Italics
In the old days, some typewriter keyboards did not offer a way to type italics, so underline marks were a signal from the writer to the typesetter that the text should be italicized. Underlining still indicates italics in typography. Avoid using the underline function except to indicate italics.
Italicize the titles of books, journals, periodicals, newspapers, pamphlets, proceedings, collections, theses, dissertations, plays, movies, operas, oratorios, paintings, drawings, sculptures, and other works of art.
- Margaret Atwood’s novel Alias Grace
- Jack Granatstein’s book Who Killed Canadian History?
- The Toronto Star, The Globe & Mail, The Edmonton Journal, The Toronto Sun.
NOTE: When the full title is not used, "the Sun" it is not italicized.
- Some of the publications produced at York University include: Canada Watch, produced jointly by the York University Centre for Public Law and Public Policy and the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies; Canadian Woman Studies, produced by the Centre for Feminist Research; and Profiles magazine, published by the Department of Communications.
- William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
- Frank Capra’s movie It’s a Wonderful Life, starring James Stewart
- Handel’s Messiah
- Rodin’s sculpture The Thinker
- Voice of Fire, a painting by Barnett Newman
- Ralph Beninger’s dissertation is titled Freud: The Dream Maker.
Note: When it comes to poetry, only epic poems are italicized. Regular short poems are set in quotation marks in the usual roman type.
- Milton’s Paradise Lost (an epic poem) was written well after "On His Blindness." (a short poem)
Do not italicize titles of articles, chapters in books, short stories, regular poems, radio and television programs, lectures, papers read at meetings, manuscripts in collections. Instead, type them in roman type and set them inside quotation marks.
- Peter Gzowski hosted his last episode of "Morningside" in 1997.
- "My Son at the Seashore, Age Two," is one of the poems in the collection, Forests of the Medieval World, by York Professor Don Coles.
- CBC Television’s program, "This Hour Has 22 Minutes," is enormously popular.
Do not italicize songs, ships, aircraft, or trains. Set in roman type and capitalize initials.
- The song Sudbury Saturday Night is a classic by Stompin’ Tom Connors.
- The staff party will take place on the Empire Sandy, which is docked at the foot of Bay Street.
Italicize foreign words and phrases, including Latin phrases.
- Staff members gathered to say grazie and obrigado to the governments of Italy and Portugal for funding scholarships at York.
- He received a doctor of laws honoris causa from York University.
- York’s motto is tentanda via. (Note: do not capitalize the first letter except at the beginning of a sentence.)