Big Stuff: Books, Movies, and Websites

When referring to the title of another work in the body of your own paper, remember this rule:

• Big stuff gets italicized.
• Small stuff gets put within quotation marks.

"Big stuff" refers to longer works such as books, movies, and websites.

"Small stuff" refers to shorter works such as articles, songs, and poems.

But . . . I was taught to underline the titles of books. Is that not right?

In the old days, when I was growing up, students were taught to underline titles of books, like this:

• F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is told from the perspective of a young man who has recently moved to New York.
• In the second chapter of A Passage to India, Dr. Aziz rides his bike to his friend Hamidullah's house.

Then came the internet. And—as you know—on the internet an underlined word usually means a hyperlink. And so the rule changed: Now it is customary to italicize the titles of books, like this:

• Harper Lee's classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird is often taught in high school English classes.
• Herman Melville's most famous novel is Moby Dick.

It's also customary to italicize the names of newspapers, websites, and movies:

• According to the New York Times, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is calling on top officials to rename Confederate monuments.
• According to the website Nomadic Matt, Saint Lucia is one of the most beautiful islands in the Caribbean.
• In the new Showtime movie, The Comey Rule, Brendan Gleeson plays President Donald Trump.

How do I italicize text?

Italics refers to the type style in which letters are slanted to the right, like this.

To italicize text, select the text then click on the icon that looks like a slanted capital I. This icon is usually found on the "edit text" ribbon.

Key Point: It is customary to italicize the names of books, newspapers, websites, and movies. Do this even if you're submitting your work on paper (as opposed to electronically).

 

 

 

 

Instructions for the Quiz

Answer the questions.

Quiz