Punctuation

English Punctuation through the Ages Punctuation can be defined as all the marks such as question mark, exclamation mark, quotation marks, period, comma, apostrophe, colon, semicolon, dash, and brackets/parentheses that are used in many languages’ writing texts to separate sentences, phrases and clauses in order to clarify their true meanings. No one can deny that without these marks both writers and readers would be lost and quite confused about the written language in front of them.…

J.D. Salinger writes conversationally in Catcher In The Rye, he often makes use of technically incorrect grammar and untraditional punctuation, such as dashes. In this work I attempted to mimic Holden's style but not his character necessarily. The allusion to The Royal Tennenbaums reflects Holden’s tendency to reference outside works, though Holden would never use a film as a positive comparison due to his hatred of hollywood. A symptom of Salinger’s stream of consciousness style is Holden’s…

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…

saying the words “I love you”, the father and son’s undeniable love is expressed through stark dialogue. Apocalyptic imagery is crafted through the use of religious terminology as well as vivid, yet minimalistic narrated descriptions. The lack of punctuation and even names used throughout The Road augments and mirrors the simple, disorganized life and solitary conditions of the main characters’ journey. Through the use of the simple, unembellished statements and questions that make up the…

Hyphens, he uses hyphens in many different places , one is ‘I proceeded -- with what caution -- with what foresight’ when we read it we realize that the narrator is jumpy and he had a crazy “like” state of mind. This adds to the tension and suspense in the story. Poe also uses Rhetorical Questions this challenges the reader and then makes the reader ask themselves the question, because it is hard to find the answer; ‘ How then am I mad?’ When the narrator asks this question you don’t know…

There are many elements of punctuation like caesura, enjambment, and end-stopped line to make it seem more narrative like, yet it stills gives off a non formal feeling. Punctuation allows the audience to pause or breathe and analyze what they are reading. An example of caesura is, “And yet I’m sitting here by this river, that’s a fact” (line 9). The comma…

gabardine Like a monstrous animal caught in a tent.” This is a great use of a simile, for it gives us a frightening image of the old man, but also reveals to us that it is a struggle for him to get out of his restrictions. Edwin Morgan’s use of punctuation is also effective in shown how much of a task it is for the old man to get up: “I want - to go to – the toilet.” The dashes give us the sense that the old…

Joyas Volardoras, written by Brian Doyle, explains how every heartbeat throughout a person’s lifetime should be valued and not taken for granted. Doyle frequently uses punctuation that mimics the human heart to explain how the heart beats and to show the importance of each beat. Doyle’s opening two paragraphs contain excessive amounts of commons, which occur every few words. “But when they rest they come to death on frigid nights, or when they are starving, they retreat into torpor, their…

Throughout the poem “A Story,” Li-Young Lee uses carefully selected language and punctuation, as well as a variety of line and stanza structure, to provide insight into the way that a father views the complex relationship shared by him and his son. The poem opens up with a short, two-line stanza that conveys a solemn feeling through one impactful sentence. The very placement of the word “man” towards the center of the first line establishes a focal point, or emphasis, on this one character,…

In the article titled “Period. Full stop. Point. Whatever it’s called, it’s going out of style.”, Dan Bilefsky discusses the decreasing popularity of proper punctuation, especially periods, in text messages and in social media. First, Bilefsky introduces an expert on the subject, Dr. Crystal, to talk about the period declining in use. A trend incited by social media empires Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter, Crystal says, omitting the period soon became a social norm. In addition the usage of…