Chapter 27. MLA Documentation

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Titles
Capitalize the first word of each title and all other words, except articles (a,
an, and the), prepositions (also to when part of an infinitive), and coordinating
conjunctions. Most titles have other formatting as well.
Underlined titles. Underline the titles of major
works, including books, plays, operas, musicals, TV
programs, radio programs, artworks, CDs, movies,
long poems, and periodicals. (See also Section 43a.)
MLA allows titles of long works to be italicized—but
underlining is preferred. Do not format the end
period, but do underline or italicize exclamation
points and question marks that are part of the title.
The Da Vinci Code.
Friends.
Bullet in a Bible.
Mamma Mia!
Omeros.
Rolling Stone.
Starry Night.
Titles in quotation marks. Enclose in quotation
marks the titles of short works, such as periodical
articles, essays, speeches, short poems, short stories,
individual TV episodes, radio broadcasts, and
songs. End punctuation goes within the closing quotation
mark.
Subtitles. Place subtitles after the main title,
inserting a colon and a space between the two. Capitalize
letters in the subtitle like any other title.
Descriptive titles. Some works are identified
by descriptive phrases, rather than standard titles.
Capitalize the first letter of the first word only and
do not underline the phrase or place it in quotation
marks—but do format titles within the phrase.
“Island in the Sun.”
“The One with Russ.”
“Redwoods Go Wireless.”
“Self-Reliance.”
“The Tyger.”
Seeing Voices: A Journey into
the World of the Deaf.
See Models 1, 6, 9, 12, 15, 17,
24, 25, 28, 32, 52, 53, 69, 74, 81
Interview with Toni Morrison.
Online posting. 17 Aug. 2003.
Review of Clueless.
See Models 15, 16, 36, 40, 43,
45, 54, 59, 61, 62, 64, 68, 70-76
Titles within titles. Many works refer to
other works within their titles. Refrain from
underlining a title when it appears within another
underlined title. For titles ordinarily enclosed in
double quotation marks, use single quotes when
they appear within another title enclosed by double
quotes. Otherwise, follow the standard rules
for formatting titles.
The Apocalypse Now Book.
“Four Weddings Director Eyes
Potter IV.”
“New Beatles ‘Let it Be’ Due.”
See Models 13, 14, 16, 22, 32, 68