Italics Italics are used for titles of books, genera and species, long plays, periodicals, movies, newspapers, operas and other long musical compositions, ships, and works of art. Titles of television and radio series are italicized, but titles of individual episodes are placed in quotation marks. Italics are also used for foreign words that are unfamiliar. Use specific, concrete language rather than italics, capitals, or quotation marks for emphasis. This committee consists of two, not three, people.
Parentheses Use parentheses sparingly.
Don't enclose entire sentences in parentheses. Parentheses sometimes enclose brief explanatory abbreviations. Quotation Marks Use double quotation marks before and after direct quotations as well as titles of interviews, personal correspondence, short poems and plays, short musical compositions, speeches, individual television or radio programs, and other unpublished writing. Use single quotation marks for quotations within quotations. Put an exclamation point, question mark, or semicolon inside the ending quotation mark only if it's part of the quotation.