Marking Titles

A reader asks:

When writing about a short story, do you underline the title of the story or do you use quotation marks around the title of the story?

Quotation Marks:

The most common way to mark a short story title is to enclose it in quotation marks. Titles of newspaper and magazine articles are also enclosed in quotation marks. Here are a few examples:

  • “Bartleby the Scrivener” by Herman Melville
  • “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor
  • Mommy Madness” by Judith Warner in Newsweek

Italics or Underlining:

Longer works—novels, magazines, newspapers, movies—are typically underlined or set in italic type. Although either is acceptable, I prefer italics, especially on the web, since an underlined word can be mistaken for a hyperlink.

  • Moby Dick by Herman Melville
  • The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  • The Simpsons
  • The New York Times

Extra Credit:

I’m not sure why, but The New Yorker puts quotation marks around everything, whether it’s a short story or a novel or a television show. I suppose the most important thing is internal consistency. If you use italics for one novel’s title, use italics for every novel’s title; don’t switch to quotation marks or underlining halfway through an article, or even in a different article of the same publication.

Any questions? Post them in the comment form, and I’ll answer them as promptly as I can.

Posted in mechanics | 45 Comments

Subject Verb Agreement with (N)either (N)or

A student asks the English Master to settle a dispute: Please answer this grammar question for me:
Neither my brother nor my sister ______ ever visited the White House.
a. have
b. has
c. is
d. are
If you answer it please explain why. There is a battle on our school grounds as to what the correct answer is. Thanks for the help.

Posted in grammar | 3 Comments

Showdown – Conjunctive Adverbs versus Coordinating Conjunctions

Kevin writes:
Your semicolon discussions inspired this inquiry. Many of my students use “however” as a conjunction when they are really using it as a signal adverb to begin an independent clause.
Example: My professor is a kind soul at heart, however he is a nasty grader.
I insist that the comma should be a semicolon or period, but I’m overwhelmed with students who use “however” as the equivalent of “but.” I am increasingly seeing this usage in periodicals and among my colleagues as well. Do you think, English Master, that this usage rule is going the way of the split infinitive?

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ESL Resources

A reader asks the English Master: My mother language is not english, but i want to improve my english communication. I need complete help on english rules and english grammar. please. Although I’m not equipped to answer this large of … Continue reading 

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Quotation Marks

Susan asks the English Master: What are the rules for punctuation when using quotation marks? I vaguely recall something about commas, question marks, etc. being placed inside and outside the quotation marks, but don’t remember the rules The rules differ … Continue reading 

Posted in punctuation | 43 Comments

Verb Tense with Since

Marc wrote in with a question for the English Master: English is not my mother tongue; but I am very interested in improving my English. One of my problems is “Since.” What tense should I use after since? Example: I … Continue reading 

Posted in grammar | 3 Comments

Definitely

Definitely is a word that I saw misspelled a lot when I was teaching high school. Many students wanted to put an “a” after the “n” and spell it definately. The funny thing is that sometimes my students’ word processors … Continue reading 

Posted in spelling | 1 Comment

Semicolons – Part 2

The less common use of semicolons occurs in a sentence when at least one element of a series already has commas in it. Separating the major elements of the series merely with commas could confuse the reader. Let’s imagine that … Continue reading 

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Semicolons – Part 1

There are two uses of semicolons in English. This entry will deal with the more common use. Use a semicolon to join two independent clauses, meaning two clauses that can each stand alone as a sentence. Examples: John loves to … Continue reading 

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I Before E Except After C

Here’s the classic spelling rule that all native English speakers learn in the first years of school. If you’re unsure whether to spell a word with an ie or an ei, use ie unless the two letters are preceded by … Continue reading 

Posted in spelling | 22 Comments