IX. Capitalization

Most students know to capitalize the first letter of the first word in every sentence.  Here are some other capitalization rules to jog your memory.

A) Reproduce capitalization in a quoted passage.

Capitalize the first word of quoted material when you lead into the quote with an explanatory phrase:

For example:

According to Dan Steele, "All of the workers will be laid off by Tuesday."

BUT...  If the quotation blends with the structure of your own sentence, there is no need to capitalize the first word of the quote.

For example:

Severson claims that the workers "will be paid compensation benefits."

B) Capitalize words of significance in a title. 

Capitalize all words of significance in the titles of books, periodicals, and art works.  Do not capitalize articles (a, an, the), conjunctions (and, but, or), or prepositions of four or fewer letters, unless they are the first or last words of the title.

For example:

War and Peace            The Great Gatsby        Much Ado About Nothing       

C) Capitalize the first word in every line of poetry

Note: Some contemporary poets (like e.e. cummings) do not use capitals.  Retain the style the poet uses.

D) Capitalize names or people or groups of people.

For example:

Arthur Ashe        Meg Ryan        Republicans        Democrats

Only capitalize names of family relations when used with a person's proper name:

Grandpa Leon      grandpa           Aunt Phyllis     aunt

E) Capitalize religions and religious titles and names.

For example:

Judaism       God       Protestant       Buddha       the Bible       Muslim       Catholic       the Koran      

F) Capitalize names of nations, nationalities, and languages.

For example:

Germany        Native American         Japanese        Asian American        French        Swahili       

G) Capitalize places and regions (designated by points on a compass) when they function as nouns and refer to a particular place in the country and not to a direction.

For example:

the Rockies        the Great Lakes        the Mid-Atlantic        the cold Northwest        I was driving northwest.

H) Capitalize titles of distinction.

For example:     

Secretary of State        President Kennedy        Prime Minister Thatcher       Governor Doyle

Dr. Roth         J. W. Moellendorf, D.C.     Margaret Reid, Ph.D.        Jack Wilson, Sr.   Jack Wilson, Jr.