NCO Primary Leadership Subjects
Italics and Underlining
Italics are not punctuation, but a text style sometimes used in place of quotation
Purpose
marks and to set off words. In papers written in longhand, underlining takes the
place of italics.
Read the rules and examples for using italics and underlining. Then practice
Rules
applying the rules in the exercises that follow.
Use italics...
Example
The new commander inspired unit esprit de
to set off foreign words included
corps.
in English sentences.
They all heartily wished him bon voyage at the
Hail and Farewell.
to identify books, periodicals,
Use italics to identify the names of books and
newspapers, plays, movies,
poems, operas, etc.
Encyclopedia
We
consulted
the
Britannica,
National
and
even
Geographic.
You should read "Going Home," by COL
Frank Lehman, in the July issue of
Military Review.
to identify the names of vessels,
America
Freedom 7 (U.S.
SS
aircraft, and spacecraft.
(ocean liner)
spacecraft)
Nautilus
Apollo II (U.S.
U.S.S.
(submarine)
spaceship)
Destroyer 31 *
Air Force One
The class was boring! He could not stay
to accent portions of your
writing.
awake.
Note: Use italics cautiously!
They lose their effect when you
use them too frequently.
Continued on next page
Writing Mechanics and Composition
2-29
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