Punctuation, Part 1

In the following post, I will reflect on three things I read about in the Punctuation section in the Rules for Writers book: the semicolon, the colon, and end punctuation.

frankieleon. "Sign of the Times." 04/05/2009 via Flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic.

The Semicolon

• The section discusses how to properly use a semicolon. I don't have a lot of experience with using semicolons, just because I never really knew what they were for or how to properly use them. It turns out, however, that you can use them to link together independent transitional clauses, or between items in a series containing internal punctuation. I will definitely apply this to my writing in the future.

The Colon

• This section talks about how to properly use a colon. I found that I try to avoid using colons for the same reasons as why I avoid using a semicolon, but I definitely use it. When I do, its usually correct, too. I knew to use a semicolon when listing things and when to apply a colon to convention. This is a good thing to review, though. 

End Punctuation

• This section discusses how to properly use end punctuation. After reading over it, I find that I am an expert on end punctuation. I feel like everyone knows how to properly use end punctuation, so I can't really say I learned anything new in this section, but it was nice to review. 

Reflection

I reviewed Laurence and Isaac's drafts. Here are examples from both:

Isaac's Example

Before: "There are various perceptions being passed around, and it is crucial to make your point evident."

After: "There are various perceptions being passed around; it is crucial to make your point evident."

Laurence's Example

Before: "Both of these methods, while important and significant, are ultimately subserviant to Baruth's logical point about the probable value of automakers working a little harder to serve their youngest customers.

After: "Both of these methods, while important and significant, are ultimately subserviant to Baruth's logical point; the probably value of automakers working a little harder to serve their youngest customers."

Both semicolons serve to make the sentences stronger and more direct.