Names & Titles
• The first time a name appears in a story, use the full name. Be sure to spell the names correctly. Example: According to Head Coach Robert Dean, the team, including new pitcher sophomore Jason Perez, was ready for the challenge. • After the first time a name appears use just the last name from then on. Example: Delorenzo explained that Perez improved his skills over the last year. • The first time a name appears in a story, you can identify the person with his or her proper title. For students, include grade level (senior, sophomore, etc.). Do not use Mr. or Ms., etc.: It was senior Peter Fuscaldo who came up with the idea for the rally. • Do not capitalize their title unless it comes before their name. Example: It was a senior, Peter Fuscaldo, the club’s vice president, came up with the idea for the rally. Or It was senior Club President Peter Fuscaldo... Capitalization Capitalize the following: • All proper names, months, days of the week and holidays. (You do not capitalize seasons, unless they are part of the name of something such as Spring Break or Winter Choral Concert, etc.). • Short titles when they precede the names of adults: Principal Marisa Palacios • Full names of schools, clubs, organizations or companies: San Gabriel High School, Speech and Debate • Nicknames of athletic teams: the Spartans • Principle words in titles of books, plays, movies, or songs, including “a” “an” or “the” when they first appear in a title. “Is” and “It” are always capitalized: A Raisin in the Sun DO NOT Capitalize the following: • Names of classes: ninth grade, senior (unless a student’s name follows it and it is not in a sentence: Senior Anna Stewart. In the middle of a story it would be lowercase). • School subjects except languages or specific course titles: algebra, journalism, and language arts, (but Algebra I, Journalism III, and English). Always capitalize P.E, English and other languages. • Personal titles without names: The principal spoke. Principal Palacios spoke. • Short words (such as articles and prepositions of three letters or fewer) in titles unless it is the first or last word. • internet or web Numbers • Always use numerals for ages, money, percentages, days of the month, scores, room numbers, and hours of the day. • Except for those in the preceding rule, spell out numbers one through nine and use numerals for 10 and greater. • Do not begin a sentence with a numeral. Spell it out or rewrite the sentence. Abbreviations • Abbreviate Jr. and Sr. following a name. Do not use a comma between the last name and Jr./Sr.: Adam Meyer Jr. • Abbreviate long names of well-known organizations: FBLA • If you mention a school (or other organization with a long name) more than once in an article, put the abbreviation right after the first mention and then just use the abbreviation for all subsequent mentions. Do not put the abbreviation if you only mention the name once, however: The Lady Moors have a game against Mark Keppel High School (MKHS) on Oct. 12. The MKHS Aztecs have a 3-0 record so far this season. • NEW IN 2019: You can now use the percent sign % instead of spelling percent. 30% of students and 7% of teachers are against the new policy. Dates & Times • Abbreviate only the following months in a date: Jan. Feb. Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. • Times are written as follows: 10 a.m. 8:30 p.m. • Do not abbreviate months that are not part of a date or that are used with just a year: Homecoming is in October. • It is Nov. 18 NOT: November 18th, 18 Nov, or the 18th of November. Punctuation Use a comma in the following instances: • To separate all the words in a series. Do not use a comma before the “and” (the Oxford Comma): Cisneros played tennis, basketball, volleyball and soccer. • To separate a quotation from the rest of a sentence: “I appreciated that we were given a choice of workshops,” senior Maranda Rocha said. “However, I feel as though the event should have maybe been earlier in the year.” • After an introductory phase such as “After the dance,” or “While practicing her serve,” Use a semicolon in the following instances: • Between main divisions of a list: Officers include senior Lisa Smith, president; junior Chuck Wilson, vice president; senior Bryan Zhou, treasurer; and sophomore Bill Callahan (12), secretary. • Between two independent clauses that have a connection (both sides of the semicolon must be an independent clause – meaning it could be a sentence on its own): The tennis team spent weeks preparing to face their rivals; they ended up winning the match. Use quotation marks in the following instances: • To show the exact words of a speaker. • Periods and commas are always placed within the quotation! • Use ellipsis and brackets only when absolutely necessary. If possible, break up the quote instead of changing it. Use ellipsis in the following instance: • In a quote when you need to remove some of the quote. Do this sparingly and only when necessary. Do not allow ellipsis to change the meaning of the original quote: “My personal goal for this season is to be my very best... as well as to earn the MVP award at the end of the season.” Quotes: • “Said” goes last: “I love the newspaper,” sophomore Jason Moreno said. NOT “I love the newspaper,” said sophomore Jason Moreno. OR “I love the newspaper.” commented sophomore Jason Moreno, etc. • Always start a new paragraph for a quote. Put the attribution after the first sentence of the quote (at the end if it is only one sentence or less): “Everyone can participate in the activities,” Rubalcava said. OR “Everyone can participate in the activities,” Rubalcava said. “The point is to get everyone interested in Latino culture.” Other Tips: • Every day vs. everyday (Every day means “every single day” – everyday means “ordinary”). • Toward vs. towards (Use toward – do not put the “s”). • DO NOT put a comma before and in a series (the “Oxford comma”). • DO NOT put magazine and newspaper titles in italics or quotes, just properly capitalize them. For titles such as books, video games, films, TV shows, works of art, speeches, etc. use quotation marks: She read The New York Times before she watched “Inception.” • Avoid putting quotes around something that is slang, etc. whenever possible. • AP Style has special abbreviations for the names of states. Look it up when in doubt. • United States is a noun; U.S. is an adjective: She is a citizen of the United States; she uses her U.S. passport. • Avoid using first and second person (we, our, you, etc.). • Avoid using contractions (use do not instead of don’t). Contractions in quotes are OK (this is how you spell OK). As a writer, it is your responsibility to ensure that your writing does not contain these errors. Check your work BEFORE you submit it for editing. |
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September 2021
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