Purposeful Punctuation

I wish I had read the chapter on Purposeful Punctuation years ago. It was so helpful. Even on the first page, I became immediately aware of a grammar mistake I had been making for years; I suppose that it is even more frustrating that none of my high school teachers ever caught it. I tend to be very wordy, writing long sentences. And I understand that a semicolon is an excellent tool to separate two independent clauses that are not joined by a coordinating conjunction. However, I was not aware of how often it is used to separate two independent clauses that are joined by a coordinating conjunction. That was a bit of a wake up call for me. The fourth use of the semicolon, according to Kolln, is that if either the first or the second independent clause includes commas, substitute a semicolon for a comma before the coordinating conjunction. I know now that when I write essays, I’m going to try to write shorter sentences. The semicolon can easily be overused.

I also appreciated her section on dashes. Although this blog does not show it, I love to use the dash is just about everything I write. It is a great way to add emphasis and zeal to a piece of prose. I feel that in the future, I actually need to limit my uses of the dash. After reading this chapter, I have learned that the dash should only be employed to highlight a certain clause or phrase. An overuse of it can diminish the effect.

The last portion that really stood out to me in this chapter was the power of the participial phrase. I read the example that Kolln shows (“The line judge, blocked by the player’s movement, could not tell whether the ball was in or out.”), and it seems really well written and fluid. There is an added sophistication to using a participle, and I am going to strive to use it when I am doing creative writing.

What an insightful chapter!