The History and Proper Use of Italics

Khan Academy

This educational video provides a concise history and practical guide to using italics in the English language. Hosted by David and Paige, the lesson begins by introducing Aldus Manutius, the Venetian printer credited with inventing the italic typeface around 1500. The narrators explain the etymology of the word "italic" (coming from Italy) and visually demonstrate the difference between "Roman" (upright) and "Italic" (slanted) type styles. The core of the lesson focuses on the two primary grammatical uses for italics: emphasis and titling. Through clear handwritten examples on a digital whiteboard, the hosts show how italics affect the tone of a sentence (e.g., emphasizing the spice level of a pepper). They then move to a detailed explanation of when to italicize titles, specifically distinguishing "full works" like books, movies, and albums from shorter works like chapters or songs. Finally, the video addresses a common student struggle: how to represent italics when writing by hand. The hosts explain the convention of underlining as the handwritten equivalent of italics. This resource is highly valuable for English Language Arts classrooms as it clarifies specific formatting rules that students often confuse, particularly the distinction between italicizing/underlining large works versus using quotation marks for smaller ones (though quotation marks are implied by the "full works" distinction).