T – 5
A TITLE FOR YOUR PAPER
1. Center your title one and a half inches (double spaces twice) from the top of the page or on the first line of lined paper. Leave a line or several spaces blank. Start your paper on the third or fourth line on lined paper (double space).
2. Try not to use more than five words in your title.
3. A title should be a single word or a phrase. A title should not be a complete sentence. Therefore, do not use any final punctuation mark after your title.
4. Capitalize the first and last words of your title and all other words except articles (a, an, the) prepositions (in, on, of, to, for, at, etc.), and conjunctions (and, but, or, for, so, nor, yet) of fewer than five letters.
5. Do not underline your own title or put quotation marks around it unless it includes a quotation or a title of a book.
6. A title should summarize your paper or at least name the topic. You may write your title before you write your paper or after the paper is finished. When you proofread your paper, be sure the title fits the paper.
7. Do not consider the title a part of the paper itself. Be sure the first sentence of the paper does not depend on the title. Be sure to make what you are writing about clear in the first lines of the paper.
EXERCISE What is wrong with these titles? If you think one is all right, put an “X “ next to it.
Try to improve the ones that have problems.
1. I want to be an Architect and Become Famous.
a. What’s wrong?
b. Rewrite.
2. “How to Groom a Dog”
a. What’s wrong?
b. Rewrite.
3. My most embarrassing moment
a. What’s wrong?
b. Rewrite.
4. My New Car
Is a Ford Mustang.
a. What’s wrong?
b. Rewrite.
5. The Solution
a. What’s wrong?
b. Rewrite.
6. Camping in the Everglades
a. What’s wrong?
b. Rewrite.
7. Many Recipes Which Your Family is Sure to Enjoy for Very Little Money.
a. What’s wrong?
b. Rewrite.