Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
rules for complex title/subtitle
English answer:
The White Rabbit Returns
Added to glossary by
Anna Maria Augustine (X)
Oct 17, 2006 10:59
17 yrs ago
2 viewers *
English term
rules for complex title/subtitle
English
Art/Literary
Philosophy
art discourse
In English, when you have a title composed of two alternative titles, conjoined by "or", what is the rule for capitalization and punctuation? For instance: "The White Rabbit Returns, Or: The Invention of Found Objects". Is this format correct?
Thanks
Thanks
Responses
| 5 | The White Rabbit Returns |
Anna Maria Augustine (X)
|
| 4 +5 | Different rules |
Nesrin
|
| 4 +3 | "The White Rabbit Returns, or The Invention of Found Objects". |
maryrose
|
Responses
9 mins
Selected
The White Rabbit Returns
Capitals/uppercase at the beginning of each word, and no punctuation (full stop)
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "thanks, very helpful"
+3
23 mins
"The White Rabbit Returns, or The Invention of Found Objects".
A famous example is the Shakespeare play:
"Twelfth Night, or What You Will"
"Twelfth Night, or What You Will"
Note from asker:
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Nesrin
: This is one possibility, but as you see on this amazon.com page, the title "Twelfth night, or what you will" is written in a variety of ways, depending on the publisher http://tinyurl.com/y422z5
8 mins
|
| agree |
Jeanette Phillips
: In English: traditinally, capitalisation for all words in the title except or, of, and, the
9 mins
|
| agree |
Lubosh Hanuska
: correct as well, but Nesrin was more comprehensive and answered it all (incl the lowercase "or" in the note)...
16 mins
|
| agree |
Ken Cox
: Could be correct if this is the wording and punctuation of the actual title (see my comment to Nesrin's answer).
1 hr
|
+5
19 mins
Different rules
I've seen different rules followed on the internet. You'll find that the first title is often followed by a colon. I don' t think this has anything to do with the fact that the 2nd title starts with an "or", but because it's a rule according to certain bibliography citation styles that the first and the second titles should be separated by a colon. But if you look at the book cover itself, you probably won't find this colon. Please see below how the same title is cited on different sites:
Jacob Abbot, The Harper Establishment, or, How the Story Books are Made, Harper & Brothers, New York, NY, 1855.
www.officemuseum.com/photo_gallery_1860s-1880s.htm
Title:, The Harper Establishment: or, How the Story Books Are Made ...
onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupid?key=olbp10116
Title: The Harper Establishment, or How the Story Books Are Made Author(s): Ian Rogerson Journal: Library Review Year: Oct 2002 Vol : 51 Issue: 7 ...
www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do?contentTy...
The Harper Establishment; or, How the Story Books are Made by Jacob Abbot (1855)
www.uiowa.edu/~obermann/endofbooks/links.html
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Note added at 21 mins (2006-10-17 11:21:06 GMT)
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I've only found one site on which the "or" is capitalised, so I'd say don't capitalise it.
The Harper Establishment: Or, How The Story Books Are Made by Jacob Abbott ...
2020ok.com/tags/harper.htm
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Note added at 5 days (2006-10-22 19:13:55 GMT) Post-grading
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Hi adi! Yes, indeed, you can't points to more than one answerer or change your grading unless you ask a moderator to do so. But never about the points! I'm glad I was able to help!
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Note added at 5 days (2006-10-22 19:18:55 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------
sorry: you can't *give* points...
Jacob Abbot, The Harper Establishment, or, How the Story Books are Made, Harper & Brothers, New York, NY, 1855.
www.officemuseum.com/photo_gallery_1860s-1880s.htm
Title:, The Harper Establishment: or, How the Story Books Are Made ...
onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupid?key=olbp10116
Title: The Harper Establishment, or How the Story Books Are Made Author(s): Ian Rogerson Journal: Library Review Year: Oct 2002 Vol : 51 Issue: 7 ...
www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do?contentTy...
The Harper Establishment; or, How the Story Books are Made by Jacob Abbot (1855)
www.uiowa.edu/~obermann/endofbooks/links.html
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Note added at 21 mins (2006-10-17 11:21:06 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
I've only found one site on which the "or" is capitalised, so I'd say don't capitalise it.
The Harper Establishment: Or, How The Story Books Are Made by Jacob Abbott ...
2020ok.com/tags/harper.htm
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 days (2006-10-22 19:13:55 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------
Hi adi! Yes, indeed, you can't points to more than one answerer or change your grading unless you ask a moderator to do so. But never about the points! I'm glad I was able to help!
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 days (2006-10-22 19:18:55 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------
sorry: you can't *give* points...
Note from asker:
| dear nesrin, yours was definitely the most helpful answer, and as far as i understood - that was the response i had sent, after writing to anna maria that while not quite the answer to my question, it was nontheless helpful. i'm not quite sure i understand how the feedback works here. it now appears that if i give points to one i cannot give points to another answerer. is that indeed the case? |
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Lubosh Hanuska
19 mins
|
| agree |
Dave Calderhead
48 mins
|
| agree |
William [Bill] Gray
49 mins
|
| agree |
Ken Cox
: The colon is the standard prescribed by the Oxford Guide to Style, which also says 'A title's punctuation must follow that on the title page. However, since there is usually a line break rather than any punctuation..., OUP standardizes on a colon.'
1 hr
|
| agree |
Alfa Trans (X)
7 hrs
|
Discussion