PPAS Style Guide

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PPAS Style Guide

Common PPAS style questions are addressed in this short guide. Rules are followed by examples when needed. In every instance where a word, term, or punctuation device is used, it is used according to guide rules and may be considered an example of proper form (for example, note the period at the end of the URLs in the following paragraphs).

For other grammar and usage questions, try Jack Lynch's online Guide to Grammar and Style at http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing.

For vocabulary and spelling, including whether a term is one word, two words, hyphenated, or capitalized, use http://www.merriam-webster.com.

This guide is aligned with modern style guides, including MLA, APA, and the Chicago Manual of Style, with some minor exceptions where there is disagreement among the various styles. I used Chicago a lot because of its extensive coverage of writing style. In the rare cases where there was disagreement with MLA, I used MLA instead to maintain consistency with the PPAS humanities department. For any question not addressed in this guide, you may consult your favorite source until we add it to the guide as needed. This guide applies to formal or public communications.

PPAS and Majors

1.   Depending on the audience, the first mention of the school should include the full name with the abbreviation in parentheses. Subsequent use of the name of the school may use abbreviation only. In-house publications may use PPAS exclusively. The school newspaper is an in-house publication.

• Students applying to the Professional Performing Arts School (PPAS) must audition for admission. PPAS is a small school in Midtown Manhattan.

2.   In the first instance of a major appearing in text, use the full name of the major. Note capitalization style. In subsequent instances (within the same document or webpage) use common abbreviated forms, if they exist (shown in parentheses below). In-house documents may use the abbreviated forms exclusively.

• Alvin Ailey dance majors are placed in levels A–D. (Ailey majors or students)
• American Ballet Theatre dance majors (ABT majors or students)
• Ballet Academy East dance majors (BAE majors or students)
• Drama majors are placed in levels 1–4. (drama majors or students)
• Juilliard instrumental and vocal music majors (Juilliard majors or students)
• Musical theater majors are placed in levels 1–4. (musical theater majors or students—avoid "MT" in formal writing but in-house is acceptable)
• School of American Ballet dance majors (SAB majors or students)
• Vocal music majors are placed in levels 1–4.  (vocal music majors or students—avoid “vocal students")

3.   Theatre is the British spelling of the word theater. There are no generally accepted rules regarding the use of the British variant. Use theater in all cases unless directly quoting a written source that uses the term theatre, or unless the official name of a theater or program uses the -re spelling. For help with names of theaters go to the Playbill website: http://www.playbill.com/index.php.  Most Broadway theaters use the -re spelling.

• Spring Awakening is now playing at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre.
• Rebecca is a musical theater major at PPAS.
• PPAS is located in the heart of the Theater District.
• Theater is my first love.

 Capitalization

1.   PPAS majors and levels are in lower case, unless the major contains a proper noun, and except in rare cases where the major is used as a stand-in for the department (as in the second example, which should be avoided in formal writing unless quoting someone). Do not capitalize majors when followed by a number or letter.

• Derrick is a sophomore Alvin Ailey dance major in level B.
• In June, Musical Theater will perform a Kander and Ebb review at the Maravel Arts Center.
• All drama 4s will perform scenes from Shakespeare in the spring.  (The preferred formal phrasing would be "level 4 drama majors.")

2.   Do not capitalize middle school or high school unless part of a larger formal title.

• The PPAS middle school will hold auditions this weekend.
• Cindy enrolled in PPAS after attending New Horizons Middle School in Brooklyn.

3.   Names of spaces that are simply descriptive in nature (main office, auditorium, lunch room, etc.) are not capitalized. Any room that has a formal name that is special, unusual, or unique should be capitalized. When announcing the location of a formal event in the auditorium or the black box theater, capital letters may be used.

• A meeting will be held in room 408 today. Room 408 is a science room.
• The PPAS library is open during lunch period.
• The main office is on the third floor.
• Many students like to spend their free periods in the Learning Center.
• Level 4 drama students meet in the black box theater for PA classes today.
• The middle school production of Servant of Two Masters will take place at the PPAS Black Box Theater.

4.   Do not capitalize subject areas unless they are proper nouns or unless using the official full title of the course as offered by the NY State Board of Regents or PPAS programmer.

• PPAS humanities classes combine English and social studies in a single block.
• Mr. Wright teaches Strategies in Problem Solving. There are thirty students in his problem solving class.

5.   Capitalize professional positions or titles only if they appear before a person's name. In certain official or promotional materials where headline style is appropriate (such as the PPAS letterhead), capitalization is appropriate.

• Mr. Ryan, principal at PPAS, loves his job.
• We had a conversation with Principal Ryan.
• Mr. Martin Josman is the music director of the National Chorale.

6.   Academic terms and date formats:

• Students generally look forward to a new beginning in the fall semester.
• Spring term begins on Tuesday, January 29, 2013. (no -st, -nd, -rd, or -th)

Numbers (MLA)

1.   In general, spell out all one- and two-word numbers. Newspaper writers (due to space considerations) should use words for numbers one through nine, but numerals for numbers 10 and above. Be consistent—when the rule calls for mixed numerals and words but the numbers are related, use numerals (see last example  below).

• There were nine students who auditioned for the lead role.
• There are twenty-three students in AP biology. (Newspaper: There are 23 students in AP biology.)
• The average rainfall through the summer months of June, July, and August is 3.7, 4.4, and 4.0 inches respectively.
• There were 88 students, 125 parents, and 250 other supporters at the rally.

 2.   Use numerals for the following situations: dates, ages, percentages, numbers followed by units of measurement, and money. Use numerals in situations where convention demands it, as in the fifth example.

• Earth's population now stands at approximately seven billion people.
• I grew up in a small city with a population of 22 thousand people.
• A 3-liter bottle of soda often costs less than a gallon of water. (Hyphenate only if used as an adjective and the unit is not abbreviated.)
• Students in grade 8 take earth science. (Students in eighth grade take earth science.)
• We will perform act 3, scene 2 from Shakespeare's Hamlet.

 3.   Ordinal numbers follow the same rules as cardinal numbers regarding the use of numerals or spelling out the number.

• In first grade we took a nap every day.
• Most eleventh-grade students in New York State take U.S. history.

 Titles of Works

1.   Italicize titles of longer works including movies, books, plays, musicals, operas, albums, TV series, newspapers, magazines, etc. Do not capitalize definite and indefinite articles, prepositions, coordinating conjunctions, or to, except when these terms begin or end a title.

• To Kill a Mockingbird, Our Town, Lost, Cabaret, La Traviata, the New York Times

2.   Use quotation marks for shorter works such as short stories, songs, arias, articles, individual episodes of a TV series, etc.

• "The Pit and the Pendulum" (short story by Edgar Allen Poe), "Paparazzi" (song by Lady Gaga), "Un di, felice, eterea" (aria from La Traviata), "Bat Child Found in Cave" (Weekly World News headline), "The Trouble with Tribbles" (Star Trek episode)

3.   The words that denote subsections of works, such as chapter, page, unit, act, scene, etc., are not capitalized.

• For homework, answer questions 1-10 from chapter 3 on page 77.

4.   In classical music italicize compositions known by name, such as Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik. For titles in languages other than English, use sentence style and follow capitalization rules of the original language. Works known by number should be set in roman type without quotation marks, such as Beethoven's Symphony no. 5 in C Minor, op. 67.

 5.  Uniquely named single events that consist of a variety of performances should be capitalized but neither italicized nor in quotation marks.

•    The PPAS Roaring `20s Gala and Benefit will be held on April 22, 2013.
•    The HIV/AIDS awareness assembly is an annual event at PPAS.

 Punctuation and Other Formatting Rules

1.   Punctuation almost always goes inside quotation marks, except for colons and semicolons, and except when the quote's punctuation is at odds with the overall sentence punctuation. In the second example below, the question mark would belong outside the quotation mark even without the exclamation point in the original quote.

• The worried valedictorian noted, "No one expected that final exam in gym class."
• Did General MacArthur really say, "Bunk!"? or, Did General MacArthur really say, "Bunk"?

2.   Use contractions sparingly, preferably only when quoting someone.

• We do not yet know where the event will take place.
• "There's no place like PPAS," she said.

3.   Use a hyphen (-) for certain compound words (consult an up-to-date dictionary or style guide), telephone and social security numbers and the like, and phrasal adjectives. Do not put spaces around the hyphen.

• The Chicago Manual of Style hyphenates e-mail. The Associated Press Stylebook does not.
• The PPAS phone number is 212-247-8652.
• He struck an unnerving matter-of-fact tone when describing the most gruesome events.

4.   Use the en dash (–) for ranges of numbers, dates, time, locations, etc. Do not precede the en dash with the words from or between, as the en dash already implies those prepositions. Use "Ctrl -" on your PC keyboard to make the en dash. Do not put spaces around the en dash.

• The meeting will be held on Wednesday, 1:30 p.m.–2:20 p.m., in the library.
• She referred to the period 2000–2004 as her "glory days."
• The New York–Boston shuttle leaves at 6:30 a.m.
• The shuttle that flies from New York to Boston takes about 35 minutes.

5.      Use an em dash (—), sparingly, in lieu of a comma, semicolon, or colon. Use "Ctrl Alt -" on the PC keyboard for an em dash. Do not put spaces around the em dash.

• There is no substitute for practice—especially in the performing arts.

6.   Use only a single space after periods.

7. Commas - so common, so misunderstood. Too much to summarize here, so consult Purdue Owl for guidance.

Quick Reference for Other Common Questions

Off Broadway (and by extension Off Off Broadway): Capitalize and do not hyphenate when Off Broadway is used as a combined term (adjective or noun). As an adverb use lower case: The play was produced off Broadway.

Who, Whom: In formal writing preserve the distinction. Who is a replacement for he, she, or they. Whom replaces her, him, or them. Examples: She was united with her parents, whom she had never met. (She had never met them.) We know who called 911. (He or she or they called 911.)

New York City, New York State: capitalized, or New York (city) and New York (state)

Avenues: Use numerals for numbered avenues, such as 1st Avenue, 2nd Avenue, etc.

Street names: Use numerals for numbered street names such as 48th street, 14th Street, etc.

Decades/Centuries: No apostrophe before the s in '20s, 1990s, etc. Decades may also be spelled out and in lower case as in the twenties, nineties, etc., but decades with titles should be capitalized as in the Roaring Twenties, the Gay Nineties, etc. 

Comprise/compose: The body comprises many systems. Each system comprises many organs. Comprised of is never correct. You can usually substitute composed of for comprises.