Polishing Handout 2
punctuation is not something that you must use because somebody made up some dumb rules and said you gotta use them punctuation is part of your writing it helps your reader understand what you are saying when you speak you punctuate by pausing or by changing the way you say something but you cant do this when you write the only way to make your reader understand is to use punctuation stories without punctuation are very hard to read as you can see
Instead of thinking of punctuation as rules, try thinking of each punctuation mark as a person who helps your reader understand your writing.
Good Old Joe, the Period
When do you need Joe, the period? At the end of a sentence. Listen to your sentences as you read aloud. When you reach the end of a sentence (you can hear it), add the period. Begin the next sentence with a capital letter. Good old Joe is always around. He is relaxed, and he keeps your reader from feeling frantic, breathless, confused, and strung out.
Jeeves, the Comma
Jeeves, the comma, is an excellent butler—the kind you miss when he isn't there but hardly notice when he is. He performs many duties. He puts a little pause in the sentence to separate words, phrases, or clauses. In fact, Jeeves is so quiet, yet so busy, that it takes quite awhile to learn when to use the comma. Below are some sample sentences to give you some ideas.
EXAMPLES
Punch, the puppet, is famous in England.
"Punch the puppet!" chanted the crowd.
That's a pretty small rabbit.
That's a pretty, small rabbit.
Whatever happens, happens because of you.
John, who is interested in jazz, bought concert tickets.
The old house, clearly not used for many years, was the gang's favorite hideout.
Jane and Bob, puffing and groaning, finally reached the top of the hill.
Why, Lindy, did you mail the letter without a stamp?
Why Lindy! What a surprise to see you.
From Teaching Writing in Middle School. © 1998 Beth Means and Lindy Lindner. Teacher Ideas Press. (800) 237-6124.
Part 2: Polishing to Publish <^» 28 They bought baseball bats, balls, and uniforms.
That quilt is black, white, and green.
Did you bring soda pop, potato chips, or hot dogs?
All we ever do is punctuate, punctuate, punctuate!
The dog howled, and the cat meowed.
The dog howled, the cat meowed, and the mouse squeaked.
After the dog howled, the cat meowed.
If the dog howled, the cat meowed.
Since the dog howled, the cat has meowed, and a mouse squeaked.
Because the dog howled, the cat meowed.
While the dog howled, the cat meowed, and the mouse squeaked.
The Loudmouth Question Mark
The rule is to put a question mark at the end of a question. The truth is that the question mark has a loud, irritating voice. Before you use the question mark, decide how loud you want the question to be. Use a period for soft, quiet questions.
Sally, the Semicolon
Sally is shy, and most people don't get to know her, but Sally is very efficient and helpful—a good friend to writers. Sally can replace ", and" for connecting sentences and also introduce examples.
EXAMPLES
She went to the door, and he went to the window, and the rest of us stayed put.
She went to the door; he went to the window; the rest of us stayed put.
He owned many interesting cars; for example, a 1966 Corvette.
The Kibitzers, the Dashes and Parentheses
When you use a phrase enclosed by dashes or parentheses, picture one of the people in the piece stopping the action, turning to the audience, and explaining something. Dashes are briefer, less of a break than parentheses. You can use commas to pause instead of dashes. Be careful (sometimes these pauses are about as welcome as a backseat driver) with dashes and parentheses. Use them only when you want a break in the action.
From Teaching Writing in Middle School. © 1998 Beth Means and Lindy Lindner. Teacher Ideas Press. (800) 237-6124.
182 f^^ 6—Editing with Enthusiasm
EXAMPLES
It was a beautiful day, we all thought, for a softball game.
It was a beautiful day—we all thought—for a softball game.
It was a beautiful day (we all thought) for a softball game.
The Ellipsis, The .. .uh .. .what?
If a character is speaking and falters, you write . . . This is called an ellipsis. It indicates an interruption that confuses the speaker, stuttering, or speech trailing off (or words that you exclude from a quotation).
EXAMPLES
"Billy Jo, I got that goat out of the garage. I t . . . "
"What goat?" interrupted Billy Jo. "Why would somebody keep a goat in the garage?"
Marallee put her foot in the stirrup and vaulted onto the horse. Not bad for an amateur, she thought. This is fun. I wonder how long George is going to take to . . . Gosh, this horse is big.
The interrupter can be extremely irritating. Use the ellipses only when you don't mind your reader feeling just a little irritated at the interruption.
The Bomb, the Exclamation Point
If the world just blew up, use the exclamation point. Otherwise, avoid it. Beginners always use too many!!!!!
EXAMPLES
The world blew up!
The world almost blew up.
The world could blow up?
The Drill Sergeant, the Colon
The colon helps you get to the point fast. When you bring in the colon, your reader stands and salutes.
EXAMPLES
There are three colors of shoes on that shelf: purple, green, and pink.
Buy all the school supplies listed below:
pencils
paper with three holes punched in it a three-ring binder
From Teaching Writing in Middle School. © 1998 Beth Means and Lindy Lindner. Teacher Ideas Press. (800) 237-6124.
Part 2: Polishing to Publish ^ ^ 18 There is a reason I never use colons: I always forget the rules.
If you are going camping, don't forget the essentials: food, warm clothing, and a good book.
Remember, drill sergeants wear people out, so don't wear out your reader with too many colons. In the following example, the punctuation is correct in all the sentences, but the colon completely stops the action. The exclamation point stops it, too, but not as much. The dash and the comma stop it even less. Use the colon only when you want abrupt halts.
EXAMPLE
Hey you: the one with the purple tennis shoes.
Hey you! The one with the purple tennis shoes.
Hey you—the one with the purple tennis shoes.
Hey you, the one with the purple tennis shoes.
From Teaching Writing in Middle School. © 1998 Beth Means and Lindy Lindner. Teacher Ideas Press. (800) 237-6124.
184 ^^^ 6—Editing with Enthusiasm
Activity 6:
Presentation Checklist
I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork.
—Peter De Vries
Some students have strong production values. They have a good sense of design, they like an attractive presentation, and they care about how the finished piece looks. These students are always tempted to skip editing and to begin retyping and tidying up too soon.
To others, the presentation is about as important as a dust bunny under the sofa. Who cares how it looks if it sounds good? For these students, production is a boring, unnecessary chore.
They'd much rather be writing. Still, presentation is an important part of writing. It should be the last thing students do, however. Book designers in publishing houses don't begin their work until the copyeditors have finished, with good reason. Presentation takes a great deal of time all by itself. Making changes after something has been typed (or typeset) always triples the effort.
Because recopying and typing take so much time and energy, students sometimes wear out before they finish. Word-processing software, if available, can be a big help at this point.
Parents can help with typing, but let them know that you don't object. Offering typing services every so often for special pieces relieves students of some of the burden. Typing teachers are sometimes willing to use student pieces as a class project for the typing class.
Asking students to illustrate their pieces provides extra motivation for students who think of writing yet another piece as an oppressive chore. Use the "Presentation Checklist" to help students think through some of their presentation decisions.
Instructions to Students
Congratulations to all of you. You have almost finished writing. Sharing your stories with readers is what writing is all about, but you can't share until you have finished. Readers can't enjoy your stories until the story is neatly recopied or typed. Messy stories are just awful to read. It's like watching a broken television: The picture always gets fuzzy at the best part.
The last step of editing is presentation. It includes anything that you do to make your piece neat, attractive, and easy to read.
Before you begin, you need to consider where your story will be published. If you are submitting stories to teachers or to writing contests, you need to present your story in manuscript form. Manuscripts are plain. They are neatly handwritten, printed, or typed.
They are double-spaced and printed on one side of the page.
The other form of presentation is the galley. Use galleys when your piece will be displayed just as you produce it. The galley can be set up any way you think would be attractive. You can illustrate it with drawings; use different typefaces for titles, headings, and text; and print on both sides of the page to make a booklet. You can single-space, mix typed sections with handwritten sections, and anything else you think would show your work at its best.