Punctuation, Part 1

Antoinine Valentini "Ferrari Kiss" June 22, 2013 via Flickr
reuse with attribution

In this section, I will address three topics under punctuation from Rules for Writers in light of my own writing.

The Comma
I don't think I ever explicitly realized that commas exist to help readers but that is an excellent definition. The purpose of a comma is to organize writing with pauses so you read it in the same way that you would say it. I think that overall I have a fairly good command of how to use commas in writing. I think this is because I try to use it in the most sparing way possible by mentally reading over what I am writing and inserting commas only where I naturally pause. Also important is creating a series with commas.

The Semi-Colon
Semi-colons are used to connect clauses that are not also connected by a coordinating conjunction. Their other use is between independent clauses linked with translational expressions. I think semi-colons are very underutilized punctuations and they can really add a lot to writing when used correctly. I have recently worked to improve my use of them but I definitely still under use them. This is because I am pretty scared of using them incorrectly so unless I'm fairly sure I have a valid place to use a semi-colon. I'll usually leave it out.

The Apostrophe
The apostrophe is only used for tow things: indicating a quote within a quote and for possessives. Pluralizations do not use apostrophes. To create a possessive, you add an apostrophe s ('s) unless the word already ends in an s or s-like sound in which case you only add an apostrophe.

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Reflection:
I commented on both Swati's and Michael's drafts.

I discovered that no one uses semi-colons. Period Paragraph. Michael used none and the only ones in Swati's draft were in quotes such as the following one:

“'But growing usable tissue in the lab is notoriously difficult; the advent of 3-D printers that can print ink made of cells has offered a ray of hope'”

Just for fun, the following is a place in Swati's draft where a semi-colon could have been used. "additionally" could have been removed and replaced with a semi-colon effectively:

"Acknowledgement of other opinions, and then an argument against these opinions, may have been an effective tactic to use that would have increased the logic of Groopman’s argument. Additionally, there were no statistics or other supporting facts that contributed to the logic of the argument."

 Neither draft contained a quote within a quote either so there were only apostrophes for pluralization of which I did not find any incorrect pluralization.

There were correct and incorrect comma uses (comma splices etc) in both drafts. Here is an example from Michael's draft of commas being used to separate items in a series:

"Nonetheless, Partovi still uses conventions such as appealing to his own credibility, presentation of compelling statistics, and a myriad of other tactics to make his argument as agreeable as possible."