Quote the names of books, music, television series, computer games, poetry, talks, speeches, and works of art.
All nouns except for songs, poems, and plays should have a title written in quotation marks. So "The Shawshank Redemption" would be appropriate for a movie.
Music albums are an exception to this rule. They do not get quoted so they can be included here: "Songs from an Unknown Masterpiece" or "Unknown Masterpieces".
Television shows are another exception to this rule. They too do not get quoted: "I Love Lucy" or "I Love Lucy." Instead, they are referred to by season and episode number: "Season 4, Episode 2."
In general, only famous books, movies, music, and games are named. Less known items are identified by their categories (books, films, etc.) or simply numbered (as with episodes of television shows).
Writers should not use single or double quotes within AP space. When writing quotations, authors should follow these guidelines: Use single quotes when the text that follows is one word. For example, 'Theater' is correct.
Put quote marks around the names of short poems, song titles, short tales, magazine or newspaper articles, essays, speeches, chapter titles, short films, and TV or radio program episodes. In indirect or block quotes, do not use quotation marks.
Put quote marks around the names of short poems, song titles, short tales, magazine or newspaper articles, essays, speeches, chapter titles, short films, and TV or radio program episodes. In indirect or block quotes, do not use quotation marks. End quotations with a full stop (period). Avoid using consecutive periods; instead, separate each period with a space.
Quotation marks are used to denote portions of a text, such as chapter titles, magazine articles, poetry, and short tales. The opening and closing quotations mark the beginning and end of the portion being quoted.
Let's go through these guidelines in depth so you know how to do it in the future while you're writing. For the names of novels, plays, and other works of art, italics and quotation marks are utilized. These elements should not be mixed.
Plays are identified by including the name of the play in quotation marks. Plots and scenes from plays are also put into quotation marks to distinguish them from other types of stories. Plays usually have a beginning, middle, and end. Although movies can have different parts, they are still considered plays for copyright purposes because they have scripts that are written by writers who work with directors to create performances that are shown on stage or screens across the world.
Novels are identified by using italics and including the word "novel" within the text. If the work is part of a series, then include the title of the series within parentheses after the word "novel". Novels are usually about people trying to find happiness through love or money. Some examples of novels are Pride and Prejudice, Emma, The Great Gatsby, and Catch-22.
Short stories are identified by using italics and including the word "short story" within the text. Short stories are usually about one main idea or setting.
Books, movies, plays, TV programs, newspapers, magazines, websites, music albums, operas, musical theater, paintings, sculptures, and other works of art are all examples of this. Long and brief play titles are typically italicized. The titles of poetry and short works of fiction are usually surrounded by quotation marks. Author's names are normally not included unless they are also actors or musicians.
The practice arose during the Golden Age of Music-drama relations. Before then, musicians usually had their names printed inside the front cover of an album or set of songs. But since artists could be difficult to identify from one song to the next, some albums included notes with the music asking readers to help out by inserting the name of the artist if they knew it. As these notes became more common, people started putting the names of unknown artists in brackets (or sometimes even quotes) to avoid copyright issues. Today, most music fans know who the performers are anyway, so there is no need to include them. But if you're a fan of obscure artists, this habit continues.
The requirements for putting quote marks around titles differ depending on the style guide you choose. Long titles, such as novels, movies, or record albums, should be italicized in general. For the names of shorter pieces of work, such as poems, essays, book chapters, songs, TV programs, and so on, use quote marks. Whether a title is quoted or not depends on the author's choice.
Here are some examples of how titles can be set off in different ways:
Title: A Novel by Joe Smith
Title: "An Essay on Living" John Locke wrote this philosophical work in 1690.
Title: The Origins of English Etonism
Title: Why I Am Not A Christian My father was a preacher who died when I was young. I never knew my mother and she didn't know me. I have no memory of her. I went to school in England and then to college in America. Here I met many new friends who showed me that Christianity wasn't what my father had preached to the people in England. So, I became an atheist.
Now, even though I'm an atheist, I still think it's wrong to kill people, but only because I don't want to go to hell. I'm not going to heaven because there's no one up there to welcome me.
If the source is self-contained and independent, italicize the title. Italicized book, play, film, magazines, databases, and online titles are italicized. If the source is part of a larger work, put the title in quotation marks. Articles, articles, chapters, poems, websites, songs, and speeches are all surrounded by quote marks.
Movies are italicized like books but not every movie is called a "movie." Films are a type of movie but also a popular form of entertainment. Short films are usually called "movies" even though they are rarely made up of multiple chapters as is usual with books. Longer films are usually called "films." Documentaries are films or TV shows that are purely factual rather than fictional. Animation is another form of art that is becoming more popular today (especially Disney animation). Movies can be old or new, foreign or English, educational or entertaining. No matter what kind of movie it is, all titles should be in italics.
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