The Homecoming Bonfire

[ADLER]

What time is the bonfire expected to be lit? I would like to take my daughter since she has never been to a bonfire, but she can't be out too late.

I really think she would like the North Texas Homecoming Bonfire.

(in parts of the world that have indoor plumbing and electricity, articles like 'a' and 'the' directly precede bonfire, formal, and prom. You may also capitalize them if you are using them as a proper noun for a specific event; the Christmas Formal, the Senior Prom, the Homecoming Bonfire.

Using the word without a corresponding article implies that someone is a rural person trying to make an event somehow sound more important.)

[Bryan316]

http://www.unt.edu/development/homecoming2007/schedule.html

[ADLER]

Thank you.

[Smitty]

What time is the bonfire expected to be lit? I would like to take my daughter since she has never been to a bonfire, but she can't be out too late.

I really think she would like the North Texas Homecoming Bonfire.

(in parts of the world that have indoor plumbing and electricity, articles like 'a' and 'the' directly precede bonfire, formal, and prom. You may also capitalize them if you are using them as a proper noun for a specific event; the Christmas Formal, the Senior Prom, the Homecoming Bonfire.

Using the word without a corresponding article implies that someone is a rural person trying to make an event somehow sound more important.)

Actually, I don't believe you would capitalize something like "Senior Prom" unless that is the event's formal title. And if it is a formal title, like "Senior Prom," then the article "the" would not necessarily precede it, in the same way you would refer to a book or movie title.

For example: "Adler is watching Citizen Kane." As opposed to saying: "Adler is watching the Citizen Kane." In the second example, "the" is awkward and not necessary. It becomes more obvious when the word "the" is part of the formal title. Example: "Adler is watching the The War of the Worlds."

So, if the formal title of the North Texas homecoming bonfire is "Bonfire," then it would be properly referred to as simply Bonfire, capitalized but with no preceding article. If it is not an official title, then it would be "the bonfire," with the article but with no capitalization - whether you're in an urban or rural setting.

[ADLER]

Smitty, you seem determined to not let anyone silence the banjos for Clarice.

Your analogy is incorrect. If Smitty said "I am going to movie", it would be understood that Smitty was probably stating that is going to a movie but that he was speaking in an agricultural dialect.

The movie may be very important to Smitty, but movie would not become a proper noun no matter how emphatic he is about the subject.