1. The first word of every sentence.
2. The first-person pronoun, I.
3. The first, last, and important words in a title. ("Important words" usually do not include articles, prepositions, and coordinating conjunctions. This is not true in APA Reference lists (where we capitalize only the first word), nor is it necessarily true for titles in other languages.)
4. Proper nouns
   • Specific persons and things: Bill Clinton, the White House, General Motors Company.
   • Specific geographical locations: Hartford, Connecticut, Africa, Forest Park Zoo, Lake Erie, the Northeast, the Southend. However, we do not capitalize directions or locations that aren't being used as names: the north side of the city; we're heading south this winter.
   • Names of newspapers and journals. Do not, however, capitalize the word the, even when it is part of the newspaper's title: the Hartford Courant.
   • Days of the week, months, holidays. Do not, however, capitalize the names of seasons (spring, summer, fall, autumn, winter). "Next winter, we're traveling south; by spring, we'll be back up north."
   • Historical events: World War I, the Renaissance, the Crusades.
   • Races, nationalities, languages: Swedes, Swedish, African-American, Chinese, French, Native American. (Most writers do not capitalize whites, blacks.)
   • Names of religions and religious terms: God, Christ, Allah, Buddha, Christianity, Christians, Judaism, Jews, Islam, Muslims.
   • Names of specific courses: Economics, Biology 101. (However, we would not capitalize the name of the general subject area: "I'm taking a course in biology this summer.")
   • Brand names: Tide, Maytag, Chevrolet.
5. Names of relationships only when they are a part of or a substitute for a person's name. (Often this means that when there is a modifier, such as a possessive pronoun, in front of such a word, we do not capitalize it.)
   • Let's go visit Grandmother today. Let's go visit my grandmother today.
   • I remember Uncle Arthur. I remember my Uncle Arthur. My uncle is unforgettable.