This document provides instruction on various punctuation rules and how punctuation can be used to add voice or emphasis to writing. It covers comma rules and usage, semicolon rules, colon rules, uses of dashes and parentheses, and how punctuation can establish different voices, like questions, emotions, dialects. Students are asked to write original sentences demonstrating the different punctuation rules and rewriting provided sentences using punctuation to convey specific voices.

1. USING
PUNCTUATION

2. Read through the powerpoint and
complete the tasks at the end. [This
will be review for most of you].
DIRECTIONS:

3. PUNCTUATION
Punctuation adds clarity and injects
“voice” into written language. For
instance, each of the following
three sentences are the SAME but
have a different meaning due to
punctuation.

4. Look what’s in the road
ahead.
USING PUNCTUATION

5. Look! What’s in the
road ahead?
USING PUNCTUATION

6. COMMAS

7. Coordinating Conjunctions
Use a comma before a coordinating
conjunction (and, or, for, nor, but, yet,
so) joining independent clauses in a
sentence.
COMMA RULES
RULE #1:

8. Anthony and his mother went to
the store, but they didn’t find
what they were looking for.
EXAMPLE:

9. Items in a series
Use the Oxford comma to separate
items in a series, including between
“and” and the last item in the series
COMMA
RULE #2:

10. Brad’s poetry has inspired plays,
films, operas, and paintings.
Brooke the Great established a
system of fortified towns,
reorganized the military forces,
and built a fleet of warships.
EXAMPLES:

11. Listing Adjectives
Use a comma between
coordinate adjectives (adjectives
that separately modify the same
noun).
COMMA RULE #3

12. Cam Haas praises the novel’s
unaffected, unadorned style.
EXAMPLE:

13. * Parenthetical Expressions
Use commas to set off
parenthetical phrases that tend to
“interrupt” the flow of a
sentence.
COMMA
RULE #4:

14. *Queen Hailey, for example, ruled
for nearly a century.
*Bryson was, from a young age, a
trendy dress designer before he
became a famous dude rancher.
EXAMPLES:

15. *Nonessential phrases and clauses
Commas are placed before and after
nonessential or nonrestrictive modifiers.
A nonrestrictive element (modifier),
unlike a restrictive one, can be dropped
from a sentence without changing the
meaning of the sentence.
COMMA RULE #5

16. Nonrestrictive:
The novel takes place in China, where many
languages are spoken.
Restrictive:
The novel takes place in a land where many
languages are spoken.
NONRESTRICTIVE (OR NONESSENTIAL)
VERSUS
RESTRICTIVE (OR ESSENTIAL)

17. Danielle Eggers, who is the special
guest of tonight’s show, will appear
at the podium for autographs at
7:00 pm.
EXAMPLE:

18. *Introductory phrase, clause, or
interjection
Use a comma after a long
introductory phrase or clause, or
after an interjection.
COMMA RULE #6:

19. *After years of practice and hard work,
Danielle Filla published her memoirs
entitled How I Got the Best of Him.
*Although he was virtually unknown in his
day, scholars have come to recognize the
originality of Connor’s work.
EXAMPLES:

20. “Hey, isn’t that my pencil?,”
thought Hannah.
EXAMPLE:

21. *Contrasting ideas
Use commas to set off contrasting
ideas or negations.
COMMA
RULE #7:

22. *Josie, not her mother, sets the
plot in motion.
*Captain Kaylen remains a tragic
figure, despite her appalling
actions.
EXAMPLES:

23. •Conventional reasons
-Between city and state [Lazy, OH]
-In a letter [Dear Emily, ]
-Between day and year [October 4,
1977]
-Commas within numbers [2,000 or
1,000,000]
COMMA RULE #8

24. *With Quotations
Commas go inside quoted
material when a comma is called
for.
COMMA RULE #9:

25. “You’ve got to be kidding,” wrote
Zachary Gill II about his grandmother
starring as Frankenstein.
“Read the book,” Kelly told the class,
“then you’ll know what happens.”
EXAMPLES:

26. *Direct Address
When addressing someone in a
sentence, a comma follows the
address.
COMMA RULE #10:

27. Kim, did you clean your room this
morning?
We thought we told you, Maddie,
about the upcoming test next week.
Ryan, how’re you doin’?
EXAMPLES:

28. #1 – 10:
Compose an original sentence
that exemplifies each comma rule.
TASK #1: COMMAS

29. SEMI-COLONS

30. Rule #1: Independent clauses
Use a semicolon between two
independent clauses not joined
by a conjunction.
SEMICOLON:

31. The coat is tattered beyond
repair; still, Paige hopes the tailor
can mend it.
Angels live in heaven; demons
live in hell, or so Grant claims.
EXAMPLES:

32. Rule #2: Items in a series
w/commas
Use semicolons between
items in a series when the
items contain commas.
SEMICOLON

33. Present at the symposium were
Maggie Massengill, the art critic;
Josh Morgan, the Daily Tribune
reporter; and Olivia McDaries,
the conceptual artist.
EXAMPLE:

34. In a sentence with two
independent clauses joined by a
conjunctive adverb or transitional
adverb or phrase, put a
semicolon before and a comma
after the adverb.
SEMICOLON RULE #3:

35. Rebecca wanted to provide students with
all the semicolon rules before they left for
break; however, she forgot about this one.
This is an extremely specific semicolon
rule; moreover, it is one of those rules
which must be followed exactly (or else
Sara will kick you out of the club).
EXAMPLE:

36. # 11, 12, 13
Compose original sentences that
exemplify the semicolon rules.
TASK #2:
SEMICOLONS

37. COLONS

38. Rule #1: Introductions
Use a colon to introduce a list, a
formal elaboration, or rule or
principle
COLON

39. Example 1 Introducing a list:
Nick’s reading list included three
Latin novels: The Death of Artemio
Cruz, One Hundred Years of
Solitude, and The Green House.
COLON

40. Example 2: Elaboration:
The plot is founded on
deception: the main character,
Anthony Laricchiuti, has a secret
identity.
COLON

41. Example 3 Rule or Principle:
Many books would be briefer if their
authors followed the logical principle
known as Occam’s razor: Explanations
should not be multiplied unnecessarily.
COLON

42. Rule #2: Setting off formal quotations:
Use a colon to introduce a quotation
that is independent from the structure
of the main sentence.
COLON:

43. In Ginn’s novel The Classy Bean
Pickers, Mr. Rubble exhorts Cam to
stop putting beans in his nose: “You
are going to have weeds growing
out of your ears if you don’t stop
that, young man!”
EXAMPLE:

44. #14, 15
Compose original sentences
exemplifying the correct uses of the
colon – one that demonstrates
introductory material and one showing
how to set off a formal quotation.
TASK 3: COLONS

45. DASHES & PARENTHESES

46. •Use dashes or parentheses to
enclose a sentence element that
interrupts the train of thought or
diversion of the main clause.
*Stronger than parenthetical expression
DASHES AND PARENTHESES

47. Sometimes (not always) I use dashes
to emphasize the material between,
before, or after the dashes:
Swift’s satire portrays the extreme
prejudice of the English toward the
Irish – that was his point.
DASHES

48. Soaring in a balloon – Kaylen
first performed this feat in 1783
– is her way of spying on her
friend’s peripatetic behavior.
DASH
EXAMPLE:

49. The colors of the costume –
blue, scarlet, and yellow – acquire
symbolic meaning in Hannah’s
story.
*Using dashes here eliminate confusion.
EXAMPLE

50. Sets apart material within sentence that disrupts
and/or not essential to the clause:
Brooke is emphatic (or so she seems) in
her opinion that applying punctuation
correctly shows the mark of a mature
writer.
*I use parentheses to de-emphasize the material within,
spoken like an understatement.
PARENTHESES

51. #16
Provide an original example using a dash
in a sentence.
TASK 4: DASH

52. #17
Provide an original example
using a set of parentheses in a
sentence.
TASK 5: PARENTHESES

53. SHOWING VOICE

54. Make sure to pay attention to the
nature of your sentences: if a
sentence asks a question or shows
marked emotion, use the correct
punctuation!!!
PAY ATTENTION!!!

55. OTHER WAYS TO SHOW
“VOICE”
*Italics, capitalization, underlining, bolding,
fonts, etc.
“You misunderstood! I said Othello’s ashes
are in the urn -- not a fellow’s ashes!”
(Othello is my deceased black cat.)
(…yes, I’m a “Poe” fan, but no…I
wouldn’t think of it…)

56. Finally, use your miscellaneous
marks on the number bar to
suggest profanity or “off-color”
language (such as Who the &*)^
is Jackson Pollock?).
ONCE YOU UNDERSTAND THE “CLUB
RULES,” DON’T BE AFRAID TO USE
PUNCTUATION!!!

57. Re-write the sentences below using
punctuation to establish a specific
voice.
#18
Rewrite the following sentence
using Dracula’s voice:
Excuse me I am not a vegetarian
TASK 6: ADD VOICES!

58. #19 Take the sentence below and
impose a regional, “Appalachian”
dialect (I can ask this since I’m a
native). Don’t be afraid (afeerd) to
change words/spelling:
If you do not take out the trash right
now I am going to give you a spanking
ADDING VOICES:

59. #20
Your mother’s voice:
What’s that smell don’t you ever do
your laundry
ADDING VOICES: