yes

• No

Multiple Choice

Is this capitalized right?

The Great Gatsby

• Yes

• No