Today we will be looking at punctuation - the comma, the semi-colon, the colon, the dash. First we will review, and then you'll do some practice exercises. Friday, you'll make a wallcard for one of the punctuation marks. Go here
These should all be review.
Dashes
DASH – (an informal mark of punctuation used for stylistic effects)
USES:
1) Set off a word or group of words introduced unexpectedly.
EX: That looks like smoke coming from – help! Fire!
2) Abrupt breaking off of one thought into another, or the discovery of an unexpected thought or idea.
EX: When you see Ann—here she comes—act as if nothing had happened.
You drink Brawls—you do, don’t you?—you’ll love Spike; it has 33,333% of daily B12.
From Eudora Welty: “Powerhouse is not a show-off like the Harlem boys, not crazy—he’s in a trance; he’s a person of joy.”
3) Use a dash to separate two identical or almost identical words.
Ex: I can do the job—the job of gangstering the Brady Bunch.
Dole and Nixon—these men where his idols.
4) Use a dash before a list that explains in detail some word or phrase in the first part of the sentence.
EX: Bring some romantic item—among other things roses, champagne, and candles.
5) Many authors use the dash as a method of a pause when a character is speaking. An example from Rudolph Fisher’s “Common Meter” exists: “Oh, her got her the job, did he?—Well, I’m going to fix it so she won’t need any job.”
6) James Joyce uses the dash instead of quotations.
--O, Mr. D’Arcy, cried Mary Jane, it’s downright mean of you to break off like that when we were all in raptures listening to you.
Commas
Rules for Commas:
1) They divide items in lists, but are not require before the “and” on the end.
Example: The four refreshing fruit flavors of Opal Fruits are orange, lemon, strawberry and lime.
The rule here is that the comma is correct if it can be replaced by the word “and” or “or”.
Example: The four refreshing fruit flavors of Opal Fruits are orange and lemon and strawberry and lime.
Note: It is not incorrect to put a comma before the “and” at the end.
Example: The four refreshing fruit flavors of Opal Fruits are orange, lemon, strawberry, and lime.
2) Commas are used when two complete sentences are joined together using such conjunctions as “and”, “or”, “but”, “while”, and “yet”.
The boys wanted to stay up past midnight, but they had a race to run the next day, and their coach told them “no”.
Note: A comma splice occurs when you use a comma when a semi-colon is called for.
Example: It was the Queen’s birthday on Saturday, she received a lot of presents.
It should be written: It was the Queen’s birthday on Saturday; she received a lot of presents.
Or: It was the Queen’s birthday on Saturday, and she received a lot of presents.
3) Commas fill gaps where other words might go.
Example: Annie had dark hair; Sally, fair.
4) Commas before direct speech.
The queen said, “It’s my birthday and I want lots of presents.”
Note: Many authors use colons: these days. Joyce used dashes –.
5) Commas set off interjections.
Stop, or I’ll scream.
6) Commas set aside non-essential information.
John Keats, who never did any harm to anyone, is often invoked by grammarians.
Semi-Colons
From: “The Proper Use of the Semi-Colon, Colon, and Dash, from the Illicit Manuals of Outlaws, Short Stories of Jazz, and Authors of Revolutionary Letters.”
“The dash is great refuge of those who are too lazy to punctuate.”
--Bernard Shaw
SEMI-COLON – A stylistic mark that is never necessary: it takes the place of a comma or period.
USES:
1) To join two or more closely related sentences or complete statements. EX: The black Saturn slid into a snow bank; the driver got out reciting: “The moon, a silver slither of an eighth note.”
I went to work; I had a quick lunch; I came straight home.
NOTE: Both of these sentences could be written with a comma.
The black Saturn slid into a snow bank, and the driver got out reciting: “The moon, a silver slither or an eighth note.”
2) To connect interrelated ideas or thoughts. EX: In France, we brought tea; in Amsterdam, coffee; in America, coke-cola; in Ireland, apple juice.
We brought tea in France, coffee in Amsterdam, coke-cola in America, and apple juice in Ireland.
3) A semi-colon may replace a comma to separate items of a list when additional commas may confuse the reader. EX: The winning numbers were 1,273; 3,663; 8,462; and 2,370; Dean had all of them.
Mr. Green, the plumber (who did it with the wrench); George Jefferson, the laundry-mat owner; and Scooby Doo, the rabid mutt, were all at the school cookout.
Colons
Colon—Stylistic mark, never necessary, takes the place of a comma
USES:
1) Introduce a List.
Example: Bob excels in the following activities: wrecking his car while driving blindfolded; drinking bottles of hot sauce; watching football and scratching his ringworm foot bloody; and flunking English 060.
WARNING: A list must be introduced to use a colon. A similar sentence could be written: Bob excels in football, baseball and basketball. There is no introduction of a list and therefore a colon could not be used. It would be wrong to write: Bob excels in: football, baseball, and basketball.
2) After a statement that introduces a quotation.
Example: He began the meeting with this warning: “Gentlemen, Art Bell says the world will end in three years!”
We were at the pizza station when John shouted: “That girl is in my class.”
3) Many writers use the colon to define or expand on some object or subject within a sentence. Here is an example from Eudora Welty’s story “Powerhouse” (from Hot and Cool: Jazz Short Stories): “Powerhouse reads each one, studying with a secret face: that is the face which looks like a mask—anybody’s; there is a moment when he makes a decision.”
Here Welty is defining “secret face”. Another example from James Joyce’s “The Dead”: “So she had had that romance in her life: a man had died for her sake.” Here Joyce is defining
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