Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Fun with Punctuation


In honor of Grammar Boot Camp, I thought I would dedicate this entry to one of my favorite topics: punctuation.

Punctuating sentences can become an occasion for a writer’s personal style, even providing moments now and then for a bit of flair. Just because there are set rules governing the use of punctuation marks, particularly in formal essays, that doesn’t mean punctuation can’t be somewhat fun at times.

While a strict grammarian might be horrified (?_?) by carefree punctuation like that used in text messaging, punctuation marks can still be used to convey perfectly correct meaning with verve.

The following examples indicate some ways to do so:  
·         parentheses to include something like  an actor’s aside (an added bit of information,  not necessarily crucial to the sentence)
·         dashes—to speed the reader along to the next idea
·         ellipses…to indicate that something is omitted
·         semi-colons connect the reader to the next closely related sentence; in fact, semi-colons can be used to enhance the coherence of your ideas.
·         commas, usually used to make the reader pause momentarily
·         sudden exclamation points to emphasize  ideas (use sparingly!)
·         periods to signify the end of one sentence before a capital letter starts the next.
·         what about question marks for rhetorical questions to lead the reader to ponder?

Rules govern the uses of punctuation. Paying attention to tiny marks on the page (details, details) often liberates writers and lets them express their ideas creatively. Although formal papers (as noted above) do not welcome symbolic punctuation as text messaging does, opportunities galore remain for punctuation to increase the vitality and style of essays.

English is a versatile language, its dots, dashes, colons, parentheses, etc., included. Just as there are dynamics of style in surfing, choosing the wave, the timing, and the balanced stance, there are times when a writer can use punctuation powerfully as well as correctly.                               

See you next time the breeze is cool, the sun is up, and the waves roll into view! ‘Til then, hang ten!


4 comments:

Lesley Jocelyn said...

When you know the punctuation perfectly then you might have fun workign with it. follow the link and find out paragraph writing services where things are better.

Anonymous said...

The punctuation is really making things more easy and it will make a better sentence. visit this site and get some very cheap rate writing service for a very little time though.

Hildegard Flatley said...

I think this important to learn proper uses of punctuation than we will able of make our topics working. Check this http://www.commacheckeronline.com/how-comma-splice-checker-online-can-help-you/ source to hire a cheap writing service. This has a large range of correcting all the punctuation.

Hildegard Flatley said...

This site is about getting information about waves of writing. Learn more about plagiarism by reading this http://www.copyrightchecker.net/the-ultimate-secret-of-copyright-paper-checker/ article. Punctuating sentences can become an occasion for a writer’s personal style, even providing moments now and then for a bit of flair.

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