6.L.GC.1.49 6.L.GC.1.50

Punctuation: Italics and Underlining for Titles and Emphasis

Titles of major works are italicized when typed and underlined when handwritten.


Major Works that are Italicized or Underlined
books
magazines
newspapers
movies (films, motion pictures)
television and radio shows
plays and musicals
music albums
websites
video games

Smaller works are put in quotation marks instead. These works include —

Both italics and underlining are also used to add emphasis, or strength, to particular words or phrases in a sentence.

Things to Remember When Using Italics and Underlining for Emphasis

Italics and underlining should be used sparingly in writing. Too much underlining and italics can get very confusing for readers.

While both italics and underlining are acceptable in typed text, italics are more commonly used. Underlining is used in handwritten texts.

Italics are also used in typed text to indicate the exact thoughts of a character in a story.

❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋

Go to the next page to practice working with italics and underlining.

Punctuation