Writers usually choose one or the other method and use it consistently throughout an individual essay. In the final, published version of an article or book, italics are usually used. Boldface is also used, especially outside of academia, to show emphasis as well as to highlight items in a list, as in the following examples. The picture that television commercials portray of the American home is far from realistic . In email correspondence, the use of all-caps throughout a message can create the unintended impression of shouting and is therefore discouraged.
Some punctuation marks prompt the reader to give a word or sentence more than usual emphasis.
For example, a command with a period does not evoke the same emphatic response as the same command with an exclamation mark. A dash or colon has more emphatic force than a comma. The employees were surprised by the decision, which was not to change company policy. The simplest way to emphasize something is to tell readers directly that what follows is important by using such words and phrases as especially , particularly , crucially , most importantly , and above all . Emphasis by repetition of key words can be especially effective in a series, as in the following example.