Handout 60

Punctuation Review

Punctuation marks are signals to your readers. In speaking, we can pause, stop, or change our tone of voice. In writing, we use the following marks of punctuation to emphasize and clarify what we mean to accomplish the same purpose.

Semicolon ;

In addition to using a semicolon to join related independent clauses in compound sentences, you can use a semicolon to separate items in a series if the elements of the series already include commas.

Colon :

Use a colon after a complete statement in order to introduce one or more directly related ideas, such as a series of directions, a list, or a quotation or other comment illustrating or explaining the statement.

Parentheses (   )

Parentheses are occasionally and sparingly used for extra, non-essential material included in a sentence. For example, dates, sources, or ideas that are subordinate or tangential to the rest of the sentence are set apart in parentheses. Parentheses always appear in pairs.

Dash    –

Use a dash (represented on a typewriter or in a handwritten document by a pair of hyphens with no spaces) to emphasize a point or to set off an explanatory comment; but don't overuse dashes, or they will lose their impact.

Use a dash (represented on a typewriter or in a handwritten document by a pair of hyphens with no spaces): for an appositive phrase that already includes commas.

As you can see, dashes function in some ways like parentheses (used in pairs to set off a comment within a larger sentence) and in some ways like colons (used to introduce material illustrating or emphasizing the immediately preceding statement). But comments set off with a pair of dashes appear less subordinate to the main sentence than do comments in parentheses. And material introduced after a single dash may be more emphatic and may serve a greater variety of rhetorical purposes than material introduced with a colon.

Quotation Marks " "

Use quotation marks to enclose direct quotations. Note that commas and periods go inside the closing quotation mark in conventional American usage; colons and semicolons go outside; and placement of question and exclamation marks depends on the situation.

Use quotation marks to indicate words used ironically, with reservations, or in some unusual way; but don't overuse quotation marks in this sense, or they will lose their impact.

Underlining and Italics

Underlining and italics are not really punctuation, but they are significant textual effects used conventionally in a variety of situations. Before computerized word-processing was widely available, writers would underline certain terms in handwritten or manually typed pages, and the underlining would be replaced by italics in the published version. Since word processing today allows many options for font faces and textual effects, it is generally recommended that you choose either underlining or italics and use it consistently throughout a given document as needed. Because academic papers are manuscripts and not final publications and because italics are not always easily recognized with some fonts, many instructors prefer underlining over italics for course papers.

            Italics or underlining should be used to indicate titles of complete or major works such as magazines, books, newspapers, academic journals, films, television programs, long poems, plays of three or more acts.

Italics or underlining should be used for foreign words that are not commonly used in English

Italics or underlining should be used for words used as words themselves

Italics or underlining should be used for words or phrases that you wish to emphasize

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