Italics
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A typeface printed in vertical strokes straight up and down dominates the printed page of an essay: such typefaces include the fonts Times Roman, CG Times, and Courier. However, when these regular fonts are printed with a slant, like this, the typeface is italicized. In handwritten or typed papers, this typeface is indicated by underlining. Italics are used to mark words and phrases with special emphasis. Conventions govern the usage of italics, as with the other mechanics in writing.

Italicizing...

• Numbers, Letters, Words, and Phrases Named as Words
• Foreign Words and Phrase not Belonging to English
• The Names of Vehicles
• Titles according to Convention

Italicizing Numbers, Letters, Words, and Phrases Named as Words

Italicize numbers, letters, words, and phrases that represent the words, not the things:

How do you pronounce Eurydice?
The word romantic possesses many different meanings.
His out-of-date T-shirt has written on it Disco Sucks.

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Italicizing Foreign Words and Phrase not Belonging to English

A foreign expression should be italicized, unless its use by English speakers has made it a part of the English language; for instance, "fait accompli," "bourgeois," "laissez-faire," "pasta," and "per diem" do not need to be italicized, since they have been incorporated into English.

His modus operandi was not weighed down by a conscience.

Italicizing the Names of Vehicles

Italicize the names of spacecraft, aircraft, ships, and trains if they refer to specific vehicles.

Wrong: Someone was murdered on the Orient Express.
Corrected: Someone was murdered on the Orient Express.

Wrong: The Challenger blasted into orbit.
Corrected: The Challenger blasted into orbit.

Do not italicize if they refer to types or classes of vehicles.

Wrong: He took the train across Europe.
Corrected: He took the train across Europe.

Wrong: The space shuttle blasted into orbit.
Corrected: The space shuttle blasted into orbit.

Italicizing Titles according to Convention

As a rule, italics are reserved for titles of long works or complete works. Follow these conventions for longer titles:

Books: Alice in Wonderland
Plays: Hamlet
Magazines: Time
Newspapers: the Globe and Mail
Pamphlets: The Evils of Hemp
Long Musical Works: Prokofiev’s Cinderalla
Long Poems: The Waste Land
Films: Casablanca
Television Programs: Seinfeld
Radio Programs: As it Happens
Visual Art: the Mona Lisa
Periodicals and Journals: Critical Inquiry
Comic Strips: For Better or Worse
Software: Word

Exceptions:

Instead of italics, use quotation marks for shorter works, such as a short story, an essay, a poem, an article in a magazine, or a song.

Short story: "Young Goodman Brown"
Poem: "Dover Beach"
Essay: "Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences"
Song: "Benny and the Jets"

Do not use italics for legal documents, such as the Free Trade Agreement or the Magna Carta.

Do not use italics for sacred books, such as the Koran, the Bible, or their parts.

Wrong: The Book of Revelation is the last book of the Bible.
Corrected: The Book of Revelation is the last book of the Bible.