Capitalization of Titles :: MLA Style

📜 Title Up Like a Pro! 📜
Learn these tricks to make your titles pop!

  1. Double Space for Drama:
    Leave a blank line between your title and the start of your text. It’s like giving your title its own spotlight! ✨
  2. First, Last, and the Big Shots:
    Capitalize the first word, the last word, and all the important words in between. Important words include nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and even subordinating conjunctions (like “although” or “because”).
    📝 The Great Gatsby Goes Big
  3. Skip the Little Stuff (Unless It’s First):
    Articles (a, an, the), prepositions (to, on, by), and coordinating conjunctions (and, or, but) stay lowercase—unless they’re the first word of your title.
    📝 A Tale of Two Cities, The Road Not Taken
  4. Italics vs. Quotation Marks: Know the Difference!
    • Big works, like books, movies, and magazines, get the fancy italics.
    • Small works, like articles, poems, and song titles, get quotation marks.
      📝 Examples: To Kill a Mockingbird (book), “The Road Not Taken” (poem)
  5. Say It Once, Say It Full:
    When you mention a title in your writing, give the whole thing the first time. After that, feel free to shorten it.
    📝 Example: The Lord of the Rings (first mention); LOTR (next mentions)
  6. Mix It Up in Your Own Titles:
    If you refer to another work in your own title, remember to use quotation marks or italics, just like usual.
    📝 “The Great Gatsby” in Modern Times

According to Purdue OWL

Remember: Titles are like the headlines for your writing—give them style, make them shine, and they’ll make your work look amazing! ✨

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. . . just a soul whose intentions are good and who did the best she could with what she had. . . .

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