Country Report (Pro)

 

Your Title

A good title gives the reader a hint of what your thesis is.

Nobody likes to guess at the contents of a paper. Imagine, for example, that you are doing research on the affects of global warming on the Great Barrier Reef. You start by doing a Google search for "Global Warming," and Google gives you more than 55 million results. Where do you start?

Which of these titles would you click on first?

The first two titles are helpful because they are specific. The third title is too vague to be of much help. You would have to click on the link and browse through the article to decide if you can use it. And who has time for that?

Likewise, one day other researchers may be reading your papers in order to further their own understanding of a topic. And they, like you, will want to see at a glance if your paper is going to be useful. That is why a good title is fairly specific.

To achieve this goal, many good titles contain a main title, followed by a subtitle. Typically, the main title and the subtitle are separated by a full colon.

For this assignment, you do not have to come up with an original title of your own. In fact, I would prefer if you didn't. Here is the exact title that I want you to use (with France as an example):

 

France: A Wonderful Vacation Destination

 

 


 
1

At the top of your writing portfolio (right below the main title that says "Writing Portfolio") write the title of your country report.

  • Don't get creative. The title of your paper should be:
    • France: A Wonderful Vacation Destination
  • Obviously, you will substitute the name of your own country for "France".
  • Each word in your title should start with an upper case letter, except for articles, prepositions, and coordinating conjunctions.
    • Do capitalize the "A" that comes directly after the colon, since this is the first letter of your subtitle.
2

Apply Heading 1 to your title.

  • Put your cursor somewhere in your title.
  • On the tools bar, click on the icon that says "Normal text".
  • Hover your mouse over Heading 1 and then choose Apply Heading 1.
3
  • Did you capitalize every letter in your title?
  • Only capitalize the first letter of every word in your title, with the following exceptions:
    • Articles (a, an, the) do not get capitalized unless they are the first word in a title or subtitle.
    • Prepositions (on, in, for, etc.) do not get capitalized unless they are the first word in a title or subtitle.
    • Conjunctions (and, but, or) do not get capitalized.
4

Did you apply Heading 1 to your title?

5

Did you italicize your title?

  • Titles do not get italicized.
6

Did you use a larger font for your title than for the rest of your paper?

  • Your title should be in the same 12 pt. font as the rest of your paper.
7

Congratulations! You're done with this lesson.