---
title: "Punctuating Titles of Works"
description: "Use underlining, quotation marks, or italics to indicate titles of works, applying conventions for different types of works such as books, stories, poems, songs, and articles"
canonical: https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/punctuating-titles-of-works-mt_Q2Eud_PPz6
source: https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/punctuating-titles-of-works-mt_Q2Eud_PPz6.md
retrieved: 2026-10-19
---

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# Punctuating Titles of Works

Use underlining, quotation marks, or italics to indicate titles of works, applying conventions for different types of works such as books, stories, poems, songs, and articles

Subject: English · Area: Grammar & Punctuation · Ages 10 to 11
Page: https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/punctuating-titles-of-works-mt_Q2Eud_PPz6

## Ready when they can

- Use italics or underlining for titles of books, films, and albums
- Use quotation marks for titles of short works such as poems, songs, and articles
- Apply title formatting conventions consistently in a piece of writing

## Lesson: Punctuating Titles of Works

Books, films, poems, and songs all have titles. When you write about them, you mark the title in a special way so readers can tell it apart from your other words.

**Example.** Charlotte's Web is a whole book, so you write its title in italics: *Charlotte's Web*. If you are writing by hand, underline the title instead.

**Example.** "The Road Not Taken" is a poem, a short piece rather than a whole book. Short works like poems, songs, and articles go inside quotation marks instead of italics.

*(drawing: A whole book's title goes in italics, like *Charlotte's Web*. A short poem's title sits inside quotation marks, like "The Road Not Taken".)*

**Tip.** Big, whole works like books, films, and albums get italics or underlining. Short pieces like poems, songs, and articles get quotation marks. Once you pick a style for a title, use it the same way every time in your writing.

Some short pieces live inside a bigger whole work. A chapter of a book or one episode of a show is a short piece, so its title gets quotation marks, while the whole book or show keeps italics. Think of 'Storm Warning', one chapter of *Sea Tales*: the chapter takes quotation marks, the book takes italics.

**Recap.** Whole works get italics or underlining, short works get quotation marks, and you stick with one style throughout your writing.

## Practice

24 questions on this page, each with its working shown.

## Needs first

- [Punctuating Direct Speech](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/punctuating-direct-speech-mt_-mw3JeIjhU)