Last week in class, my crazy (syn. awesome) English professor decided to celebrate National Punctuation Day (the 24th of September) by asking each of us our favorite punctuation mark and to further elaborate as to why we favored it. Now, it should be noted that I was positively delighted to discover that a day so suited to my particular tastes annually occurs only two days after my actual birthday. So, naturally, I thought it might be a fun item of interest to discuss! : )
I actually had quite the hard time choosing just one myself. So, without further ado, here are my absolute favorites in order of preference:
1) The Comma [,]
Not so very original? Perhaps. Fantastically overused by little ole' me all the same? Most definitely. Anytime, anywhere. Need a moment to breathe, a dramatic pause, or yet another serpentine sentence? The comma's got your back. I trace back this literary Achilles' heel of mine to when I first became obsessed with Victorian-era literature with all its metaphorical mountains of verbosity, flowery prose, and notorious run-on sentences.
2) The Ellipsis [...]
No, this is not meant to refer to the stages of the moon nor the vastly overrated work of a Mormon madwoman's vampiric fantasies. This is a lovely mark of punctuation that allows the writer to move smoothly from one sentence to another, blending them together as a continuation of thought or stream of consciousness, even tapering off at the end of this rather drawn-out sentence in order to suggest that you probably already know where this argument is heading without me having to write another word about it...
3) Parentheses [(...)]
Oh, the thought you wish to interject mid-sentence that has the ability to reveal more or less (depending) on what you're trying to get across to the reader. It's like a cloaked statement, one that is hidden and removed from the rest of the sentence, but intrinsically linked to it as it directly pertains to the subject being discussed. Never underestimate the parentheses: although the information contained within may only be supplemental, it's probably just as (if not more so) important than the meaning contained in the words outside them.
4) The Colon [:]
The device that allows you to make a direct statement, and then elaborate on it immediately. Endlessly useful, I use these babies a lot more than I probably ought.
5) The Dash [--]
Inserted far too many commas, semi-colons, and ellipses? The dash is here to help you out. Fellow comma addicts -- don't be afraid of this little guy! Throw some variety into your punctuation crock and shake it up with a dash of... Well, you know what I mean.
6) The Quotation Mark ["..."]
Oh, quotes: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" ... Need I say more?
7) The Semi-colon [;]
I'm trying to get on better terms with this one, actually. For the longest time I avoided the poor thing like the plague without a clue as to its proper usage! We intend to change this by working on ironing out the little kinks in our budding relationship; inviting comma to join us for a house party is one of the many bonding experiences currently under consideration.
~*~
If you would like to learn more about NPD, or just the fun little in's-and-out's of punctuation in general, feel free to follow this link to an informative website. ~> http://www.nationalpunctuationday.com/.
All my love and a pile of commas,
Torey
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