Using Quotation Marks and Italics in Names and Places

            “Quotation Marks” and Italics:     

                             How do you know which to use?

         Names of certain things, such as books, articles, movies, airplanes, and ships, must be placed       either in quotation marks or italics.  How do you know which to use?  All items that require one or the     other may be divided into three groups: 1.)  intellectual property that may be copied, 2.) means of transport, and works of art that are one of a kind, and 3.) nicknames for machines.

       Intellectual property is any printed matter or recording, such as books, movies, and poems.            Works of art that are one of a kind include paintings and sculptures.

                                    Intellectual Property

       If it’s “big,” you put the name in italics; if it’s “small,” you put the name in quotation  marks.  Here        are some examples:

                       Big                                                        Small

The Swiss Family Robinson   (book)                    “Return to the Wreck”   (chapter)

Selected Stories and Poems (book)                   “The Gold Bug”              (short story)

The Odyssey                 (epic poem)                   “If”                                    (poem)

Roy Orbison’s Greatest Hits  (record album)     “Only the Lonely”          (song)

Three’s Company  (television series)                  “Jack’s Bistro” (episode from the TV series)  

Taipei Times           (newspaper)                         “Photographer freed”  (newspaper article) 

     (Note: Movies that are part of a series of movies (for example, Star Wars II: The Empire Strikes Back), and short films, such as It’s Grits, must be in italics.  Segments from a television miniseries—that is, a made-for-television movie that is shown in two or more parts—must be placed in quotation marks.  The name of the television miniseries itself, however, must be italicized.)

                                             Transport and Works of Art

     Regarding one-of-a-kind works of art and means of transport, it doesn't matter whether it is big                or small.  It’s always italicized.  Here are a few examples:

Spruce Goose  ( huge airplane)                       Gossamer II   (small plane)

Titanic               (ship)                                           Minnow  (boat)

David                (statue)                                       Wolf Running (figurine, or statuette)

Last Supper      (mural, or large painting)          Golden Retriever  (miniature painting)      

                                          Other

     Brand names, such as Ford or BMW are not italicized or placed in quotation marks.  Personal            names for things that are not ordinarily named require neither quotation marks nor italics.   Some    examples are personally-owned guns, such as Davy Crockett’s famous rifle Old Betsy.  Common nicknames for mass produced items such as Henry Ford’s Model T Ford (called the “Tin Lizzie”)  require quotation marks.

     Landmarks, even if they are considered works of art, are neither italicized nor placed in quotation marks. Three examples are the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, and the Colossus of Rhodes.