How do I handle articles like “the” when alphabetizing titles in my Works Cited list (MLA 8th ed.)?
Alphabetize titles letter by letter, ignoring any initial A, An, or The or the equivalent in other languages. If the title begins with a numeral, alphabetize the title as if the numeral were spelled out. (p.115)
This is necessary when you have multiple titles by one author that need to be alphabetized or when there is no author and the works cited entry begins with a title. For example, if the title is "The Civil War in American Literature," you would ignore the "The" and alphabetize by "Civil."