TJ, The following is from Wikipedia < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colon_%28punctuation%29>: Use of capitalization or lower-case after a colon varies. In British English<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_English>, the word following the colon is in lower case unless it is a proper noun or an acronym, or if it is normally capitalized for some other reason. However, in American English <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_English>, many writers capitalize the word following a colon if it begins an independent clause (i.e., a complete sentence). This follows the guidelines of some modern American style guides, including those published by the Associated Press <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associated_Press> and the Modern Language Association<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Language_Association>. The Chicago Manual of Style<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chicago_Manual_of_Style> , <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colon_%28punctuation%29#cite_note-4>however, requires capitalization only when the colon introduces a direct quotation or two or more complete sentences.<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colon_%28punctuation%29#cite_note-5> On Sun, Dec 18, 2011 at 9:37 PM, tjray <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > I have been asked whether the first letter following a colon should be > capitalized. My response was > that if the clause preceding the colon clearly introduces a multi-sentence > response then the first letter of > the first sentence following the colon should be capitalized. In other > cases, even if the words following > the colon constitute an independent clause, the first letter need not be > capitalized. > > I'd appreciate better ways to respond to this student's question. > > tj > ------------------------------ > >> >> * >> * >> ------------------------------ >> * >> * >> > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web > interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select > "Join or leave the list" > > Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/