How do I present titles of poems, novels, etc. in my essay?
Generally, when including the titles of selections within an essay, there are two main guidelines to follow.
- Short story: "The Harmony of the Spheres," “Indian Camp,” “Babylon Revisited”
- Novel: Perfume, Moby Dick, The Satanic Verses
- Feature film: Blade Runner, The Day After Tomorrow, Star Wars
- Poem: "To His Coy Mistress," “Ulysses.” “Daddy”
- Television show: "Star Trek", “Battlestar Galactica”
- Television series: Star Trek: The Next Generation
- Song: "Ants Marching", “Stairway to Heaven,” “Come Sail Away”
- Long poem (epic): Odyssey, Beowulf, Paradise Lost
- Play: Hamlet, Oedipus Rex, Death of a Salesman
If you are unsure about how to present a title, look it up and see how critics have done it. The titles of novellas or long poems, like Tolstay’s The Death of Ivan Ilyitch, Kafka’s Metamorophsis, or Poe’s Rape of the Lock, can be tricky, so checking a secondary source becomes necessary.