Why does the MLA capitalize certain words in titles?
MLA style’s rules for capitalization are intended to help authors remain consistent while also respecting the ways in which titles have traditionally been styled in… Read More
Posts related to capitalization
Can I silently change the initial capital letter in a quotation to fit the quotation syntactically into my sentence?
No. As the MLA Handbook advises, “Unless indicated in square brackets or parentheses, changes must not be made in the spelling, capitalization, or interior punctuation of… Read More
How do I style the names of centuries in MLA style?
MLA style spells out the names of centuries in prose and in titles of English-language works, even when the title page uses a numeral: Queen… Read More
Do I capitalize the names of dog breeds?
Do not routinely capitalize the names of dog breeds. Many breed names are composed of proper nouns that you capitalize and generic terms (like retriever… Read More
How should I style a direct question contained in a sentence?
If a direct question contained in a sentence is long or has internal punctuation, set the question off with a comma and begin it with a capital… Read More
How do I cite a name like Queen Elizabeth I, John of Gaunt, and Catherine of Aragon?
Use the first name. Some categories of personal names lack a last name–for example, some rulers and members of the nobility and many premodern people, whose name… Read More
Should I capitalize the names of movements such as modernism?
A modern editorial style keeps capitalization to a minimum. In MLA style, a movement or school of thought is only capitalized when it could be confused… Read More
Celebrate the New Year in (MLA) Style
Should you write, “Happy New Year,” “Happy new year,” or “Happy New Year’s”? . . . Read More
When multivolume works label individual volumes with letters instead of numerals, should the letters be capitalized or lowercased?
In our house style, we capitalize the letter in lettered volumes: The Longman Anthology of World Literature. Edited by Jane Tylus and David Damrosch, vol. C,… Read More
Why is the label before a contributor’s name sometimes capitalized and sometimes lowercase in MLA works-cited-list entries?
Whether the label before a contributor’s name–for example, edited by or translated by–is capitalized or lowercase depends on its position in the MLA format template. In the following… Read More