Purposeful Punctuation

After reading this chapter, I feel refreshed and excited about the new punctuation marks that I can use.  In most of my writing, I only use commas because I didn't know how to use dashes or semicolons correctly and I was scared of messing them up until now.  I like the way that dashes and semicolons add to the variety in the sentences and they way that they can be used as a tool to emphasize certain parts of the sentence.  An example from the chapter that I would have used a period in instead of a semicolon, is: 

The issues were difficult to sort out; however, the judges had to make a decision.  

The section that was least helpful to me was the one about using apostrophes.  I feel confidently about my ability to use apostrophes correctly.  I found the exercises fairly easy and I could not see myself putting that many commas in one sentence.  I am glad that I now have options other than commas in my writing.  I think this was a good section to read because it is one that most people have trouble with.