If you're writing a research paper, you should include the title of a book in the text.The rules for setting off the title of a book from the rest of your text can be found in the handbook for the Modern Language Association.The titles of books are usually different from the rest of the text.
Step 1: Italicize the book titles in your paper.
Place the complete title and subtitle in italics to separate it from the rest of the text.The shorter articles, essays, or chapters within the book are enclosed in quotation marks.There are also film titles that are italicized.The MLA Handbook allowed titles to be highlighted.Clarifying is no longer appropriate according to the 8th edition.
Step 2: You can use regular style to distinguish a title.
There is more than one book title within some book titles.Latin words and phrases should not be italicized in your text.You could write: "David Dowling promotes the use of art and film to improve literacy in The Great Gatsby in the Classroom: Searching for the American Dream."
Step 3: There are series titles that are independent.
If a series is published as a single volume with an independent title, italicize the title just as you would any other book.If the title of the series appears in the individual books, italicize it.If you were talking about the Nancy Drew series, you would not italicize "Nancy Drew" because the name doesn't appear in the titles of any of the individual books.Harry Potter's name appears at the beginning of every book in the series, so it would be italicized.
Step 4: Refer to the titles for subsequent mentions.
You don't need to use the full title more than once.The author's last name and shortened version of the title are enough to let your readers know what you mean.You would need to include the full title in your paper at least once.You could shorten the title of the novel if you mentioned it more than once.How you shorten the title is up to you.Use words that evoke the title in the mind of the reader.
Step 5: The title and subtitle should be capitalized.
The first word of the title or subtitle is always capitalized in MLA style.Even if it weren't in the title, this is still true."Comedian Steve Martin takes on the art world in his novel An Object of Beauty."The word "an" is capitalized because it is the first word.It would be in the middle of the alphabet.If the book has a subtitle, you should use the first word of the subtitle.
Step 6: In the lower case, type articles and prepositions.
Unless the first word of a title or subtitle is an article, it shouldn't be capitalized.Even if the word is part of an infinitive phrase, it's still in the lower case."a," "an," and "the" are words included in articles.Words such as against, in, and to.The words remain in their original letters.
Step 7: Distinguish coordinating and subordinating conjunctions.
Words or phrases are joined by conjunctions.A dependent phrase is introduced by subordinating conjunctions.Subordinating conjunctions are capitalized in titles."But," "for," and "nor" are some of the coordinating conjunctions."although," "unless," and "until" are some of the subordinating conjunctions.
Step 8: All other words should be capitalized in titles.
The titles and subtitles have capitalized words in them.This is the case no matter what the title is or the length of the word.Images from film and literature are used in this example.
Step 9: You can use sentence style for titles in other languages.
Other style guides use sentence style for titles in other languages.The title should be capitalized with the first word and any proper nouns.The title should still be italicized because the Formatting rules are the same.The title should be capitalized in the language it is written in.Since all nouns are capitalized in German, you would put them in a German book title.
Step 10: Part of the title or subtitle should be included.
If it was used in the original work, the title or subtitle should include it.Even if the original punctuation seems confusing, this general rule applies.If a title ends with an exclamation point or a question mark, you should include that at the end of the title.The title should be italicized so that your readers know that it's part of the title.If the book title ends in a question mark or an exclamation point, it's not a good idea to use it at the end of a sentence, because it will become the punctuation mark.The book title should not fall at the end of your sentence.
Step 11: The title has a colon and a space.
If the book has a subtitle, you should place a colon at the end of the title and then type the subtitle.If the title of the book ends with a question mark or exclamation point, don't follow the colon.If the included book title ends in a question mark or exclamation point, there is an exception.The punctuation mark is in the book title, so you would follow it with a colon.For example: Moby Dick and Absalom!The colon is italicized.
Step 12: After a title ends in a dash or ellipsis, place a period or comma.
When a title ends in a dash or ellipsis, a period or a comma is needed to distinguish the title from the rest of the text.Since you can't tell if a dash or ellipsis is italicized just by glancing at them, this punctuation mark tells your readers that the ending punctuation belongs to the title and not to your text.You could write "In the 1980s sitcom When Harry Met Sally"..The characters looked at whether heterosexual cisgender men and women could be friends without ever becoming romantically or sexually involved.If you want your sentence to follow the ellipsis or dash, you'll have to form it.
Step 13: To separate alternate titles, use a semi-colon and the word.
Some books may have different titles.When the full title is used, include both alternates in the first mention of the book.After the first title, type a semi-colon after a space, followed by the word "or".If you want the secondary title, type a space.For example, England's Monitor or The History of Separation.The "or" and "all" are also italicized.The first thing to do is list the original or oldest title.
Step 14: The serial comma is needed for books published in the US.
The general rule is not to add any punctuation to a title that isn't included in the original work.The exception only applies to books published in the US.The original work should be followed if the book was published elsewhere.The serial comma would not be added since the book Everything Is Nothing: The Poetry of the Great War, Revolution and the Transformation of Europe was published in London.If the book was published in the US, you would add a comma after the word "Revolution."