One of the first language conventions you learned was probably the need for a capital letter at the beginning of a sentence. Soon after, you were taught to capitalize proper nouns and titles. Writers of all types generally follow these rules faithfully. However, some authors--and especially some poets--choose to defy convention and use capitalization as a literary device.
More Capitals
No Capitals
To understand how capital letters can be used to create a specific effect, consider how a capital letter affects a word. In a general sense, capital letters show the importance or uniqueness of a word, especially if the word is written in all capital letters. Words written in "all caps" convey strong emotion. The point of Rudyard Kipling's poem "If" is to provide advice to a boy (the "you" in the poem) about how to become a man. As you read this excerpt from the poem, notice which words the author chose to capitalize--other than the first word of each line, which was a convention of poetry-writing during Kipling's time.
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream--and not make dreams your master;
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;
What do you notice about Kipling’s use of capital letters? Answer the questions in the following table to evaluate his use of capital letters. After answering each question, compare your answer to the responses provided.
| Besides the first word in each line, what other words are capitalized? | Triumph, Disaster |
| Why are these words capitalized? How would the poem be different if these words were lowercase? | Capitalizing these words creates two effects: It gives the words a sense of importance, and it also personifies the ideas behind them. In other words, it makes "triumph" and "disaster" into people that the "you" in the poem might meet. The overall effect of capitalizing these words is to emphasize their significance in the life of a boy who is trying to grow up to be a good man. |
Are you beginning to see how authors and poets may use capital letters to emphasize words and focus the reader’s attention? Some contemporary poets take a very different approach--they use no capital letters at all. Several examples of poems like this can be found in the poetry anthology Poetry Speaks Who I Am, which you have read for other lessons in this course. Find and read the three poems listed below.
What was your initial reaction to reading poems like these? Did you notice the missing capital letters as you read each poem? If so, how did it affect you as a reader? Use the questions below to examine how the lack of capital letters can affect the tone and mood of a poem.
| What is the point or main idea of Lucille Clifton's poem "wont you celebrate with me"? | The speaker wants to celebrate the fact that she has survived danger and tragedy even though she belongs to parts of society that have been oppressed, discounted, or discriminated against. |
| If capitalizing a word makes it seem important, what does the lack of capital letters in Clifton's poem suggest? | The speaker's words are considered unimportant, at least by the society she lives in. She is considered "small" and unimportant, but the poem demonstrates that she is strong and fierce nonetheless. |
| In "A Small Poem" by Calvin Forbes, what is small--besides all the words and letters? How does the absence of capital letters add to the poem's meaning? |
The lines are short, and the subject of the poem--the son--is a child looking up to his father. The lack of capitalized words helps remind readers that the poem is about a son's feelings for his father, who seems "bigger than life" to him. |
| The poem "So Far" uses capital letters in a unique way. How would you describe Naomi Shihab Nye's approach ? | Only the words of posted signs or "notices" are capitalized--in all caps. The words uttered by the poem's speaker are like whispers or prayers spoken by the speaker or the pets' owners but not revealed on the signs. The lowercase text is the message behind the signs. |
