1. I laugh. Don't laugh, I tell myself. Think of tomorrow's math test. That works. I sit quietly.

Question

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In the book, 'Don't laugh' is in italic type.
In the book 'Think of tomorrow's math test.'is in italic type.
In that case, what is the role the sentences in italic type?
To emphasize 'Don't laugh', was it inverted?

Answer 1

The italicized words are what the speaker is thinking or saying to himself. We would not italicize them. I would put them in quotation marks. Italics are for emphasis. To use the italics is acceptable, but the quotation marks should also be there.