I ask my students to put question marks at the end of a question, maybe an exclamation mark to indicate some kind of excitement in a sentence. It makes me happy if I see quotation marks used with speech, delineating thoughts from dialogue. I am not a grammarian, but some punctuation is important. However when was the last time you used a semicolon? Maybe I am just a little bitter, I have endeavored to improve my education and am taking online courses from one of the few Canadian institutions who have a reputable online programme. My tutor has taken substantial marks off my papers for misuse of commas, improper punctuation related to quotes, even using a period in the title of one of my pieces. I have begun to dislike the subtleties of punctuation.
Don’t get me wrong, puncuation does have its uses. I do like happy faces : ) and bowing apologetically _(._.)_ in my emails apart from that I think the uses of punctuation are over-rated. Words attribute meaning in most people’s sentences not punctuation. The subtle effects of punctuation are lost in a regular reading, only those readers who are analyzing a text will dwell on the intricacies of a writer’s choice of punctuation.
Nevertheless there is no doubting my tutors justification, reading a paper that is filled with improper uses of punctuation must be infuriating. I am reading the university writing site and hoping to improve. The stylistic emphasis available to a gifted writer through the use of punctuation can give deeper meaning to a work.
(*^^*)/
thanks for reading,
ian
