Mrs. Truss makes many compelling assertions about the necessity of punctuation. She uses a contested Bible verse to illustrate how the misplacing or omission of a comma can completely change the meaning of the work-and by extension, the chief end of man. She also presents the two sides of an argument about the semicolon. Now my initial reaction to bickering about this topic was “wow, these writers are way too passionate about the Franken-child of a comma and a colon.” However, Mrs. Truss then explains the importance and proper uses of a semi-colon, both of which I was not previously familiar with. This completely changed my attitude towards debates about punctuation. How could someone want to limit the ways English speakers express themselves
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She explains how the amount of punctuation as well as the types of punctuation used should be a personal decision. Writers’ opinions vary about the uses of capitalization as well. While e. e. cummings preferred to not use capitalization in his writing. This is contrast to my brother’s style of writing, which makes frequent use of random capitalization. Woodrow Wilson believed that hyphens were terrible marks and, if taken seriously, could make any sane person into a loon.
At the conclusion of Eats, Shoots and Leaves, Truss leaves her readers with a statement that perfectly summarizes why someone should care about the degrading quality of punctuation in English; she begs her reader to stand, and even fight, for proper grammar simply to avoid a return to the days of a chaotic and non-standard English language.
Mr. Clark takes a very different approach to the English language. He attempts to convert his readers over from Mrs. Truss’s view to his own: English should be always evolving as a language.
His book begins by explaining the interesting and useful features of his two favorite dictionaries had, none of which I was previously aware of. He also points out that the words glamour and grammar used to be related to each other long ago. He then delves into how the meanings and origins of words change over time. For example, glamour and grammar used to be related to
She explains how the amount of punctuation as well as the types of punctuation used should be a personal decision. Writers’ opinions vary about the uses of capitalization as well. While e. e. cummings preferred to not use capitalization in his writing. This is contrast to my brother’s style of writing, which makes frequent use of random capitalization. Woodrow Wilson believed that hyphens were terrible marks and, if taken seriously, could make any sane person into a loon.
At the conclusion of Eats, Shoots and Leaves, Truss leaves her readers with a statement that perfectly summarizes why someone should care about the degrading quality of punctuation in English; she begs her reader to stand, and even fight, for proper grammar simply to avoid a return to the days of a chaotic and non-standard English language.
Mr. Clark takes a very different approach to the English language. He attempts to convert his readers over from Mrs. Truss’s view to his own: English should be always evolving as a language.
His book begins by explaining the interesting and useful features of his two favorite dictionaries had, none of which I was previously aware of. He also points out that the words glamour and grammar used to be related to each other long ago. He then delves into how the meanings and origins of words change over time. For example, glamour and grammar used to be related to