ITALICS AND QUOTATION MARKS
Italics are printed letters that
lean to the right, like this.
When you write, you indicate
italics by underlining the
words you want italicized. If
you type, the keyboard will
allow you to set the words in
italics.
EXAMPLE:
WRITTEN
Daniel Defoe wrote
Robinson Crusoe.
TYPED
Daniel Defoe wrote
Robinson Crusoe.
1
EXAMPLES
Great Expectations (a novel)
Our Town (a book-length play)
the Herald Leader (a newspaper)
Seventeen (a magazine)
Hayden’s Surprise Symphony (a long
musical composition)
Venus de Milo (a statue)
Titanic (a ship)
Spirit of St. Louis (a plane)
LEARNING TARGET 1
RULE 1:
Use underlining
(italics) for titles of
books, plays, films,
periodicals, works of
art, long musical
compositions,
television programs,
book length poems,
ships, and so on.
1
The words a, an, and the written
before a title, are italicized only
when they are part of the title.
Before the names of newspapers
and magazines, however, they are
not italicized, even if they are
capitalized on the front page of the
newspaper or on the cover of the
magazine.
EXAMPLES
*I am reading
Pearl Buck’s The Good
Earth.
*In the museum we
saw Edmonia Lewis’
statue The Death of
Cleopatra.
*My parents subscribe
to the Wall Street
Journal and the
Atlantic.
1
Magazine articles, chapter headings,
and titles of short poems, short
stories, and short musical
compositions, when referred to in a
composition, should be place in
quotation marks, not italicized.
(We will review this rule further
when we get to quotation marks.)
LEARNING TARGET 1
RULE 1:
Use underlining (italics)
for titles of books, plays,
films, periodicals, works
of art, long musical
compositions, television
programs, book length
poems, ships, and so on.
1#
EXAMPLES
The word Mississippi has for s’s and
four i’s.
The 3 on the license plate looks like an
8.
The only French expression I know is ὰ
la carte.
LEARNING TARGET 1
RULE 2:
Use underlining (italics)
for words, letters, and
figures referred to as
such and for foreign
words.
2
CLASS PRACTICE EXERCISE
LEARNING TARGET 1
RULE 1:
Use underlining (italics)
for titles of books, plays,
films, periodicals, works
of art, long musical
compositions, television
programs, book length
poems, ships, and so on.
RULE 2:
Use underlining (italics)
for words, letters, and
figures referred to as
such and for foreign
words.
2#
Pick up the handout from the
bookcase entitled, “Italics and
Quotation Marks- Learning Target 1
– Formative 1.” Complete.
RULE 1:
Use underlining (italics)
for titles of books, plays,
films, periodicals, works
of art, long musical
compositions, television
programs, book length
poems, ships, and so on.
RULE 2:
Use underlining (italics)
for words, letters, and
figures referred to as
such and for foreign
words.
3#
Pick up the handout from the
bookcase entitled, “Italics and
Quotation Marks- Learning Target 1
– Formative 2.” Complete.
RULE 1:
Use underlining (italics)
for titles of books, plays,
films, periodicals, works
of art, long musical
compositions, television
programs, book length
poems, ships, and so on.
RULE 2:
Use underlining (italics)
for words, letters, and
figures referred to as
such and for foreign
words.
4#
Study five minutes for “Italics and
Quotation Marks- Learning Target 1
– SUMMATIVE.”
RULE 1:
Use underlining (italics)
for titles of books, plays,
films, periodicals, works
of art, long musical
compositions, television
programs, book length
poems, ships, and so on.
RULE 2:
Use underlining (italics)
for words, letters, and
figures referred to as
such and for foreign
words.
5#
 Rule 3: Use quotation marks to enclose a
direct quotation – a person’s exact words.
 Rule 4: A direct quotation begins with a
capital letter.
 Rule 5: When a quoted sentence is divided
into two parts by an interrupting expression
such as he said or Mother asked, the second
part begins with a small (lower case) letter.
 Rule 6: A direct quotation is set off from the
rest of the sentence by commas or by a
question mark or an exclamation point.
 Rule 7: Other marks of punctuation when
used with quotation marks are placed
according to the following rules:
 Rule 7A: Commas and periods are always
placed inside closing quotation marks.
 Rule 7B: Colons and semi-colons are
always placed outside closing quotation
marks.
 Rule 7C: Question marks and exclamation
points are placed inside the closing
quotation marks if the quotation is a
question or an exclamation; otherwise
they are placed outside.
LEARNING TARGET 2:
COPY
Rules 3-7
into your notes (leave room
for examples and notes after
each rule).
6#
EXAMPLES:
• Melanie said, “This car is making a
very strange noise.”
• “Maybe we should pull over,”
suggested Amy.
Do not use quotation marks for indirect
quotations.
DIRECT QUOTATION
• Stephanie said, “I am going to wash
the car.” [the speaker’s exact words]
INDIRECT QUOTATION
• Stephanie said that she was going to
wash the car. [not the speaker’s exact
words]
CAUTION: Be sure to place quotation
marks at both the beginning and the
end of a direct quotation.
INCORRECT
She shouted, “We can
win, team!
CORRECT
She shouted, “We can
win, team!”
LEARNING TARGET 2:
Rule 3: Use quotation marks
to enclose a direct
quotation – a person’s exact
words.
Copy the words in red under
the appropriate rule. Also,
copy any example that helps
you to understand.
7
EXAMPLE:
• Explaining the lever,
Archimedes said, “Give me a
place to stand, and I can
move the world.”
LEARNING TARGET 2:
Rule 4: A direct quotation
begins with a capital letter.
Copy the words in red under
the appropriate rule. Also,
copy any example that helps
you to understand.
7
EXAMPLES
• “I wish,” she said, “that you were
here.”
• “I know,” I answered, “and I will be
soon.”
If the second part of the
quotation is a new sentence, a
period (not a comma) follows the
interrupting expression; and the
second part begins with a small
(lower case) letter.
EXAMPLE
• “I tried to schedule an interview,”
the reporter said. “She told me
she was too busy.”
LEARNING TARGET 2:
Rule 5: When a quoted
sentence is divided into two
parts by an interrupting
expression such as he said or
Mother asked, the second
part begins with a small
(lower case) letter.
Copy the words in red under
the appropriate rule. Also,
copy any example that helps
you to understand.
7
CAUTION: An interrupting
expression in not a part of a
quotation and therefore
should not be inside quotation
marks.
INCORRECT
“Let’s sit here, I whispered,
not way down there.”
CORRECT
“Let’s sit here,” I whispered,
“not way down there.” [Two
pairs of quotation marks are
needed for the broken
quotation.]
LEARNING TARGET 2:
Rule 5: When a quoted
sentence is divided into two
parts by an interrupting
expression such as he said or
Mother asked, the second
part begins with a small
(lower case) letter.
Copy the words in red under
the appropriate rule. Also,
copy any example that helps
you to understand.
7
When two or more sentences
are quoted together, use only
one set of quotation marks.
INCORRECT
Brennan said, “I like to sit
close to the screen.” The
sound is better there.”
CORRECT
Brennan said, “I like to sit
close to the screen. The
sound is better there.”
LEARNING TARGET 2:
Rule 5: When a quoted
sentence is divided into two
parts by an interrupting
expression such as he said or
Mother asked, the second
part begins with a small
(lower case) letter.
Copy the words in red under
the appropriate rule. Also,
copy any example that helps
you to understand.
7
EXAMPLES
• “I haven’t seen the movie,”
remarked Jeannette, “but I
understand it’s excellent.”
• As I had feared, Mr. Watkins
announced, “Close your
books for a pop quiz.”
• He read aloud “Ode to the
End of a Summer,” a poem by
Phyllis McGinley.
LEARNING TARGET 2:
Rule 7: Other marks of
punctuation when used with
quotation marks are placed
according to the following
rules:
Rule 7A: Commas and
periods are always
placed inside closing
quotation marks.
Copy the words in red under
the appropriate rule. Also,
copy any example that helps
you to understand.
7
EXAMPLES
• Socrates once said, “As for
me, all I know is that I know
nothing”; I wonder why
everyone thinks he was such
a wise man.
• The following actresses were
cited for “best performance
in a leading role”: Sally Field,
Bette Midler, Marsha Mason,
and Jane Fonda.
LEARNING TARGET 2:
Rule 7: Other marks of
punctuation when used with
quotation marks are placed
according to the following
rules:
Rule 7B: Colons and
semi-colons are always
placed outside closing
quotation marks.
Copy the words in red under
the appropriate rule. Also,
copy any example that helps
you to understand.
7
EXAMPLES
• “Is it too cold in here?” the
manager asked as I shivered.
• “Yes!” I answered. “Please
turn down the air
conditioner!”
• Can you explain the saying,
“Penny wise, but pound
foolish”?
• It’s not an insult to be called
a “bookworm”!
Rule 7: Other marks of
punctuation when used with
quotation marks are placed
according to the following
rules:
Rule 7C: Question
marks and exclamation
points are placed inside
the closing quotation
marks if the quotation is
a question or an
exclamation; otherwise
they are placed outside.
Copy the words in red under
the appropriate rule. Also,
copy any example that helps
you to understand.
7#
EXAMPLES:
1. Our social studies teacher said, “Allen
Wright, a Choctaw Indian, gave the name
Oklahoma to the area then known as Indian
Territory.”
1. Our social studies teacher said that
Allen Wright, a Choctaw Indian, gave the
name Oklahoma to the area then know as
Indian territory.
2. He explained that Oklahoma became a
state in 1907.
2. He explained, “Oklahoma became a state
in 1907.”
Pick up the handout
from the bookcase
entitled,
“Italics and Quotation
Marks- Learning
Target 2 – Formative 1.”
Complete.
8#
EXAMPLES:
1. Our social studies teacher said, “Allen
Wright, a Choctaw Indian, gave the name
Oklahoma to the area then known as Indian
Territory.”
1. Our social studies teacher said that
Allen Wright, a Choctaw Indian, gave the
name Oklahoma to the area then know as
Indian territory.
2. He explained that Oklahoma became a
state in 1907.
2. He explained, “Oklahoma became a state
in 1907.”
Pick up the handout
from the bookcase
entitled,
“Italics and Quotation
Marks- Learning
Target 2 – Formative 2.”
Complete.
9#
Study five minutes for “Italics and
Quotation Marks- Learning Target 2
– SUMMATIVE.”
10#
Rule 8: When you write
dialogue (a conversation),
begin a new paragraph every
time the speaker changes.
Rule 9: When a quoted
passage consists of more than
one paragraph, put quotation
marks at the beginning of each
paragraph and at the end of
the entire passage. Do not put
quotation marks after any
paragraph but the last.
Rule 10: Use single quotation
marks to enclose a quotation
within a quotation.
LEARNING TARGET 3:
COPY
Rules 8-10
into your notes (leave room
for examples and notes after
each rule).
11
EXAMPLE
“You have just come down?”
said Mr. Drummle, edging me a
little away with his shoulder.
“Yes,” said I, edging him a
little away from my shoulder.
“Beastly place,” said
Drummle. “Your part of the
country, I think?”
“Yes,” I assented. “I am told
it’s very like your Shropshire.”
“Not in the least like it.” said
Drummle.
LEARNING TARGET 3:
Rule 8: When you write
dialogue (a conversation),
begin a new paragraph every
time the speaker changes.
Copy the words in red under
the appropriate rule. Also,
copy any example that helps
you to understand.
-Charles Dickens
11
EXAMPLE
“At nine o’clock this
morning,” read the news story,
“someone entered the Mill
Bank by the back entrance,
broke through two thick steel
doors guarding the bank’s
vault, and escaped with
sixteen bars of gold.
“No arrests have been
made, but state police are
confident the case will be
solved within a few days.”
LEARNING TARGET 3:
Rule 9: When a quoted
passage consists of more
than one paragraph, put
quotation marks at the
beginning of each paragraph
and at the end of the entire
passage. Do not put
quotation marks after any
paragraph but the last.
Copy the words in red under
the appropriate rule. Also,
copy any example that helps
you to understand.
11
EXAMPLES
• Annoyed, Becky snapped,
“Don’t tell me, ‘That’s not
the way to do it.’”
• Mrs. Wright said, “In a letter
to a schoolgirl, W.E.B. Du Bois
wrote, ‘Get the very best
training possible, and the
doors of opportunity will fly
open before you.’”
• I asked, “How dare you say
‘yuck!’”
LEARNING TARGET 3:
Rule 10: Use single
quotation marks to enclose a
quotation within a
quotation.
Copy the words in red under
the appropriate rule. Also,
copy any example that helps
you to understand.
11
Rule 8: When you write
dialogue (a conversation),
begin a new paragraph every
time the speaker changes.
Rule 9: When a quoted
passage consists of more than
one paragraph, put quotation
marks at the beginning of each
paragraph and at the end of
the entire passage. Do not put
quotation marks after any
paragraph but the last.
Rule 10: Use single quotation
marks to enclose a quotation
within a quotation.
LEARNING TARGET 3
Formative 1
11#
 Rule 11: Use quotation marks to
enclose titles of short works such as
articles, short stories, essays, poems,
songs, and individual episodes of
television shows; and of chapters
and other parts of books.
NOTE:
Long poems and long musical
compositions are italicized, not
quoted. As a rule of thumb, you
italicize the title of any poem long
enough to be published in a separate
volume. Such poems are usually
divided into titled or numbered
sections – cantos, parts, books, etc.
Examples are Milton’s Paradise Lost,
and Tennyson’s Idylls of the King.
Long musical compositions include
operas, symphonies, ballets,
oratorios, and concertos.
LEARNING TARGET 4
COPY
Rule 11
into your notes (leave room
for examples and notes after
each rule).
12
EXAMPLE
• The title of the chapter you
are now studying is
“Puctuation.”
• The article “What Teenagers
Need to Know About Diets”
should be required reading.
• The poem “On Aging” by
Maya Angelou is one of my
grandmother’s favorites.
LEARNING TARGET 4:
Rule 11: Use quotation
marks to enclose titles of
short works such as articles,
short stories, essays, poems,
songs, and individual
episodes of television shows;
and of chapters and other
parts of books.
Copy the words in red under
the appropriate rule. Also,
copy any example that helps
you to understand.
12
Rule 11: Use quotation
marks to enclose titles of
short works such as articles,
short stories, essays, poems,
songs, and individual
episodes of television
shows; and of chapters and
other parts of books.
LEARNING TARGET 4
Formative 1
12#
Pick up the handout
Learning Target 1-4
Formative 1 from the
bookcase in the front of the
room. Complete.
13#
Pick up the handout
Learning Target 1-4
Formative 2 from the
bookcase in the front of the
room. Complete.
14#