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English Language: Middle School: Grades 6, 7 and 8 Quiz - Underline and Italics (Questions)

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Underline and italics are used for emphasis. By now you’ve had some lessons on the use of underlining and using italics. In middle school you will begin to have far more writing opportunities than ever before, including writing book reports.

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As there are many basic rules to writing, this quiz will revisit the rules surrounding when to underline and when to use italics, both of which are forms of punctuations to show emphasis when writing. They can be interchanged depending upon what is a writer’s preference. However, these too follow some basic rules as follows:

1. When naming a long title to a written piece of work such as a book, a magazine, a movie, a newspaper, a song, a play or a TV show, you can italicize, underline or even use quotation marks (“”) to offset the title. For example:

The Diary of Anne Frank

or

The Diary of Anne Frank

or

“The Diary of Anne Frank”

To not use at least one of these forms of offsetting the title would be an incorrect writing format.

2. When using foreign words and phrases. Foreign words and phrases should always be either underlined or in italics. For example:

He had a sudden experience of déjà vu!

or

He had a sudden experience of déjà vu!

3. Italicize onomatopoeia words (sound words). For example:

Aah. It felt so good to take my shoes off!

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For each sentence that follows, determine which word or group of words needs to be underlined or italicized or does the sentence need to be left alone.

1. He picked up a copy of the Washington Post on his way to work.
[ ] [Washington Post]
[ ] Way to Work
[ ] Washington Post
[ ] Left alone
2. Ouch! I stubbed my toe yet again on that dumb toy.
[ ] Ouch
[ ] Ouch
[ ] That Dumb Toy
[ ] Left alone
3. The girls went swimming in the big pond behind the school.
[ ] Big Pond
[ ] School
[ ] School
[ ] Left alone
4. Maria met Stephanie Meyer who signed her copy of Breaking Dawn.
[ ] Breaking Dawn
[ ] Stephanie Meyer
[ ] (Breaking Dawn)
[ ] Left alone
5. One of my all time favorite songs is Somewhere Over the Rainbow!
[ ] Favorite Songs / Favorite Songs
[ ] Somewhere Over the Rainbow / Somewhere Over the Rainbow
[ ] “Somewhere”
[ ] Left alone
6. Did you watch the boxing on TV last night? It was like - wham, slam - match over!
[ ] TV
[ ] Boxing
[ ] WHAM, SLAM
[ ] Left alone
7. My grandmother told me it was a faux pas to wear white shoes before Memorial Day.
[ ] faux pas
[ ] Memorial Day
[ ] Memorial Day
[ ] Left alone
8. The Marshall family went on a cruise around the world!
[ ] [The Marshall Family]
[ ] Marshall
[ ] “Cruise”
[ ] Left alone
9. Have you ever read the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe by C.S. Lewis?
[ ] “the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe”
[ ] C.S. Lewis
[ ] The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
[ ] Left alone
10. Natalie debated whether or not to include respondez s'il vous plait on her dinner invitation.
[ ] respondez s'il vous plait
[ ] [respondez s'il vous plait]
[ ] “Dinner Invitation”
[ ] Left alone
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English Language: Middle School: Grades 6, 7 and 8 Quiz - Underline and Italics (Answers)
1. He picked up a copy of the Washington Post on his way to work.
[ ] [Washington Post]
[ ] Way to Work
[x] Washington Post
[ ] Left alone
As the title of a newspaper is being given, the writer is required to present the title to the reader correctly. Answer (a) has enclosed the title in brackets. Brackets are not used to show the title of a newspaper. The words shown in Answer (b) should not be capitalized and do not need to be underlined. As we do have a title to a newspaper, Answer (d) left alone is not correct. Answer (c) Washington Post in italics is the correct presentation.
2. Ouch! I stubbed my toe yet again on that dumb toy.
[ ] Ouch
[x] Ouch
[ ] That Dumb Toy
[ ] Left alone
As this sentence contains an onomatopoeia word we need to see a word in italics. Answer (a) is the correct word but you do not underline onomatopoeia words. The words shown in Answer (c) should not be capitalized and do not need to be underlined. As we do have an onomatopoeia word, Answer (d) left alone is not correct. Answer (b) Ouch in italics is the correct presentation.
3. The girls went swimming in the big pond behind the school.
[ ] Big Pond
[ ] School
[ ] School
[x] Left alone
This sentence does not contain any publication titles, onomatopoeia words, or songs. It is a simple sentence that needs to be left alone. Answer (d) is the correct answer here.
4. Maria met Stephanie Meyer who signed her copy of Breaking Dawn.
[x] Breaking Dawn
[ ] Stephanie Meyer
[ ] (Breaking Dawn)
[ ] Left alone
As the title of a book is being given, the writer is required to present the title to the reader correctly. Answer (b) has underlined the author’s name. The author’s name does not need to be underlined. Answer (c) has placed the title of the book in parentheses. A book title is not correctly displayed by the use of parentheses. As we do have a title to a book given, Answer (d) left alone is not correct. Answer (a) Breaking Dawn is underlined and is the correct presentation.
5. One of my all time favorite songs is Somewhere Over the Rainbow!
[ ] Favorite Songs / Favorite Songs
[x] Somewhere Over the Rainbow / Somewhere Over the Rainbow
[ ] “Somewhere”
[ ] Left alone
As this sentence is giving the title to a specific piece of music, the writer is required to present the title to the reader correctly. Answer (a) does not show the correct title and these words do not need to be capitalized, underlined or put in italics. Answer (c) shows only one word of the song title so it is incomplete and not correct. As we do have a title to a song, Answer (d) left alone is also not correct. Answer (b) Somewhere Over the Rainbow / Somewhere Over the Rainbow show the correct display of the song title. It is then up to the writer to choose which version and then keep that version consistent throughout their written piece. Answer (b) is the correct presentation.
6. Did you watch the boxing on TV last night? It was like - wham, slam - match over!
[ ] TV
[ ] Boxing
[x] WHAM, SLAM
[ ] Left alone
As this sentence contains onomatopoeia words we need to see the words in italics. Answer (a) is not the correct emphasis needed and TV does not need to be underlined. “Boxing” is a general object and it does not need to be capitalized or underlined. As we do have onomatopoeia words, Answer (d) left alone is not correct. Answer (c) WHAM, SLAM in italics is the correct presentation. It is also correct to show the words in all capital letters to add additional emphasis.
7. My grandmother told me it was a faux pas to wear white shoes before Memorial Day.
[x] faux pas
[ ] Memorial Day
[ ] Memorial Day
[ ] Left alone
Memorial Day is a proper name and it only needs to be shown using capital letters as it is. Answers (b) and (c) are incorrect presentations for the proper name. As this sentence does contain a foreign phrase, Answer (d) left alone is not correct. Answer (a) faux pas is italicized and is the correct presentation.
8. The Marshall family went on a cruise around the world!
[ ] [The Marshall Family]
[ ] Marshall
[ ] “Cruise”
[x] Left alone
This sentence does not contain any publication titles, onomatopoeia words, or songs. It is a simple sentence that needs to be left alone. Answer (d) is the correct answer here.
9. Have you ever read the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe by C.S. Lewis?
[ ] “the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe”
[ ] C.S. Lewis
[x] The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
[ ] Left alone
As the title of a book is being given, the writer is required to present the title to the reader correctly. Answer (a) shows the title of the book but it is displayed incorrectly in two ways. First, the title is not capitalized. Second, you do not use quotation marks and italics together to display a title. Use one or the other. Answer (a) is, therefore, not correct. Answer (b) has underlined the author’s name. The author’s name does not need to be underlined. As we do have a title to a book given, Answer (d) left alone is not correct. Answer (c) The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is underlined and capitalized and is the correct presentation.
10. Natalie debated whether or not to include respondez s'il vous plait on her dinner invitation.
[x] respondez s'il vous plait
[ ] [respondez s'il vous plait]
[ ] “Dinner Invitation”
[ ] Left alone
This sentence contains a foreign phrase. The words “dinner invitation” relates to a common object and does not need to be capitalized or placed in quotation marks so Answer (c) is not correct. As this sentence does contain a foreign phrase, Answer (d) left alone is also not correct. Answer (b) shows the correct foreign phrase but a foreign phrase is not presented by using brackets so it is not the correct presentation. Answer (a) respondez s'il vous plait, on the other hand, is italicized and is the correct presentation.