Corner Café Chalkboard: Titles by Hand and by Keyboard

Underline or italicize long titles, and put short titles in quotation marks.

Selam's chalkboard

Titles of long works (books, magazines, newspapers, albums, movies and TV series) are underlined when you write by hand and put in italics when you type.
Titles of short works (songs, poems, chapters, short stories, articles and TV episodes) go in quotation marks, whether you write by hand or type.

Every Monday morning, Selam helps her father, Mr. Tesfaye, get the Cardamom Corner Café ready to open. Her job is to write the week's plans on the big chalkboard by the door. The café has a book club, a record player, a poem taped in the window and a Friday movie night, so the board is full of titles. Selam writes the board by hand. First, she wipes away last week's plans with a damp cloth and lets the board dry. The board is taller than Selam, so she stands on a sturdy step stool to reach the top line. She keeps a box of colored chalk on the counter: white for the plans, yellow for anything special and blue for the little drawings in the corners. This week she drew a steaming teacup in one corner and a tiny movie camera in the other. Her little brother, Dawit, likes to guess what she will draw next. Customers often stop to read the board while they wait in line. Some regulars bring their own copies of the book club pick, and a few even hum the song of the week while they order. Mr. Tesfaye says the board is like a welcome sign that changes every week. Last month, a customer noticed that Selam had forgotten to mark the title of a magazine. Since then, Selam has been extra careful. She writes all the words first, steps back to check her spelling and then goes back to mark each title the right way. Here is what she wrote before she marked any titles:

CARDAMOM CORNER CAFÉ: THIS WEEK
Book club pick: The Secret of Cinnamon Hill
Thursday's chapter: Storm Over the Orchard
Song of the week: Steam on the Window
On the record player: the album Saxophone Weather
Poem in the window: Ode to the Sugar Bowl
On the corkboard: the article A Bigger Playground for Pine Park from the newspaper The Eastside Ledger
Friday movie night: The Penguin Who Took the Bus

Selam is writing by hand, so she uses underlining instead of italics. Underline each title from the board that she should underline.

From chalkboard to newsletter

Selam also types the café's weekly email newsletter. When she types, she uses italics instead of underlining. Italic letters are slanted, like this: slanted. Short works still go in quotation marks.

Use the word bank to complete Selam's reminder note. Use each word or phrase once.

On the chalkboard, I should the album title.
In the typed newsletter, I should put the album title in .
The title of the song of the week goes in in both places.

Selam types the book club pick for the newsletter. Which sentence shows the title correctly?

A. This month our book club is reading "The Secret of Cinnamon Hill."B. This month our book club is reading The Secret of Cinnamon Hill.C. This month our book club is reading The Secret of Cinnamon Hill.D. This month our book club is reading "The Secret of Cinnamon Hill."

Selam typed this sentence for the newsletter:
Storm Over the Orchard is the chapter we will talk about on Thursday.
What should she fix?

A. Underline the chapter title instead of using italics.B. Take away the italics and leave the title unmarked.C. Nothing, because chapter titles belong in italics.D. Put the title in quotation marks instead of italics.

Selam learned that the poem in the window was first printed in a newspaper. Which typed sentence shows both titles correctly?

A. The poem Ode to the Sugar Bowl first appeared in "The Eastside Ledger."B. The poem "Ode to the Sugar Bowl" first appeared in The Eastside Ledger.C. The poem "Ode to the Sugar Bowl" first appeared in "The Eastside Ledger."D. The poem Ode to the Sugar Bowl first appeared in The Eastside Ledger.

Next week, Selam will add these works to the chalkboard. Which titles should she underline? Choose all the correct answers.

A. the cookbook Soups from Seven KitchensB. the poem Steam Rising at SunriseC. the magazine Little Ladle MonthlyD. the TV episode The Great Bread RaceE. the short story The Last MuffinF. the TV series Whisk and Wonder

Selam typed this sentence for the newsletter but forgot to mark the titles. Circle each title that should be in italics.

Your turn

Write your answers by hand. Underline long works and put short works in quotation marks.

Write two lines for next week's chalkboard: a book club pick and a song of the week. Make up the titles. Show each title the way Selam should when she writes by hand.

Why does Selam underline the album title on the chalkboard but put it in italics in the newsletter? Explain in one or two sentences.