In nonfiction, what is a 'caption' and how does it help comprehension?

• A. A caption is a biography of the author
• B. A caption explains a graphic or image and connects it to the text
• C. A caption is a footnote with unrelated data
• D. A caption is a title only

Answer: (B)

Captions are short explanations that accompany images, diagrams, or graphics in nonfiction. They help comprehension by providing immediate context for what you’re seeing, showing how the visual connects to the surrounding text, and often including details like who, what, where, when, or why. This makes the image meaningful on its own and demonstrates how it supports the main ideas, which helps you interpret data, illustrations, or photographs more accurately. Captions also aid recall and are especially useful when you skim a page, because they summarize the image’s purpose and relationship to the material. The other options don’t fit—captions aren’t biographies, footnotes with unrelated data, or just titles.