English writing

Italicization rules

Italicize the following (or underline if writing by hand or using a typewriter):

The titles of books, plays, book-length poems, magazines, and newspapers:

War and Peace
TIME magazine
The Call of the Wild
National Geographic
The Times of India

The titles of movies and radio and television programs:

Finding Nemo
War of the Worlds
Law & Order
Car Talk
Tom and Jerry
Big Brother

The titles of works of art, including paintings, sculptures, and major musical compositions:

Mona Lisa (painting)
The Thinker (sculpture)
Swan Lake (ballet)
Porgy and Bess (opera)

Do not italicize musical compositions named by number or key: Symphony No. 4; Quartet in E minor.

Words, letters, and numbers used as such:

How do you spell please?
Does your name end with a c or a k?
The 6 looked like a 0.

Foreign words and phrases that have not been assimilated into English:

Alex's Weltanschauung was gloomy.
Alice made a tarte au citron for dessert.

Words and phrases that are being emphasized:

Paris was the place to be in the '20s.

The names of ships, aircraft, and space vehicles:

The Titanic
USS Maine
The Spirit of St. Louis
Space shuttle Challenger

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