All that pesky punctuation PART 1 (end punctuation, apostrophes, quotation marks)

Happy Friday!

I hope your week has gone well.

Last week, we looked at the common uses of commas. Today, we're going to take look at most other commonly-used punctuation marks.

Why is punctuation so important? The meaning of your sentence can change dramatically depending on the punctuation you use (or don't use). For example, in the book Eat, Shoots & Leaves, the author tells the story of a panda that goes into a restaurant, and after eating, he pulls out a gun and shoots it. The bewildered waiter asks, "Why did you do that?" The panda pulls out a wildlife magazine [from where, I'm not certain] and points to an article. "See?" he says. "This article says that a panda eats, shoots, and leaves." "Umm," says the waiter. "I believe there's a faulty comma here. It should say, 'A panda eats shoots and leaves.'"

Get it?

I've said before that the only way we writers can communicate to our readers is the words we use ... and the way we use them.

So let's look at how you can communicate to your readers by the simple use of punctuation:

Periods are hard stops that let your reader know your sentence is complete.

Exclamation points show excitement or anxiety. I can't believe you bought me a car!

Question marks ... Well, this one is clear, isn't it?

Apostrophes have two uses:

1) They show possession. The blue BMW is Scott's car.
2) They facilitate contractions. I don't want to go to the store.

IMPORTANT KEY: Two notable exceptions are the pronouns it and you. The possessive form of it is its; it's is the contraction it is. The possessive form of you is your; you're is the contraction you are.

Quotation marks indicate dialog or a quote that will be cited. Always use double quotation marks.

Sharon said, "I want to go to the store."

Discussing the importance of proper punctuation, Professor Rinehart wrote, "The meaning of your sentence can change dramatically depending on the punctuation you use (or don't use)."

NOTE: Single quotation marks are used only with quotes within quotes. I have an example of this at the end of the panda story.
IMPORTANT KEY: Periods and commas always go inside of quotation marks UNLESS you're using a citation. If I were including a citation (and I'm using MLA here) with the above quote, I'd write:

Discussing the importance of proper punctuation, Professor Rinehart wrote, "The meaning of your sentence can change dramatically depending on the punctuation you use (or don't use)" (Writing Is Painless).

On the other hand, where you place exclamation points and question marks are determined by the meaning of your sentence.

If either is part of the quotation, then it goes inside of the quotation mark.

Susan asked, "Where is the remote?"
Lisa cried, "I lost my phone!"

If either is not part of the quotation, then it does outside of the quotation mark.

Was it John who said, "I don't agree"?
I was so excited when I heard you say, "I'll be home Thursday"!

If I were standing in front of you, this would be the time I'd ask, "Any questions?" If you have some, feel free to comment! I'll get back to you by next Friday, at the latest.

Next week, we'll finish up punctuation marks, including semi-colons, colons, hyphens, m-dashes, and more!

Keep pen to paper!

Prof. Rinehart

The Common Uses of Commas

Happy Friday!

This is "crunch" week for me. I'm finishing up the grades for a summer class, just started four online classes, and am gearing up for my two on-campus classes that start on Tuesday. Suffice it to say, it's a bit crazy. I love what I do, though, so I'm doing what I need to get done. This time reminds me of all the concepts of grammar and how students often struggle with them.

Today's blog and video deal with the lowly comma. It's such a tiny, teeny punctuation mark, but it's misused so often. Students tend either to overuse it or under-use it. The good news? You can learn the most common uses, and when you use them correctly, your instructors will be quite impressed! Before we start, let's look at it from the comma's point of view (yes, we English teachers do have a warped sense of humor!):

Okay. Now to more serious matters.

First, take a look at the video ...

Now that you've learned the concepts, go back to my introductory paragraph. Can you see real-life examples of the concepts? Test yourself. Feel free to comment your answers, and I'll respond next week.

Speaking of next week, come back and we'll look at other punctuation marks (the apostrophe, the semi-colon, and the colon, among others).



Keep pen to paper ... and keep practicing!

Professor Rinehart

Where should I put it? Put it on the table. (Prepositions)

Today's lesson is going to be short ... but sweet (well, maybe not sweet, but important to know).

Prepositions tell us time, placement, or direction. One of my favorite sites for help in writing is Purdue University's OWL (online writing lab). The site defines a preposition as a word that denotes time and place, or introduces objects.

On their own, prepositions don't mean much. Words like on, at, through, above, below, or behind just ... well, fill up space. So we have what we call prepositional phrases. These are phrases that start with the preposition and then end with a noun or pronoun, which is called the object of the preposition.

I'm getting in my car, driving to the store, and walking down the aisles. In, to, and down are prepositions. Car, store, and aisles are objects of the preposition.

I'm sitting on my desk, going through my papers, while my dogs sit at my feet. On, through, and at are prepositions. Desk, papers, and feet are objects of the preposition.

Simple, huh?

One key here: When you're using a pronoun as an object of the preposition, make certain you're using the objective form of the pronoun (see the blog on nouns and pronouns for more information). For example, if the sentence is:

Please give the tickets to Sharon and _____ as soon as possible.

what form of the pronoun I/me would you use? If to is a preposition (and it is!), then you want to use the objective form of the pronoun. Is that I or me? Hopefully, you recognize that the correct sentence should be:

Please give the tickets to Sharon and me as soon as possible. NOT ... to Sharon and I ...

Prepositions, like other parts of speech, are building blocks that help us give more information to our readers. As I often say (and if you watch my videos or read other blogs, you've heard this before), when we communicate in writing, we only have our words (parts of speech) and how we use them (sentence structure, punctuation, paragraph structure).

So use them well!

Keep pen to paper!

Professor Rinehart

Ooops! How to avoid common sentence errors.

Hello again!

Last week, we looked at the four ways sentences are structured in English writing. Can you name them? (No peeking! Okay, if you need to peek, go ahead and do so!) Even more, can you use them correctly in your writing?

As I said, once you grasp the proper way to structure sentences, you're well on your way to building a solid foundation in your essays. However, it's really easy to make mistakes. Take a look at today's video about common sentence errors (good news: there are only three!):

Come back next week and learn about the exciting world of prepositions!

Keep pen to paper!

Professor Rinehart (or Saundra or Sauni ... you pick a title!)

Building Blocks (sentence structure)

Writing is a skill, and just like any other skill, you can learn how to write more effectively. It just takes your knowing the concepts. One of the basic concepts of effective writing is sentence structure. Today's blog covers this concept in a couple of different ways. For you audio/visual learners, here's a video:

May I encourage you to do one thing: PRACTICE! After all, it's not practice that makes perfect; it's PERFECT practice that makes perfect.

Keep pen to paper!
Professor Rinehart