Punctuation

Now I must go and get on my lover.

What is punctuation?

• Stitching that holds fabric of language together.• Principles: Directs you how to read, in the way musical

notation directs a musician how to play.• Rules:Traffic signals of language: tells us to slow down, stop,

detour…• Respect: Courtesy designed to help readers understand a

story without stumbling.– Good manners are invisible: they ease the way for others, without

drawing attention to themselves.

Punctuation is to writing as religion is to morality:it can change everything.

Isaiah 40: 3The voice of him that crieth

in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord.

The voice of him that crieth: In the wildernessprepare ye the way of the Lord.

Casualties in casualness A woman, without her man, is nothing.A woman: without her, man is nothing.

Luke, xxiii, 43

“Verily I say unto thee this day, Thou shalt be with me in Paradise.”Catholic interpretation promises Paradise at some later date and leaves Purgatory in the picture for Catholics, who believe in it.

“Verily, I say unto thee, This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise.”Protestant interpretation skips over unpleasant business of Purgatory and takes the crucified thief straight to heaven with Our Lord.

Casualties in casualnessIn the romantic age

Dear John,I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful.People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we are apart. I can be forever happy – will you let me be yours?

Denise

Dear John,I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you.Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men I yearn! For you I have no feelings whatsoever. When we are apart I can be forever happy.Will you let me be?Yours,Denise

An important period (.) in history

Jameson Raid on the Transvaal (1896)

It is under these circumstances that we feel constrained to call upon you to come to our aid should a disturbance arise here the circumstances are so extreme that we cannot but believe that you and the men under you will not fail to come to the rescue of people who are so situated.

• to our aid. = Come at once!• …disturbances arise here. = We

might need you at some later date depending on what happens here, but in the mean time –don’t call us, Jameson, old boy; we’ll call you.

• Newspaper put period in the wrong place and Jameson charged in unneeded, unannounced and unwanted.

Principles vs. Rules

• Rules: In some matters of punctuation there are simple rights and wrongs.

• Principles: In others, one must apply a good ear to good sense.

ApostropheAm I looking at my dinner or the dog’s?Am I looking at my dinner or the dogs?

It’s = it is or it hasWrong: Good writing at it’s best.

Right: Good writing at its best.

Who’s = who is or who hasWrong: Who’s hat is this?

Right: Whose hat is this?

Plural of words:What are the do’s and don’t’s?

There are too many but’s and and’s in your sentences.

Indicates a…possessive noun:– Student’s term paper

– Students’ term paper

– The women’s movement

time or quantity:– In one week’s time

– Two weeks’ notice

– Four meters’ worth

CommaWhat’s this thing love? What’s this thing, love?

• To illuminate the grammar of a sentence.• To point up – rather in the manner of musical notation – such literary qualities as

rhythm, direction, pitch, tone and flow.• If only we hadn’t started reading quietly to ourselves.

– A comma meant “a piece cut off” for actors – Aristophanes (200 BC)– 500 years later it was a breathing pause for the Bible – St. Jerome 4th C.

“Comfort ye my people”(please go out and comfort my people)

“Comfort ye, my people”(just cheer up, you lot; it might never happen)

There was NO punctuation in those ancient languages (Hebrew and Aramaic)

For considerable period in Latin transcriptions there were no gaps between words.

“Go, get him surgeons.”

“Go get him, surgeons.”

William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act I

• Typeface invented – 15th C• Today, books are for reading not intoning• Commas are fewer

Jones flung himself at his benefactor’s feet, and taking eagerly hold of his hand, assured him, his goodness to him, both now, and at all other times, had so infinitely exceeded not only his merit, but his hopes, that no words could express his sense of it.

Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, 1749

• Peter Carey’s True History of the Kelly Gang won the 2001 Booker Prize, and it didn’t have one comma.

• Editors vary, nevertheless…

Six Comma Rules

1. For a list of three or more words: The comma is correct if it can be replaced by the word and or or.

2. For joining an independent clause, using such conjunctions as and, or, but, while, which and yet (but not however and nevertheless).

3. Abbreviations etc., i.e., and e.g., are parenthetical and should be punctuated accordingly.The assignment, i.e., revising your second draft, is due today.

4. Before direct speechWarner (1982) said, “Any job not worth doing is not worth doing well.”

5. To bracket additional informationI forgot, of course, the page number in citation.

When to Use a Comma After Introductions

Introductory elements often require a comma, but not always. Use a comma in the following cases:

• After an introductory clause. (Does the introductory element have a subject and verb of its own?)

• After a long introductory prepositional phrase or more than one introductory prepositional phrase. (Are there more than five words before the main clause?)

• If there is a distinct pause. (When you read the sentence aloud, do you find your voice pausing a moment after the introductory element?) to avoid confusion. (Might a reader have to read the sentence more than once to make sense of it?)

When NOT to Use a Comma After Introductions

• After a brief prepositional phrase. (Is it a single phrase of less than five words?)

• To separate the subject from the predicate, e.g.:Preparing and submitting his report to the committee for evaluation and possible publication[x] was one of the most difficult tasks Bill had ever attempted.

To start a new business without doing market research and long-term planning in advance[x] would be foolish.

Extracting the most profit for the least expenditure on labor and materials[x] is the primary goal of a capitalist.

Appositives?

• An appositive is a noun or pronoun beside another noun or pronoun to explain or identify it.

• Place commas if the sentence would be clear and complete without the appositive.

John Kennedy, the popular US president, was known for his inspirational speeches.

The appositive is not essential information. Without it the sentence would be, "John Kennedy was known for his inspirational speeches." We still know who the subject of the sentence is without the appositive.

• Do not place commas when the appositive is essential to the meaning of the sentence.

The popular US president John Kennedy was known for his inspirational speeches.

Here we do not put commas around the appositive, because it is essential information. Without the appositive, the sentence would be, "The popular US president was known for his inspirational speeches." We wouldn't know which president was being referred to.

• Think context

My son, Peter, is 26 years old.

My son Peter is 26 years old.

Rule 6 Don’t use commas like a stupid person.

No dogs pleaseAn indefensible generalization, since many dogs do please.

The professor walked on his head, a little higher than usual.Comma should be after “on”.

The driver managed to escape from the truck before it sank

and swam to the river-bank.Comma after “sank”; otherwise, the vehicle swam to the river-bank.

Don’t guess, use a timer or a watch.Conveys the opposite of its intended meaning. What it appears to say is, “Don’t’ guess, or use a

timer or a watch,” but it only tells you not to guess. It therefore requires a semicolon or even a period after “guess”, rather than a comma.

The student said the professor is stupid.Makes sense – unless what’s intended is: The student, said the professor, is stupid.

Colons and Semicolons

• Non-writers are wary of both the colon (:) and semicolon (;).

• “Using colons in your writing is the equivalent of playing the piano with crossed hands.” You Have a Point There, E. Partridge (1953).

• So why use them?

They are optional.

They are old-fashioned.

They are dangerously addictive.

They are mysteriously connected to pausing.

The difference between them is too negligible to understand.

Semicolon ; Principles

• Clause = noun and verb

• Phrase = two or more words used without a verb

• If you join two or more clauses without a conjunction...– It is 12:10; I cannot reach class in time.

You could write– It is 12:10. I cannot reach class in time.

– It is 12:10, and I cannot reach class in time.

But you miss the emphasis on relationship.

• If second clause is preceded by an adverb, such as accordingly, consequently, besides, then, therefore, or thus, and not by a conjunction, then use a semicolon.

– I had never written a term paper before; besides, I did not have enough time.

– You do not have an outline; consequently, your paper lacks coherent structure.

Colon : Principles• For joining two independent clauses:

– A colon is nearly always preceded by a complete sentence.

– The second independent clause interprets or amplifies the first.

There was a directness about the burial: there was no stopover at the funeral home, no wreath, no spray.

• Serves as a fulcrum between oppositional statements:

Man proposes: God disposes.

• To introduce long quotations, e.g., three lines of text.

• To start a list or pull up the reader for a nice surprise:

I find fault with only three things in your paper: the beginning, the middle and the end.

• They set off book and film sub-titles from the main titles:

Gandhi II: The Mahatma Strikes Back.

Do not do the following:

• Separate a verb from its complement:

Wrong

A serious writer requires: paper, pen, and a dictionary.

Right

A serious writer requires three props:paper, pen, and a dictionary.

• Separate a preposition from its object:

Wrong

Good writing results from: theory, practice, discipline and considerable time.

Right

Good writing results from theory, practice,

discipline and considerable time.

Sense the change with punctuation

1. Per locked himself in the shed.Norway lost to Sweden.

2. Per locked himself in the shed;Norway lost to Sweden.

3. Per locked himself in the shed:Norway lost to Sweden.

1. These two statements, as they stand, could be unrelated. They merely tell you two things that have happened, in the past.

2. We can infer from the semicolon that these events occurred at the same time, but we don’t know why.

3. All is now clear. Per locked himself in the shed because Norway lost to Sweden. Or does the colon introduce surprise? That is, Norway lost to Sweden because Per locked himself in the shed.

Texting vs. Writing

Emotion + icon = Emoticon

:-) =

:-( = :-c = very unhappy

: ~/ = mixed up

<:-) = dunce (stupid)

:-[ = pout

:-o = surprise

:-r = doubt

:-D = laughing

:-I = bored

:-/ = skeptical

Precision + punctuation = Style

( ) = to clarifyWarner (1997) notes…

= for authorial asidesObama was blamed for the oil spill (isn’t that

interesting?).

[ ] = sic (Latin sicut = just as)“ The Time’s [sic] reports…”

… = words missingAfter the review… the paper was graded.

= trail offHe swept her into his arms. She was powerless to resist.

All she knew, she loved him…

Dash – vs. Hyphen -

Dash – from dasshen = to knock, to hurl, to break

More distinct than ()• He was (I still can’t believe this) trying

to climb in the window.

Suppresses the interjection .

• He was – I still can’t believe this! –trying to climb in the window.

Interjection stands on its own.

Stronger than a commaThe axel began to make a noise – a grinding, chattering, teeth-gritting rasp.

Hyphen means join-together1. To avoid ambiguity

A re-formed rock band

A reformed rock band

A small-woodlot owner

A small woodlot-owner

2. Spell out numbersthirty-two, ninety-five

3. Link nouns with nounsOslo-Bergen train

4. Certain prefixesUn-American, anti-Apartheid

5. Avoid letter confusionDeice – de-ice

Shelllike – shell-like

Numbers

• One-digit numbers should be spelled out: nine percent

• Two or more digit numbers should be numerals: 13 percent

• If both are in a sentence, use only numerals: 9 and 13 percent

• Use numerals with abbreviated units of measure: 3%

• Use a full stop for decimal points, not a comma: 21.9, not 21,9

• Do not start a sentence with a numeral. Either reword the sentence or spell out the number and unit of measurement:

• The economic growth (3%) was significant.

• Three percent economic growth was significant.