How to Write a Book Name in an Essay

Co-authored by Danielle Blinka, MA, MPA

Last Updated: January 27, 2023 References

When you’re writing an essay that includes a book title, it can be confusing to write the title correctly. However, it’s really easy once you know the rules. How you write the title will vary a little bit depending on the style your instructor assigns and if you are typing or handwriting the essay. Luckily, it's easy to follow the rules for writing a book name in an essay.

Writing Help

Book Names in MLA and Chicago

Book Names in APA

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Typing an Essay in MLA or Chicago Style Format

1
Capitalize the first letter of all nouns, verbs, and adjectives in the book name. Most words in the book name will be capitalized. In addition to the first word, you'll capitalize every significant word.^{[1]
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- For example, you would write To Kill a Mockingbird, The Lord of the Rings, or Wuthering Heights.
2
Avoid capitalizing articles, prepositions, or coordinating conjunctions. These words are not considered to be important words in the book name. While you might not remember what these words are, they're pretty easy to spot once you've had a bit of practice.^{[2]
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- If you have the book name in front of you, you can just copy it down as it is printed.
- Articles include a, an, and the.
- Prepositions include at, in, on, of, about, since, from, for, until, during, over, above, under, underneath, below, beneath, near, by, next to, between, among, and opposite.
- Coordinating conjunctions include the FANBOYS, which are for, and, not, but, or, yet, and
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3
Include punctuation in the italics if it’s part of the title. Most titles won’t contain punctuation, but occasionally a book name will end in a question mark or include a comma. If this happens, the punctuation mark should also be in italics.^{[3]
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- For example, you would write the name of William Faulkner’s novel Absalom, Absalom! with both the comma and the exclamation point in italics.
4
Highlight the book name. Hover your cursor at the beginning of the book name and left click your mouse. Hold the key down and drag your cursor over the title of the book. Lift your finger and avoid clicking on the mouse. The title should remain highlighted.
- If the highlight bar goes away, try again, making sure that you don’t click anywhere on the page after you highlight the book name.
5
Click the italicize icon to format the title. The button used for italicizing will have a stylized letter “I” on it. You can locate it along the tool bar in your word processor.^{[4]
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- Alternatively, you can press the italicize icon before you type the title.
- If you’re using Microsoft Word to type your essay, the italicize key may appear if you hover over the highlighted book name.
6
Left click your mouse on another area of the document. This will remove the highlight from the book name and leave your title formatted in italics. Continue writing your essay.
- If the next word after your title appears italicized when you resume typing, simply highlight it and click the italicize icon to remove the formatting.
7
Use quotation marks instead of italics if the book is part of an anthology. Rarely, you will encounter a book name that is part of an anthology, and these titles will be written differently. An anthology is a collection of smaller works, which usually includes short texts. However, an anthology can contain novels, as well. If your book was part of an anthology, you do not need to put it in italics. Simply place quotation marks around the title.^{[5]
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- For example, The Lord of the Rings trilogy is sometimes published in one volume. In this case, you could write the name of the first novel as "The Fellowship of the Ring" when citing it in an essay.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Typing an Essay in APA Format

1
Capitalize the first word and all words longer than 4 letters. Most words in book names will be capitalized in APA format, but the rules for capitalization are a bit different from other styles. The number of letters in the word is most important for capitalization, not the part of speech that the word falls into. As always, capitalize the first word no matter what.^{[6]
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- Capitalize the first letter of the words, not the entire word.
- If the word is a two-part hyphenated word in the title, you should capitalize both words. For example, you would write Blue River: The Trial of a Mayor-Elect.
- If there is a dash or colon in the title, you should capitalize the word after the punctuation, regardless of how long the word is. As above, you would write Blue River: The Trial of a Mayor-Elect.
2
Include any punctuation in the italics if it’s part of the book name. Most book names don’t include punctuation, but occasionally you will encounter a title that contains a comma, question mark, or other punctuation. If this is the case, the punctuation should also be in italics.^{[7]
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- For example, you would write Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? with the question mark italicized.
3
Highlight the title. Left click near the front of the title, then drag your cursor over the entire book name. Let go, being careful not to press down on your cursor. The book name should remain highlighted.
- If the book name is not highlighted, left click and drag your cursor again, making sure that you don’t click again anywhere on the page.
4
Click the italicize icon to change the format of the title. The italicize icon will have a slanted letter “I” on it. You can find it along your tool bar in the word processor you are using.^{[8]
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- If you are using Microsoft Word, the italics icon may appear when you hover over the highlighted book title. It’s okay to click this key.
5
Move your cursor off of the title. Clicking anywhere on your document will remove the highlight bar from your book name. You can now resume writing your essay.
- If the next word after your title appears italicized when you resume typing, simply highlight it and click the italicize icon to remove the formatting.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Handwriting an Essay

1
Capitalize the words according to the style format you are using. You will follow the same rules for capitalization as you would use when typing an essay. Capitalize the first letter of the words, not the entire word.
- For MLA and Chicago style essays, capitalize the first word of the book name and every word other than articles, prepositions, or coordinating conjunctions. For example, write The Lord of the Rings.
- If you’re using APA style, capitalize the first word and all words longer than 4 letters.^{[9]
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  Research source} This means you would write Public Policy in Local Government.
2
Underline the complete title. Even if your title has several words, you’ll want to draw one continuous line rather than underlining each individual word in the book name. Make your line as straight as possible.^{[10]
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- If you’re writing on lined paper, it may help to follow along the line of the paper. However, make sure your line is dark enough so that your instructor will see that you properly underlined the book name.
3
Underline punctuation if it’s part of the title. Sometimes you will need to write a book name that contains punctuation. Luckily, the rules are the same for these titles as with other book names. You should underline the punctuation mark just as you did the rest of the title.^{[11]
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- For example, you would write Judy Blume’s Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by underlining the punctuation marks as well as the words.

References

More References (2)

Community Q&A

Question

How should I pick the name of a book? It's a manga.

AneHane

Community Answer

Always use the original title, even if it is in a foreign language. In the case of manga, using the original title that has been transcribed into the Roman alphabet should do just fine. If you are still unsure, ask your teacher.