Dear Comrade:

We are beginning with this lesson the study of the use of capitals and of punctuation. The use of capitals as well as punctuation has nothing to do with our spoken words, but both are very important in our written language.

There is nothing that will mark us as uneducated more quickly than bad spelling, faulty punctuation and the incorrect use of capitals.

The rules for the use of capitals may seem somewhat arbitrary. After an understanding of them, however, you will discover that they are not arbitrary, but are based upon a single principle. The word which is of the most importance, or which should receive the most emphasis is the word which is capitalized, as for example, the principal words in a title, the first words in a sentence, proper names, etc.

Study these rules carefully, note the use of the capitals in your reading and watch your written language carefully for a time. Soon the proper use of capitals will seem easy and most natural. In the meantime do not fail to keep up your study of words. Add at least one word to your vocabulary every day.

Did you ever consider how we think in pictures? Nearly every word that we use calls up a certain image or picture in our minds. The content of words has grown and developed as our ability to think has developed.

Take, for example, words like head or hand. Head originally referred to a portion of the body of a living thing; then it was used to refer to some part of an inanimate object which might resemble or call up a picture of an animal's head, for example, the head of a pin. Again, it was used to refer to some part of an inanimate thing which was associated with the head of a human being, as the head of the bed. Then, by the power of association, since the head was considered the most conspicuous and important part of the body, that which was most conspicuous and important was called the head, as the head of the army, the head of the nation.

Then, since the head was the seat of the brain and of the mental faculties, the head was often used instead of the brain or mental faculties. We speak of a clear head or a cool head. Thus we have a number of idiomatic expressions. We may speak of the head of the river; or the subject matter was divided under four heads; or again, the matter came to a head; he is head and ears in debt; we cannot make head against the opposition, etc.

This transfer of our ideas from the physical to the mental and spiritual marks vividly the growth of the language and the development of thought. Trace the words like hands, arm, foot, eye, tongue, in their use, first as physical then as mental or spiritual.

This will be the most interesting pastime and will enlarge the content of the words which you use.

Yours for Education,

THE PEOPLE'S COLLEGE.

CAPITAL LETTERS

464. In our written speech we often display our lack of education by our use of capital letters and punctuation. We may understand the use of words and be able to speak fairly well, but if we do not understand the proper use of capitals and of punctuation marks, our written language readily betrays our ignorance.

465. There are a number of rules for the use of capitals which we must observe. Some of the writers in our magazines defy these rules of capitalization, in an effort to seem different from other people, perhaps. These rules for the use of capital letters, like all other rules, are not arbitrary rules laid down by any body of men, but are simply a statement of accepted usage among people. We should not feel that we should say this or that or we are violating a rule of grammar. We should feel rather that the majority of the people who speak and write good English do thus, and so, for this reason, I shall do it also.

This is simply obeying the standard of majority rule. If there is any good and sufficient reason why we feel this should not be a rule, we may be justified in breaking it and making a new rule. Many people feel that our spelling should be simplified and so they insist upon spelling certain words in a more simple way. They feel that they have good and sufficient reason for insisting upon this change and gradually if these reasons appeal to the majority as being good and sufficient reasons, then this simplified mode of spelling will become the accepted usage.

But there seems no good reason why any writer should scatter capital letters with a lavish hand throughout his writing. One feels as though a writer in so doing is expressing his desire to be different, in a very superficial manner. Let us be unique and individual in our thought. If this forces us to a different mode of living or of expression from the rest of the world, then we are justified in being different from the rest. We have thought and reason behind our action. This is far different from the attitude of one who poses as a radical and whose only protest is in the superficial external things. So let us learn and observe these rules for the use of capital letters.

RULES FOR THE USE OF CAPITAL LETTERS

466. Use a capital for the first word of every sentence.

When you begin a new sentence always begin that sentence with a capital letter. Each sentence is a statement of a complete thought and is independent of every other sentence. The use of the capital letter indicates this independence and calls attention to the fact that you are beginning a new thought.

467. Begin every line of poetry with a capital letter. Sometimes in poetry, the line is too long to be printed on a single line and must be carried over into another line; in this case, the first word of the second line does not begin with a capital letter.

468. Use a capital for every proper noun. This includes names of persons, countries, states, towns, cities, streets and geographical names, as the names of seas, lakes, mountains, rivers, etc. 469. The words North, South, East and West are capitalized when they are used to refer to geographical divisions. When these words simply refer to the points of the compass, they should not begin with a capital.

470. The pronoun I and the interjection O should always be capitals. Never write the pronoun I with a small i.

471. Every proper adjective should begin with a capital letter. Proper adjectives are adjectives derived from proper nouns. For example: the Marxian philosophy, the Darwinian theory, Indian money, Japanese labor, etc.

472. Always begin the names of the months and the days of the week with capital letters. For example: January, February, August, Monday, Tuesday, Friday, etc.

473. Use a capital letter for every name or title of the Deity. For example: God, Jehovah, Christ, Jesus, etc. It is also customary to capitalize all personal pronouns referring to God or Christ.

474. Begin with a capital letter names of all religious sects and political parties, also all adjectives derived from them. As for example: Christian Church, Methodism, Republican Party, Mohammedan, Socialist, etc.

475. Begin the names of all things spoken of as persons with a capital. In poetry or poetic prose we often speak of war, fame, death, hope, fancy, liberty, etc., as persons. Whenever these words are used in this way they should begin with a capital letter.

476. Use capital letters to begin important words in the title of a book or the subject of a composition. In titles the nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs should begin with a capital, while the prepositions and conjunctions should begin with small letters. The articles, the, a and an are not capitalized unless they are the initial word in the title.

477. Use a capital to begin every direct quotation. The first word of an indirect quotation should begin with a small letter. A direct quotation is one which uses the exact words of the speaker. For example: He said, "I will come." This is a direct quotation, but He said that he would come, is an indirect quotation.

478. Use a capital to begin an important statement or to ask a question. For example: Resolved; That the United States should democratize war. The question is, Shall the people determine the question of war?

479. Use capitals for the chief items of any enumeration of particulars. For example;

480. Begin the words indicating titles of offices and honor with a capital. For example, President Wilson, Doctor Smith, Professor Locke. When you use a title of this kind as a general term, that is, not indicating any particular person, do not use a capital. As for example: The society has had several presidents. But if you use the title to take the place of the person's name, for example: The President read the message to Congress, always use a capital.

481. Use capitals for the titles at the beginning of a letter or in written composition and in direct address. For example: My dear Father, My dear Mother, My dear Comrade, Dear Aunt Emma, Dear Friend, Dear Fellow Workers, etc. Also in conversation.

• Are you coming with me, Mother?
• What did the Doctor say, Comrade Smith?

When these words are not used in direct address, however, they should not be capitalized. For example, at the close of a letter you would write:

• Your sincere friend.
• Your loving brother.

Or in conversation:

• I asked my mother to go with me.
• My brother wrote me concerning the matter.

482. Begin the names of important buildings and localities with a capital. For example:

• Public Library, High School, The East Side, The Union Square, Central Market, etc.

These words used in a general sense, however, should not begin with a capital letter. For example:

• Our public libraries, our high schools, jails, prisons, post offices, etc.

483. The words state and territory, when they refer to particular divisions of the country, should be capitalized. For example:

• The State of New York, The Territory of Alaska, The French Government, etc.

State and government are also capitalized when they are used in place of proper names. For example:

• The State is based on exploitation.
• The Government has issued an edict of war.

We do not use a capital in such expressions as:

• Church and state, state affairs; they occupy a large territory, etc.

484. In directing letters or other matter for the mail, capitalize all words except prepositions, conjunctions or articles. These should be capitalized only when they begin a line.

Exercise 1

Draw a line under each word in the following that should be begun with a capital:

john joffre, lake michigan, day, thursday, friday, spring, august, december, germany, country, france, man, jones, smith, doctor, doctor george, professor moore, girl, mary, susan, methodist, mohammedan, church, party, republican party, socialist, company, national electric light company, river, mississippi river, the red river, essex county, state of illinois, iowa, railway, new york, new york central railway, the french revolution, novel, the sea wolf, poem, arrows in the gale, american.

Exercise 2

Notice carefully the following quotations and sentences and capitalize every word that should begin with a capital letter.

1. iron, the twin brother of fire, the first born out of the matrix of the earth, a witness everlasting to the glory of thy labor, am i, o man.
2. therefore i say unto you, banish fear from your hearts.
3. but ye, plebs, populists, people, rebels, mob, proletariat, live and abide forever.
4. and they came here from all parts of the earth, the syrians and the armenians, the thracians and the tartars, the jews, the greeks and the romans, the gauls and the angles and the huns and the hibernians, even from the deserts of the sands to the deserts of ice they came to listen unto his words.
5. marx and engels wrote the communist manifesto.
6. its closing words are; working men of all countries unite.
7. italy was the last of the great powers of europe to become involved in the war.
8. john randolph submitted an amendment to the constitution providing that the judges of the supreme court of the united states shall be removed by the president on the joint address of both houses of congress.
9. eugene v. debs spent six months in woodstock jail for exercising his right of free speech.
10. col. the abbreviation for colorado, is easily confused with cal. the abbreviation for california.
11. the people's college is a college maintained by the working class.
12. william jennings bryan won his first nomination for president of the united states by a very dramatic speech delivered in the national democratic convention.
13. marion craig wentworth, a socialist playwright, has written a play called "war brides."
14. the play closes with these words; a message to the emperor: i refuse to bear my child until you promise there shall be no more war.
15. olive schreiner's "woman and labor" is full of fascinating thought.

Exercise 3

Notice carefully the use of capitals in the following quotations, and determine the reason for the use of every capital:

As the nobles of England wrung their independence from King John, and as the tradesmen of France broke through the ring of privilege enclosing the Three Estates; so today the millions who serve society in arduous labor on the highways, and aloft on the scaffoldings, and by the sides of the whirring machines, are demanding that they, too, and their children, shall enjoy all of the blessings that justify and make beautiful this life.—Frank Walsh.

"The toad beneath the harrow knows

Exactly where the tooth-point goes.

The butterfly beside the road

Doth preach contentment to that toad."