English Language Arts
Grade 11
15 min
Capitalizing titles
Capitalizing titles
What you'll learn
- Identify titles of books, movies, and songs in a sentence and underline them with 80% accuracy.
- Apply capitalization rules to correctly capitalize at least 3 out of 4 given titles of books, movies, or songs.
- Explain why certain words in a title are capitalized and others are not, using examples from at least 2 different titles.
- Correctly rewrite 5 sentences with incorrectly capitalized titles, fixing the capitalization errors in each title.
Tutorial Preview
1
Introduction & Learning Objectives
Learning Objectives
Correctly apply title case capitalization to works of American literature and scholarly articles.
Differentiate between 'major words' and 'minor words' for capitalization purposes.
Properly capitalize the first and last words of any title, regardless of their part of speech.
Apply capitalization rules to hyphenated compounds and subtitles.
Analyze and correct capitalization errors in their own synthesis essays and analytical papers.
Articulate the importance of proper title capitalization for establishing credibility in formal academic contexts like AP exams.
You've just written a brilliant analysis of *The Great Gatsby*, but your title is 'The great gatsby: an exploration of the american dream'. Does that tiny detail un...
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Key Concepts & Vocabulary
TermDefinitionExample
Title CaseThe standard convention for capitalizing titles of works. It involves capitalizing the first and last words, as well as all 'major' words in between.Of Mice and Men
Sentence CaseAn alternative capitalization style where only the first word of the title and any proper nouns are capitalized, as in a regular sentence. This is common in APA style for article titles but less so in MLA.A rose for Emily
Major WordsWords that are capitalized in title case. These include nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.In the title 'The Sun Also Rises,' the words 'Sun,' 'Also,' and 'Rises' are major words.
Minor WordsShort words that are not capitalized in title case unless they are the first or last word. These inclu...
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Key Rules & Conventions
The First and Last Word Rule
Always capitalize the first and last words of a title and subtitle, regardless of their part of speech.
This rule is absolute and serves as the foundational frame for capitalizing any title. Even if the last word is a short preposition like 'to' or 'of', it must be capitalized.
The Major vs. Minor Word Rule
Capitalize all major words (nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs). Do not capitalize minor words (articles, short prepositions, coordinating conjunctions) that fall between the first and last words.
This is the core principle of title case. Identifying the part of speech is key. Note: Some style guides consider prepositions of four or five letters or more to be 'major' (e.g., 'Through,' 'Abou...
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Challenging
A peer in your AP Literature class argues that the title 'Go Tell It on the Mountain' should be 'Go Tell It On The Mountain' because 'On' and 'The' are important words. Based on the tutorial, why is your peer's reasoning flawed?
A.The peer is correct; important words should always be capitalized.
B.The peer's reasoning is flawed because 'importance' is subjective; the rules are based on parts of speech, and 'on' (preposition) and 'the' (article) are minor words.
C.The peer's reasoning is flawed because only words with more than three letters should be capitalized, regardless of importance.
D.The peer's reasoning is flawed because 'Mountain' is the only major word in the title.
Challenging
Synthesize all the capitalization rules to correctly format this fictional, complex title for a scholarly paper: 'the once-and-for-all analysis: what it means to be an american in the twenty-first century'
A.The Once-and-for-all Analysis: What It Means To Be An American In The Twenty-First Century
B.The Once-And-For-All Analysis: What It Means to Be an American in the Twenty-First Century
C.The Once-and-for-All Analysis: What It Means to Be an American in the Twenty-First Century
D.The Once-and-For-All Analysis: what it means to be an American in the twenty-first Century
Challenging
Read the following excerpt from a student's synthesis essay: 'One of the foundational texts for this argument is 'Slouching Towards Bethlehem', a collection of essays by Joan Didion. This work captures the cultural fragmentation of the era.' The student has made one capitalization error in the title. Which option corrects it?
A.slouching towards Bethlehem
B.Slouching towards Bethlehem
C.Slouching Towards bethlehem
D.The title is already correct.
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What grade level is "Capitalizing titles"?
Capitalizing titles is a Grade 11 English Language Arts lesson on ExcelOS.
What will I learn in Capitalizing titles?
You'll be able to: Identify titles of books, movies, and songs in a sentence and underline them with 80% accuracy; Apply capitalization rules to correctly capitalize at least 3 out of 4 given titles of books, movies, or songs; Explain why certain….
Is "Capitalizing titles" free to practice?
Yes. You can read the tutorial preview for free, and signing up for a free ExcelOS account unlocks the full tutorial and all practice questions with instant feedback.
How many practice questions are included with Capitalizing titles?
This lesson includes 25 practice questions across multiple difficulty levels, each with instant feedback and explanations.