Punctuation (Jillian Torassa) 1 Reply .comments-link .entry-header At face-value, the intensity with which teachers hit the issue of punctuation may seem futile. After all, there are plenty of famous authors who break the rules all the time. But students do not appreciate the impact that this groan-inspiring word has on written communication with their fellow human beings, and those authors can’t break the rules without first knowing what they are. Students do not realize that punctuation is essential. Don’t believe me? Try living without it. Content is pointless if the meaning is confused or unclear. Punctuation is crucial to clarifying ideas and can be divided into several different marks that range from the most basic, such as the common period, to the more advanced, such as the less-easily-understood colon. With a growing sense of dread the students watched as the chalk screeched over the dark surface of the chalk board morale sank with every letter that Ms Eck wrote on the board first a p then a u by the time the n and c were revealed they knew that they were doomed there was no escaping it was time to learn about the worlds most boring subject punctuation             Not so easy to read, is it? For most native English speakers, it is possible to get the gist of this passage, but its meaning can still be clarified, simplified, and enhanced by adding a few extra marks here and there. While not every possible punctuation mark is represented in this paper, the above paragraph is still a prime example of why we need punctuation. I will share how to fix it. The Period             This is the most rudimentary of punctuation marks, yet it has a myriad of jobs. Not only does it end thoughts, but it also is used to end abbreviations or to follow letters and numbers in outlines or lists. Without a period at the end, a sentence just isn’t a sentence. Thoughts go on and on and there is no way of breaking up flow. Reading a paper with an absence of periods is like listening to a very fast speaker talk on and on without taking a break. It is not only annoying, but also very confusing and tiring. With a growing sense of dread the students watched as the chalk screeched over the dark surface of the chalk board. Morale sank with every letter that Ms. Eck wrote on the board. First a p then a u. By the time the n and c were revealed they knew that they were doomed. There was no escaping it. It was time to learn about the worlds most boring subject punctuation. Compared to the first draft, this makes much more sense. But the above paragraph still leaves much to be desired. Ideas are still unclear. There is another punctuation mark that is almost as elementary as the period, but when used correctly, makes a world of difference. The Apostrophe Take a look at the fifth to last word of our example. Are there multiple worlds? Or does the most boring subject belong to it? The apostrophe is a useful punctuation mark that answers these questions. It is used to show possession. If the most boring subject belonged to multiple worlds, it would look like this: worlds’. If it belonged only to the one world, it would look like this: world’s. This is an easy enough concept to grasp and an easy enough correction to make. But now the meaning of the sentence is clear. With a growing sense of dread the students watched as the chalk screeched over the dark surface of the chalk board. Morale sank with every letter that Ms. Eck wrote on the board. First a p then a u. By the time the n and c were revealed they knew that they were doomed. There was no escaping it. It was time to learn about the world’s most boring subject punctuation. The apostrophe is also used in contractions: “do not” becomes “don’t.” It is not “dont.” “Dont” is not a word, nor is it short for two words. It is simply incorrect. This, however, is not a correction in our example, so I will not say anymore about it here. Now we know that the most boring subject belongs to the world. But what is with all the random letters in the third sentence? That choice of random letters doesn’t make any sense. Not yet, anyway. Quotation Marks Quotation marks are yet another form of punctuation, and they are, like all other marks, used to clarify thoughts and intent. These little marks, which come in pairs surrounding a piece of text, are present to set apart a section of writing for a variety of purposes. The most common of these purposes is to indicate dialogue, but quotation marks also surround slang words, set apart the title of a short written work or a piece of a longer work, and indicate an explicit definition. With quotation marks, the account of Ms. Eck’s class makes even more sense and continues to get easier to read: With a growing sense of dread the students watched as the chalk screeched over the dark surface of the chalk board. Morale sank with every letter that Ms. Eck wrote on the board. First a “p” then a “u”. By the time the “n” and “c” were revealed they knew that they were doomed. There was no escaping it. It was time to learn about the world’s most boring subject punctuation. Now that the purpose of these single letters, such as “p” and “n”, are better understood, the paragraph is approaching grammatically-correct excellence, though there are still some crucial things missing. The next correction we are about to make is not an easy concept for most students. There are many rules to remember and many possible mistakes to make, but when mastered, this piece of punctuation is the most useful mark in writing. The Comma Arguably, the comma is the most frequently used punctuation mark in the English language. It is used to show a pause, a list, an introductory phrase…the list goes on and on. Commas make the written word more interesting. Imagine that all of the sentences in the world had the same structure. That would get very boring to read. There is no variance in length. There is no variance in construction. Every sentence would be simple. How boring! What happens when we add commas to our writing? Suddenly, the reader is more interested in what is being said. We can combine simple sentences, and there is variety. Not only have our sentences become more diverse, bur also we can now make a list here, and we can have an introductory phrase there. These add emphasis and further help make a point. Above all, though, commas clarify our ideas. With a growing sense of dread, the students watched as the chalk screeched over the dark surface of the chalk board. Morale sank with every letter that Ms. Eck wrote on the board. First a “p” then a “u”. By the time the “n” and “c” were revealed, they knew that they were doomed. There was no escaping it. It was time to learn about the world’s most boring subject punctuation. Suddenly, we start to really understand this paragraph. The general idea has always been apparent, but we can now read it more easily. Introductory phrases can be read as they are supposed to be read rather than as the beginning of another simply-structured sentence. But why did we not put a comma after the word “subject” in the last sentence? Ah ha! This is one of the “comma traps” most people are prone to fall into. A comma here would not be correct, but the sentence still feels awkward. Have no fear! We can fix it yet! The Colon The colon is one of the most sophisticated marks of punctuation. Its function often seems incomprehensible and is shied away from, but it can be very handy once it is understood. It can be used to create lists, to indicate a quotation, and to separate two independent clauses. Mostly, it is used to attract attention to an idea and to add emphasis. In this case, a colon follows a label that identifies “the world’s most boring subject.” With a growing sense of dread, the students watched as the chalk screeched over the dark surface of the chalk board. Morale sank with every letter that Ms. Eck wrote on the board. First a “p” then a “u”. By the time the “n” and “c” were revealed, they knew that they were doomed. There was no escaping it. It was time to learn about the world’s most boring subject: punctuation. Now, the paragraph is perfect. Finally, our little story is properly punctuated. It makes so much more sense now. It feels right. With a growing sense of dread, the students watched as the chalk screeched over the dark surface of the chalk board. Morale sank with every letter that Ms. Eck wrote on the board. First a “p” then a “u”. By the time the “n” and “c” were revealed, they knew that they were doomed. There was no escaping it. It was time to learn about the world’s most boring subject: punctuation. After a long and boring lesson, the students finally made it out to recess. “That was dumb,” said little Susie. . “Yeah. Like we’re ever going to have to use any of that!” agreed Quentin. Mary scowled in defiance. “Punctuation is awesome, you dummy-head! You’ll see…someday you’ll wish you had listened during that lesson.”  JT