Underlining/Italics
UWF WRITING LAB MINI-LESSON #70
ITALICS
• If you’re using a computer or keyboard
that has an italics font, use italics.
Otherwise, use underlining.
• In general, underline the titles of works.
• Titles to be underlined include the names
of movies, books, plays, long poems
published as books, compact discs,
audiocassettes, record albums, ballets,
television and radio programs, and operas.
QUOTATION MARKS
• Use quotation marks for the titles of works
published within larger works.
• Such titles include the names of articles,
essays, short stories, short poems,
chapters of books, individual episodes of
television and radio programs, and songs.
ITALICS/UNDERLINING
Italics/underlining is used to identify certain titles,
such as books, movies, plays, newspapers,
magazines, paintings, sculptures, and aircraft.
• Tom Hanks starred in a number of movies including Big,
The Terminal, and The Da Vinci Code.
Italics/underlining is also used to identify foreign
words or phrases that have not become fully
anglicized/naturalized. Consult a dictionary if in
doubt.
• Paule Marshall’s novel Brown Girl, Brownstones is a
bildungsroman.
ITALICS/UNDERLINING
When you include both a word and its definition in
a sentence, italicize the word being defined and
place its definition in quotation marks.
 Aesthetic is different from the word ecstatic
which means “thrilled” or “elated”; aesthetic
means “artistically beautiful.”
ITALICS/UNDERLINING
• Underline or italicize words used as words
and not as grammatical units.
Ex. Although you is the second person
plural pronoun, some Southerners
insist on saying “y’all.”
The phrase a lot of is commonly
used—and misspelled—in writing.