Referring to literary authors, titles, and characters

When referring to the author of a literary work or a secondary source, such as a critical essay, you should give the author’s full name the first time you mention it: Virginia Woolf is known for her experimental novels. In subsequent references, you may use the last name only: Woolf’s early work was largely overlooked. As a rule, do not use personal titles such as Mr. or Ms. or Dr. when referring to authors.

When you mention the title of a short story, an essay, or a short or medium-length poem, put the title in quotation marks.

“The Lesson,” by Toni Cade Bambara

“Gender Gap in Cyberspace,” by Deborah Tannen

“The Tyger,” by William Blake

Italicize the titles of novels, nonfiction books, plays, and long poems.

The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou

M. Butterfly, by David Henry Hwang

Howl, by Allen Ginsberg

Refer to each character by the name most often used for him or her in the work. If, for instance, a character’s name is Lambert Strether and he is always referred to as “Strether,” do not call him “Lambert” or “Mr. Strether.” Similarly, write “Lady Macbeth,” not “Mrs. Macbeth.”

Related topics:

Using the present tense to describe fictional events

Avoiding shifts in tense when integrating quotations

Avoiding confusion of the work’s author with a narrator, speaker, or character

Documenting secondary sources

Using quotation marks

Using italics