WRITING TITLES

2 TITLES oare informative, clear, specific, concise  point to thesis  suggest or state the point of essay  identify the Rhetorical Strategy  give readers an idea of the paper’s concerns  catch readers’ attention  stir thought and curiosity  are not too long or too short ocan include part of the thesis statement

3 TITLES: Don’ts odo NOT rename the assignment odo NOT use boring, uninformative titles  “School & Work” odo NOT strain for an effect  “Suppose You Were a Toe” —  don’t be too cute odo NOT use cute, amusing, ambiguous titles

4 TITLES: Examples oThe Causes and Effects of Teen Smoking oCollege Is Like a Rite of Passage oAbortion: Two Sides to the Debate oShould the Death Penalty Be Supported or Revoked? oThe Elements of Argument Found in The Great Debaters TOPIC + MAIN IDEA

5 TITLES: Format oCentered beneath the header oSingle-Spaced  as the header oNot Bold-Faced oNot Italicized oNot Underlined  Unless it contains a title that must be oNot enclosed with Quotation Marks  Unless it contains a title that must use them

6 TITLES: Capitalization CAPITALIZATION in TITLES: oAlways capitalize  the FIRST word  and the LAST word.

7 TITLES: Capitalization CAPITALIZATION in TITLES: oCapitalize all  NOUNS  PRONOUNS  ADJECTIVES  VERBS  ADVERBS  SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS as, because, although  “LONG” PREPOSITIONS five characters or more after, among, between

8 TITLES: Capitalization CAPITALIZATION in TITLES: oLowercase all  ARTICLES  COORDINATE CONJUNCTIONS and, or, nor  PREPOSITIONS shorter prepositions the "to" in an infinitive  when they are not the first or last word

9 SUMMATION *TITLES* oTopic + Main Idea oKeep it simple, clear, concise oDon’t be cute, uninformative, long, vague oCapitalize the major words