DEALING WITH TITLES IN MLA FORMAT

by Dr. Harold William Halbert

The conventions of properly marking a title in MLA style can seem confusing, but the basic issues deal with 1)
capitalization and 2) marking the title.
Capitalization:
The standard conventions for capitalizing a title in MLA style are straightforward:
The first letter of every word is capitalized except for articles, coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions.
Articles ("a," "an," and "the"), coordinating conjunctions ("for," "and," "nor," "but," "or," "yet," and "so"), and
prepositions (words such as "on," "above," "below," "to," "throughout," etc.) are NOT capitalized.
The first word is always capitalized, regardless of if it is an article or preposition.
Note that sometimes writers encounter titles that do not follow these conventions while conducting research. Databases
often capitalize the entire title of an article or book, while other types of "styles" (like the AP style or the APA style)
only capitalize the first word. You must change the capitalization of the title to MLA style if you reference the title of a
work in your paper.
Marking the Title:
There are three possible ways to mark a title: the use of underlining/italics, quotation marks, or no mark at all. The
following general rules of thumb may help writers conceptualize the difference between the three demarcations:
Underline or italicize large works or works that contain other works.

 Use quotation marks on shorter works.

Do not mark sacred texts or political documents such as laws, acts, treaties, or declarations.

The following chart offers specific types of texts and their demarcations:
Underline/Italic
Novels, books, anthologies
Magazines, newspapers, and
journals
Films, TV shows, radio programs

Quotation Marks
Short stories, essays, and chapter
titles.
Individual articles

No Marks
Religious texts

Individual episodes of shows or

programs
Individual web pages
Regular poems

Web sites
Epic poems
Pamphlets or sermons
Albums, named symphonies, ballets Individual songs
Painting, sculptures
Names of specific ships, spacecraft,
or aircraft
Lectures
Supreme Court Cases

Numbered musical compositions

Type of ship, spacecraft, or aircraft

Legal documents, treaties, acts,

and declarations

Note that underlining and italics signify the same type of mark. Many traditional professors prefer underling because
when the MLA guidelines were first established, italics was not available on typewriters. In my class, you can use
either underlining or italics, but you must be consistent: once you use underlining, stick with it. Never use BOTH italics
and underlining.

Your Own Title:

Your own title for papers and other writings should follow the MLA rules on capitalization. Do not use italics,
underlining, or quotation marks on it. Instead, it should appear centered one single-spaced line below the identification
information and one single-spaced line above the first line of the paper. Do not increase the font size.
Titles in Titles:
If a title contains another title within it, confusion can occur. Follow the following rules to avoid confusion:
An underlined title in an underlined title requires that the line be removed from internal title
(example: Understanding The Sun Also Rises).
A quoted title inside a quoted title requires the use of single quotation marks around the internal title (example:
"The Dandy in Cather's 'Paul's Case'").
http://faculty.mc3.edu/hhalbert/shared/titles_MLA_style.html
Owned by Dr. Harold William Halbert
Based on MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (6th Edition)
Others are welcome to use this document provided credit is given to me.