Punctuation

Now I must go and get on my lover.

Punctuation 1. Why punctuation is important 2. Principles versus rules 3. Basic rules

What is punctuation? • Principles: Directs you how to read, in the way musical notation directs a musician how to play. • Rules: Traffic signals of language: slow down, stop, detour… • Respect – Courtesy: 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: 3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord. The voice of him that crieth: In the wilderness prepare 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.”

“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.

Protestant interpretation skips over unpleasant business of Purgatory and takes the crucified thief straight to heaven with Our Lord.

Casualties in casualness In 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.

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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.

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

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

It’s = it is or it has Wrong: Good writing at it’s best. Right: Good writing at its best.

Who’s = who is or who has

– The women’s movement

Wrong: Who’s hat is this? Right: Whose hat is this?

time or quantity:

Plural of words:

– In one week’s time – Two weeks’ notice – Four meters’ worth

What are the do’s and don’t’s? There are too many but’s and and’s in your sentences.

Comma What’s this thing love? What’s this thing, love? • • •

To illuminate the grammar of a sentence. To direct literary qualities: rhythm, direction, tone, flow Original: “a piece cut off” for actors – Aristophanes (200 BC)

“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)

“Go, get him surgeons.” “Go get him, surgeons.” William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act I

• 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

• 2001 Booker Prize – not one comma • Editors vary

6 Comma Rules 1. List of three or more words: replaces

and, or 2. Join an independent clause with and, or, but, while, which, yet (generally not with however and nevertheless) 3. Parenthetical abbreviations etc., i.e. (that is), e.g. (for example) The assignment, i.e., revising your second draft, is due today. 4. Before direct speech I said, “Any job not worth doing is not worth doing well.” 5. To bracket additional information I ignored, of course, the irrelevant details.

Rule 6 Don’t use commas like a stupid person. No dogs please An 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 was stupid. Makes sense – unless what’s intended is, The student, said the professor, was stupid.

Comma After Introductions Introductory elements often require a comma, but not always. • Introductory clause (subject and verb) • Long introductory prepositional phrase (more than 5 words) • Distinct pause – When you read aloud, do you pause a moment to avoid confusion? – Might one have to read the sentence twice to make sense of it?

Do NOT Use a Comma[,] to separate the subject from the predicate, e.g.: Submitting his assignment to Fronter on time for evaluation [,] was one of the most difficult tasks Bill had ever attempted. Extracting the most profit for the least expenditure on labor and materials[,] is the primary goal of a capitalist. To start an argumentative paper without evidence and outlining in advance[,] would be foolish.

Commas with extra, unnecessary, information •

Appositive: noun or pronoun explains adjoining noun or pronoun

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Commas if the appositive adds extra information.

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John Kennedy, the popular US president, was known for his speeches. The appositive is extra: we know the subject. John Kennedy was known for his speeches. No commas when appositive is essential. The popular US president John Kennedy was known for his speeches. The appositive is essential; without it, which president? The popular US president was known for his speeches.

Hints • Comma when the words “a,” “an” or “some,” or a number, come before the description or identification of a name: An unknown scientist, William Warner, won the Nobel Prize.

• Comma when an identifier describes a unique person or thing and is preceded by a possessive: UMB’s youngest student, Per Jensen, is only 16 years old. UMB’s student Per Jensen is only 16 years old.

• Unique = comma My son, John, has a Ph.D. My son John has a Ph.D.

(just one son, name is extra information) (other sons in the family, name necessary)

Why Use Colons (:) and Semicolons(;) • • • • •

Optional Old-fashioned Dangerously addictive Mysteriously connected to pausing Difference is too negligible to understand

Semicolon ; • Clause = noun and verb • Phrase = two or more words used without a verb • If you join two 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. •

Accordingly, consequently, however, therefore, thus… to second clause I had never written a paper before; besides, I did not have enough time. You do not have an outline; consequently, your paper lacks structure.

Colon : •

Join two independent clauses – Nearly always follows a complete sentence – Second clause interprets or amplifies the first The committe approved the proposal: it had funds to continue the research.

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A fulcrum between oppositional statements - Man proposes: God disposes. Introduce quotations – Longer than three lines of text – Not introduced by “said” or “stated.” 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. Set off sub-title from the main titles - Gandhi II: The Mahatma Strikes Back. Salutation for a business letter – Dear Dr. Smith:

Do not 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.

• 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.

Clarifications …

= words missing After the review… the paper was graded.

= trail off The samples were store sequentially: 2, 15, 37…

Italic type = emphasis Use infrequently The UN must enforce…

( ) = to clarify Warner (1997) notes…

= for authorial asides Obama was blamed for the oil spill (isn’t that interesting?). [ ] = sic (Latin sicut = just as) “ The Time’s [sic] reports…” “Data were invalid. […] Nevertheless…” “The vital [emphasis added] data were…” [emphasis mine] [italics added] [italics mine]

Dash – to break

Hyphen join-together

More distinct than ()

1. To avoid ambiguity A re-formed rock band A reformed rock band The small-woodlot owner The small woodlot-owner Black 2. Spell out numbers thirty-two, ninety-five 3. Link nouns with nouns Oslo-Bergen train 4. Certain prefixes Un-American, anti-Apartheid 5. Avoid letter confusion Deice – de-ice Shelllike – shell-like

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(Suppresses the interjection) He was (I still can’t believe this) trying to climb in the window. Interjection stands on its own. He was – I still can’t believe this! – trying to climb in the window.

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

Numbers • One-digit numbers should be spelled out: nine percent Except when referring to a quantity of products: thirty 747s • 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% • 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.

Fractions • Word for denominators two through nine a half, a fourth, two-thirds

• Numeral for denominator 10 or more a 10th, a 16th, or follows number: 3 ½ years

• Avoid unnecessary fractions hard to read the highest price in 2 ½ months the highest price in more than two months

Rounding • Two decimal places – < 10 million 9.23 million – 1-10 billion 6.14 billion

• One decimal place – 10 million-1billion 324.8 million – >10 billion 33.7 billion

• Percentages – One decimal place for < 10 9.7% not 9.68% – Whole number for >10 15% not 15.3%

Punctuation • Hyphenate if number/numeral precedes unit of measurement, except currency and percent 9-year study, $14 trillion debt, 28 percent gain

• Use a full stop for decimal points, not a comma: 21.9, not 21,9 • Use a comma in all numbers >1000: 4,383 • For ages, numerals for people 5-years old boy, four-year-old program

Don’t run grammar check. Think Match agent with action To determine its respiratory quotient, the organism was… Was the organism capable of determining the quotient? Having completed the study, the villagers were of little interest. Who completed the study?

Syntax: how words are arranged After standing in boiling water for an hour, examine the flask. Punctuation Using a sterile wire rabbit, sheep and goat were inoculated…

Run Spell-Check • If you have two options – use both – (place in parentheses)

theatrical

theoretical

• Later, see if you selected the right word from the (theatrical /theoretical) options. We rely on theatrical calculations to give the lifetime of a star on the main sequence. (Annual Review of Astronomical Astrophysics. 1:1000, 1963)