AP Style 'Cheat Sheet', Lecture notes of English

Download AP Style 'Cheat Sheet' and more Lecture notes English in PDF only on Docsity! AP Style ‘Cheat Sheet’ for WJEA’s write-off contests and beyond Student journalists should have at least these two sources available to answer basic style questions: 1. The AP Stylebook. This is the style guide that professional media use. The Stylebook is available in print form, as a smartphone app, or by subscription for classroom and/or home computers: www.apstylebook.com 2. A local style guide. This is a guide created internally after reaching a group consensus on style for school- and community-related topics. Examples might be whether to use courtesy titles for teachers and administrators, how to format album titles (quotes? italics? boldface?), whether to cap names of courses or clubs, etc. Some of these decisions might run a bit counter to AP Style, and that’s OK, as long as you are consistent. Here are a few answers to common style issues, based on the AP Stylebook. These are the rules we’d like you to follow for the contests. (The local style guide is up to you and your staff to create!) Months/dates/times Abbreviate months with six or more letters if they are used with a specific date. Spell out those with five or fewer letters. Aug. 13, June 6, May 31 Spell out the month when it is used without a specific date. In September the football team … The class begins in February 2015. For days of the month, use only numerals. Do not use nd, rd or th. Aug. 2, Sept. 3, April 4. Do not abbreviate days of the week. You usually do not need both a day of the week and a date. Wednesday, Monday The next game is Oct. 13. Use numerals, a space, lowercase letters, and periods for a.m. and p.m. Do not use extra zeros on times. 7 p.m., 10 a.m., 1:45 p.m. Use noon and midnight rather than 12 a.m. or 12 p.m. The club will meet at noon. Names/titles/classes For all people (adults and students), use full names on first reference. On second reference, use only the last name. Jane Smith, a high school junior, … later Smith realized … If two people with the same last name are quoted in a story, use first and last names. ... Jane Smith explained. Jenny Smith also believes ... Formal titles are only capitalized when they appear immediately before a name. Just make sure it’s a formal title and not merely a job description (teacher, coach, counselor, etc.). AP wavers on whether “principal” should be capitalized before a name. You can decide. Jenny Smith, auto club president, Under Mayor Bob Jackson, the town seemed to thrive, but basketball coach Joe Jones told another story. Barack Obama is president. Sophomore, junior, senior and freshman are lowercase unless at the start of a sentence. For sophomore Sarah Smith, it was… Titles of departments and names of classes are not capitalized unless they are also a language or nationality. math, science, English, Spanish (MORE on Page 2)