Italics (Romeo and Juliet or Great Expectations)
Underline (italicize) titles of books, plays, films, magazines, recordings, works of art, television series, ships, trains, extremely long poems, etc.
The Odyssey or The Odyssey
Night or Night
Bruce Almighty or Bruce Almighty
The Iliad or The Iliad
High Point Enterprise Newspaper or High Point Enterprise Newspaper
Italicize foreign words and phrases in the context of an English sentence.
I tried a Cuban dish that, in Spanish, is known as platanos verdes.
Italicize words, letters, or figures spoken of as such or used as illustrations, statistical symbols, etc.
If I had to describe my cat in one word, that word would be independent.
The s on the plaque is so ornate that it almost looks like an 8.
Quotation Marks ( “ …” )
Use quotation marks to enclose titles of articles, short stories, essays, poems, songs, etc.
We read the short story “Thank You M’am.”
Have you heard the song “Big Girls Don’t Cry”?
We read the poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” outside under the trees.
Use quotation marks to enclose a direct quotation (a person’s exact words).
Sally said, “You are my hero!”
She said that he was angry.
When a quote is divided into two parts, the second part begins with a lowercase letter if is not a new sentence.
“I wish,” she said, “that we went to the same school.”
“Where is he?” she said. “I cannot believe he forgot our appointment!”
A comma or period is always placed inside the closing quotation mark.
“I haven’t seen the film version of Romeo and Juliet,” remarked Jeannette, “but I understand it is really good.”
We just finished reading the short story “The Most Dangerous Game.”
A semicolon or colon is always placed outside the closing quotation mark.
My mom’s favorite poem is Maya Angelou’s “Woman Work”; in fact, I can recite it.
Find examples of the following figures of speech in “I Wondered Lonely as a Cloud”: simile, personification, and metaphor.
A question mark or exclamation point is placed inside the quotation mark if the quotation is a question or exclamation; otherwise, it is placed outside of the quotation mark.
“Where does Romeo first meet Juliet?” asked George. (The phrase inside the quotation marks is a question).
“Help me please!” she screamed. (The phrase inside the quotation marks is an exclamation.)
Which of the characters says, “Parting is such sweet sorrow”? (The phrase inside the quotation marks is not a question).
I cannot believe you have never heard of the song “I Will Always Love You”! (The phrase inside the quotation marks is not exclaimed).
What is the meaning of the term “half truth”?
Gordon replied, “No Way!”
Use single quotation marks to enclose a quotation within a quotation.
“Do you agree with O’Henry that Della and Jim ‘were the wisest’?” asked Greg.
*Rare: Punctuating a question with a quoted question/exclamation
The question mark should be used once, and inside the quotation marks.
Did you hear me ask, "Do you think that I love punctuation?"
If the quoted sentence contain an exclamation point, then both the exclamation point and the question mark are used.
Did you hear me exclaim, "I love punctuation!"?
Similarly, both the exclamation point and the question mark are used in sentences similar to the following one:
How wonderful that I asked, "Do you think that I love punctuation?"!
Online Practice: