Punctuation, Part 1

In the following blog post I will reflect on punctuation topics that I have selected from the Rules for Writers to focus on. I will write about what I learned from reading these topics.

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The Unnecessary Comma

From reading about the common misuses of commas I realize I have been incorrectly using commas for a while in my writing. Some of the areas where I thought a comma was necessary but really is not is after although and to set off an indirect quote.

I had been taught in English classes before to use a comma with phrases that helped to specify a noun, but I now realize that there are different types of parenthetical phrases. 

The Semicolon

I find the semicolon is the most common type of punctuation to be used incorrectly rivaled only by the comma. I know that I never really learned how to use the semicolons and after seeing some of the examples in the book, I know there are some uses I will be implementing. I was pleasantly surprised to see that semicolons can be used in a series when the items of the series contain commas. 

The Apostrophe

Unlike the semicolon and the comma, the uses for the apostrophe follow more of a common sense rule. Most of the uses for the apostrophe were things that I already knew like when a noun is possessive an apostrophe is used to show it. I did learn though that the possessive form of who is whose, not who's.

Reflection:
In peer-reviewing the blogs of my classmates I learned a couple of different things. First, when used correctly semicolons can make the piece flow together more. Because the sentences are connected the text feels more cohesive. For example, from Ayra's blog she wrote: "Bennett’s use of ethos lends her credibility; this makes it easier for Bennett to get the audience to agree with the cultural values she discusses in the article making it so the audience will agree with her view on animal experimentation."

Secondly, I saw examples of commas being used to set a descriptive phrase apart from the rest of the text, like in Mehruba's draft. In her draft she writes, "...Charles Darwin, "the Father of Evolution ..." The "Father of Evolution" is not information needed for the sentence to make sense and it has been correctly offset by commas.

For the apostrophes, there wasn't too much to learn because the rules for use are very simple. That being said, I did see many examples of apostrophes being used correctly.