Punctuation, Part 1

In this post, I will reflect on what I learned from reading the Rules for Writers section on Punctuation. In particular, I will write about the following sections: "The Comma," "Unnecessary Commas," and "Quotation Marks."

McClure, Darin, "Punctuation Saves Lives!" 09/30/11 via Flickr. Attribution License.

 The Comma

This section commented on the many uses of the comma in writing. I was particularly surprised by how many different uses of the comma there are. I often use the comma without realizing it, but knowing exactly how to use it could potentially improve my writing. For instance, I never paid much attention to which phrases are restrictive and nonrestrictive, but now that I have read this section I will be able to more easily identify them and use the proper punctuation for these phrases.

Unnecessary Commas

This section was especially useful for me because I often find myself using commas when it "feels" right, rather than when it's grammatically correct. For example, this section warns against using a comma between "compound elements that are not independent clauses," and this is something that I have definitely done on more than one occasion. Learning these rules will be very helpful for any future writing I do.

Quotation Marks

This section focused on appropriate and inappropriate uses of quotation marks. I found the section that explained how to use punctuation with quotation marks especially useful, because I often have trouble deciding where the end punctuation or introductory punctuation should go when I am using quotes. This section clarified this for me, so I will now be able to use quotes in my writing more effectively.

Reflection

After reading Michael's and Bri's essays, I got a better understanding of just how important the punctuation is in one's writing. Because I was paying special attention to the use of commas and quotation marks in their essays, I was able to see that the use of these devices can drastically change what someone is trying to convey through their writing.

For example, I found this sentence in Michael's writing, which demonstrates the effect of having an unnecessary comma:

"Barro uses many numerical statistics in his article, as it does concern tax rates, tax cuts, and other plans concerning capital, or monetary resources."

The last comma is unnecessary and can contribute to some confusion, just because there are already so many commas in the sentence. The removal of this comma would clarify what he is trying to say here.

I found another example in Bri's writing, which demonstrates the effects of incorrectly using quotation marks:

"In the article, The Minimum Wage: How Much is too Much, Alan B. Krueger addresses the controversy of how high the minimum wage should be increased."

The the title of this article should be in quotation marks, since it is a shorter piece of writing. This could also contribute to some confusion for the audience, since they will want to know exactly which article the paper is about, and this could hinder their understanding of that. This again shows that punctuation can play a huge role in one's writing.