Punctuation: Titles and Dialogue



Punctuation: Titles and Dialogue

Use underlining (italics) for titles of books, periodicals, plays, television programs, works of art, ships, planes, trains, etc.

a. Italicize / underline words, numbers, and letters when speaking about spelling, pronunciation, etc.

There are too many s’s in the word Mississippi.

b. Long musical works are usually underlined/italicized.

Use quotation marks to enclose the titles of short works such as articles, short stories, poems, songs, and individual episodes of television programs; and of chapters and other parts of books.

QUOTATION MARKS:

Use quotation marks to enclose a direct quotation – a person’s exact words.

Direct Quotation: Thom predicted, “It will be a close game.”

Indirect Quotation: Thom predicted that it would be a close game.

A direct quotation begins with a capital letter.

EXAMPLES: Maria said, “The frame isn’t strong enough.”

Richard Lovelace wrote, “Stone walls do not a prison make.”

When a quoted sentence is divided into two parts by an interrupting expression, the second part begins with a small letter.

EXAMPLE: “The time has come, “ insisted the speaker, “to improve our educational program.”

Note: If what follows the interrupting expression is a new sentence, then it is capped.

EXAMPLE: “That’s too bad,“ I said. “Ask me tomorrow.”

A direct quotation is set off from the rest of the sentence by commas.

EXAMPLES: “Science is more interesting than history,” said Bernie.

I asked, “Who is your science teacher?”

“It was Mrs. Murphy,” answered Gloria, “but now we have Mrs. Parkhurst.”

Note: No comma is needed if an end mark is used instead.

EXAMPLES: “Does she let you do experiments?” Jane asked.

“I’ll say she does!” Debbie exclaimed.

A period or comma following a quotation should be placed inside the closing quotation marks.

EXAMPLES: “It’s time to go,” said the guide.

The man replied, “I’m ready.”

A question mark or an exclamation point should be placed inside the closing quotation marks if the quotation is a question or an exclamation. Otherwise it should be placed outside.

EXAMPLES: “How far have we come?” asked the exhausted man.

Who said, “Give me liberty or give me death”?

“Jump!” ordered the woman.

Stop saying “No, thank you”!

When you write dialogue (conversation), begin a new paragraph every time the speaker changes.

EXAMPLE: “Let’s get going,” Claire said.

“What’s your hurry, Claire?” Betty didn’t seem at all

worried.

“Well , I promised we’d be there by seven-thirty. It’s

a half-hour ride, and it’s nearly seven o’clock now,” Claire explained.

When a quotation consists of several sentences, put quotation marks only at the beginning and the end of the whole quotation. Do not put them around each sentence in the quotation.

INCORRECT: “I’ll wait for you at Burke’s Drug Store.” “Get there as soon as you can.” “We don’t want to be late,” he said and rushed off down the hall.

CORRECT: “I’ll wait for you at Burke’s Drug Store. Get there as soon as you can. We don’t want to be late,” he said and rushed off down the hall.

Occasionally it is necessary to use a single quotation inside of a double quotation:

“Who wrote ‘The Star Spangled Banner’?” asked Tom.

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