The practice exercises on this page are designed to help you understand the concepts in this chapter more fully. These include both interactive exercises and more complex exercises. The list below offers a variety of interactive practice exercises for Chapter 8, covering the key concepts.
The English language is messy, and many times analyzing for grammatical elements is not always as obvious as the simple examples that we use on the content pages. So to assist your ability to analyze all the different texts you may encounter as you read, we want to offer a few more sample analyses of more difficult texts. For these more complicated examples, we review some or all of the key features discussed in Chapter 8. Please review these examples closely, trying to understand the choices made for the analysis. As always, if you have any questions, please ask your instructor or start a conversation in your work group.
Analyzing for Punctuation – Example #1
Adapted from Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery:
When Marilla had gone, Anne looked around her wistfully. The
whitewashed walls were so painfully bare and staring that she thought
they must ache over their own bareness. The floor was bare, too, except
for a round braided mat in the middle such as Anne had never seen
before. In one corner was the bed, a high, old-fashioned one, with four
dark, low-turned posts. In the other corner was the aforesaid
three-corner table adorned with a fat, red velvet pin-cushion hard
enough to turn the point of the most adventurous pin. Above it hung a
little six-by-eight mirror. Midway between table and bed was the window,
with an icy white muslin frill over it, and opposite it was the
wash-stand. The whole apartment was of a rigidity not to be described in
words, but which sent a shiver to the very marrow of Anne’s bones. With
a sob she hastily discarded her garments, put on the skimpy nightgown
and sprang into bed where she burrowed face downward into the pillow and
pulled the clothes over her head. When Marilla came up for the light
various skimpy articles of raiment scattered most untidily over the
floor and a certain tempestuous appearance of the bed were the only
indications of any presence save her own.
For this example, we’ll identify each punctuation mark using the 9
Basic Rules of Punctuation. First, separate the passage into sentences,
then identify the punctuation marks in each sentence. Remember to pay
attention to context, to function slots, and to who the words are
“hanging out with”:
Punctuation Marks
Analyzing for Punctuation – Example #2
Adapted from Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad:
Forthwith a change came over the waters, and the serenity became
less brilliant but more profound. The old river in its broad reach
rested unruffled at the decline of day, after ages of good service done
to the race that peopled its banks, spread out in the tranquil dignity
of a waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth. We looked at
the venerable stream not in the vivid flush of a short day that comes
and departs for ever, but in the august light of abiding memories. And
indeed nothing is easier for a man who has, as the phrase goes,
“followed the sea” with reverence and affection, than to evoke the great
spirit of the past upon the lower reaches of the Thames. The tidal
current runs to and fro in its unceasing service, crowded with memories
of men and ships it had borne to the rest of home or to the battles of
the sea. It had known and served all the men of whom the nation is
proud, from Sir Francis Drake to Sir John Franklin, knights all, titled
and untitled—the great knights-errant of the sea. It had borne all the
ships whose names are like jewels flashing in the night of time, from
the Golden Hind returning with her rotund flanks full of
treasure, to be visited by the Queen’s Highness and thus pass out of the
gigantic tale, to the Erebus and Terror, bound on other conquests—and that never returned. It had known the ships and the men.
For this example, we’ll identify each punctuation mark using the 9 Basic Rules of Punctuation. Remember to pay attention to context, to function slots, and to who the words are “hanging out with”:
Punctuation Marks
All writers should be reflective enough to understand their strengths and weaknesses as writers, including style and punctuation. This same sentiment should apply to teachers of writing, as well. In this respect, everyone should develop their reflective skills for determining if they make certain errors consistently. In other words, you should recognize patterns of error that you make in order to fix them more effectively. As a teacher, this means that rather than being a copy editor on student drafts and marking every, single error, take a broader perspective to see if you can recognize patterns of error in your students’ writing, both as individuals and as a whole class. This will provide you with more effective opportunities for addressing the biggest or most common punctuation problems that your students might have. On this page, we discuss some of the more common patterns of punctuation errors at the sentence, clause, phrase, and word levels.
Sentence-Level Errors
The three most common sentence-level errors are the run-on sentence, the comma splice, and the sentence fragment.
The run-on sentence is the fusing of two independent
clauses without using proper punctuation (a period or a semicolon) or without using an appropriate structure-class word (coordinator, subordinator, relative, nominal-that, interrogative, or conjunctive adverb) to create a grammatically correct structure.
You should be able to recognize if two (or more) independent clauses are joined incorrectly. NOTE: just because a sentence is loooooooong doesn’t mean that it’s a run-on sentence. A run-on sentence has a very specific definition: when two independent clauses are fused without proper punctuation.
The comma splice is a variation on the run-on in that it incorrectly separates two independent clauses with a comma.
You should be able to recognize if two independent clauses are joined incorrectly.
Finally, the sentence fragment occurs when one of the primary clause constituents (subject or main verb phrase) is missing and it attempts to stand independently. Confusion about nonfinite verb phrases is probably the biggest culprit in creating fragments:
More commonly, a sentence fragment occurs when a dependent clause is punctuated like an independent clause. As you know, a dependent clause cannot stand alone.
Writers sometimes use sentence fragments for rhetorical effect. While they are not grammatically complete clauses, sentence fragments can sometimes be appropriate in the context of the purpose, genre, and audience of a piece of writing. Rhetorically effective and appropriate sentence fragments typically occur more often in fictional and literary prose, rather than non-fictional and technical prose. In the example below from Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own, the sentence fragments function like indirect discourse to illustrate the yelling figures: “And as I watched her lengthening out for the test, I saw, but hoped that she did not see, the bishops and the deans, the doctors and the professors, the patriarchs and the pedagogues all at her shouting warning and advice. You can’t do this and you shan’t do that! Fellows and scholars only allowed on the grass! Ladies not admitted without a letter of introduction! Aspiring and graceful female novelists this way! So they kept at her like the crowd at a fence on the race-course, and it was her trial to take her fence without looking to right or left.”
Dangling and Misplaced ModifiersA dangling modifier is a modifier that does not refer clearly to what it modifies. Dangling modifiers include dangling participles and dangling infinitives. To use a nonfinite verb phrase as a modifier, you can only delete the subject of the nonfinite verb if it is the same as the subject of the verb in the main clause. Here are some obvious examples:
To fix dangling modifiers, either rearrange the main clause so that its subject is the same as the deleted subject, or supply the subject for the dangling verb form.
A misplaced modifier is a modifier so positioned that it is difficult to decide what it modifies. Since nonfinite verb phrases and prepositional phrases can move around in a sentence, there is the potential for modifying more than one constituent. For example:
Fixing the problem is not always easy because simply moving the phrase around in the sentence oftentimes produces awkward alternatives:
To fix misplaced modifiers, revise the sentence to clarify which constituent the modifier refers to. If necessary, change the form of the modifier (e.g. change a prepositional phrase into a participle phrase, or a present-participle phrase into a relative clause).
In conclusion, remember that a misplaced modifier means that the referent is present in the sentence but the modifier is in the wrong place because it is not close enough to the referent to make sense. A dangling modifier means that the referent is not even present in the sentence. This is an important distinction to be able to make.
Misuse of PronounsFinally, a common pronoun usage error is using only masculine or feminine pronouns as generic pronouns to refer to anyone, male or female, in a group of mixed or unknown sex. This sexist use of pronouns can seem to diminish or deny the presence of an entire gender. Traditional usage calls for writers to always use the masculine pronoun
when referring to someone of unknown gender or a group of mixed gender. Some writers choose instead to always use the feminine pronoun. This leads to sentences such as:
The simplest way to fix sexist pronoun usage is to revise sentences to eliminate the need for a singular, gendered pronoun. Change pronoun antecedents to non-gendered plurals:
A second common pronoun usage error is using singular and plural pronouns in conjunction, which can lead to number-agreement problems. When a singular indefinite pronoun is the antecedent, writers commonly follow it with a plural pronoun. The use of the plural pronoun is often an attempt to avoid sexist use of the masculine he/his or feminine she/her. In many respects, this is an acceptable option, and one accepted by a variety of style guides, but it can also lead to grammatical number-agreement errors:
For the sake of precision, there are several easy ways to fix number-agreement errors. First, you can change the antecedent to a plural, so that both antecedent and pronoun are plural. Second, if you know that everyone in the group referred to is either male or female, you can use the appropriately gendered pronoun. Third, you can replace
the plural pronoun with both singular, gendered pronouns.
In general, many of these common errors occur because writers do not take the time (or are not given the time) to edit their writing closely. Writers should always set aside adequate time to edit for appropriate punctuation and consistent use of all language elements.
Punctuation is the use of conventional (and agreed-upon) marks to guide
readers through our written text. As writers, a primary goal should
always be to guide readers through the text as effectively and
efficiently as possible. While an ability to guide readers through the
text effectively includes a range of higher-order considerations,
proper punctuation can also help to guide readers by slowing them down,
or speeding them up, or focusing them on a particular passage, or
highlighting a key point, or indicating when one idea is complete
and another is beginning. While commas are, of course, present in the 9
Basic Rules of Punctuation, there are other important considerations
when using commas as a writer.
Where Commas Might Be A Matter of Style or Convention
Case 1 – Commas in a series of adjectives modifying a single noun phrase:
Example: Although it is made of thin, delicate strands, a spider’s web is not easily broken.
The Chicago Manual of Style refers to these as coordinate
adjectives, and says they are “traditionally separated by commas,” but
that in the “open” style, the commas are often omitted. So according to
Chicago, this comma is OPTIONAL.
The MLA Handbook says this comma is REQUIRED, unless the first adjective is modifyiing a unit:
This is a common research technique. (research technique is acting as a unit).
Case 2 – Commas in a series before a final coordinating conjunction.
Example: This sweater comes in three colors: slate, aqua, and burgundy.
The MLA Handbook and the Chicago Manual of Style agree that the final comma before the and is REQUIRED.
The AP Stylebook, on the other hand, would omit it:
I ordered a burger, fries and a coke.
Do you want vanilla, chocolate or strawberry ice cream?
Case 1 is a matter of style: the good writer can choose whether
the comma interrupts the flow or offers a necessary pause. Case 2 is a
matter of convention: the responsible writer will learn the convention
used in her particular context.
Where Commas Are Absolutely Incorrect
Case 1 – Never put a comma between mandatory sentence constituents of the 5 basic clause types.
Example: The cat, jumped when the firecracker exploded.
NEVER between a subject and a verb
Example: The car, is in the shop.
NEVER between a linking verb and complement
Example: We expect, that we will see you tomorrow.
NEVER between a transitive verb and object
Case 2 – Never put a single comma between any two elements that are necessary constituents of a phrase or clause.
Example: Decked out with a host of sensors and cameras
that, can detect what is around the vehicle, self-driving cars can
operate without anyone behind the wheel.
NEVER between the relative pronoun and the rest of the relative clause.
Example: Jane was not totally happy with, her new cell phone.
NEVER between a preposition and its object.
Case 3 – Commas may, however, come in pairs when they are
setting off a non-restrictive element or conjunctive adverb anywhere in
the sentence.
To extend this point, all dependent clauses can be classified as restrictive or nonrestrictive.
Punctuation is the
use of conventional (and agreed-upon) marks to guide readers through
our written text. We begin with a common set of simple rules for
punctuation based on the concepts that we have discussed throughout
this textbook. In other words, we believe that punctuating sentences
should always be based on an understanding that sentences are always
made up of clauses, phrases, and words. We have organized our basic
punctuation rules with this in mind.
To begin, we believe that punctuation, despite its clear rules, is
also rhetorical, so we don’t consider these rules as wholly prescriptive
(or “written in stone”). Punctuation should also be understood in context. The
rules described below are by no means comprehensive, but we believe
that these basic rules will cover 90% of the writing that you do,
and understanding them will help you make considered choices for the
other 10%, as well as for other stylistic choices. In other words, these
9 Basic Rules of Punctuation should serve as a starting point for
understanding the ways that punctuation can be considered a rhetorical
choice.
Rule 1 – Independent clause. Independent clause. Example: The telephone rang. He rushed to answer it.
A period is an end stop and the primary marker for separating independent clauses. So any time that you see a period, you should identify it as Rule 1. And nothing else. This would also include other end punctuation, such as the question mark and the exclamation point. Rule 1.
Rule 2 – Independent clause; independent clause.
Example: The dog barked; the letter carrier ran.
A semicolon can act like a soft period and separate independent clauses.
Rule 3 – Independent clause; conjunctive adverb, independent clause. Example: Parking is scarce; therefore, many drivers park illegally. Example (variation): Parking is scarce; many drivers, therefore, park illegally.
While Rule 2 is a semicolon that separates independent clauses, Rule 3 separates independent clauses with a conjunctive adverb. If a conjunctive adverb is not present, then it is NOT Rule 3. But Rule 3 requires two forms of punctuation: the semicolon after the first independent clause, and before the conjunctive adverb, and a comma after the conjunctive adverb, which signals the beginning of the next independent clause. Remember, as an adverb, the conjunctive adverb can move around in the second independent clause, but the semicolon still signals the end of the first independent clause.
Rule 4 – Independent clause, coordinating conjunction independent clause. Example: Jenny ran to first base, but the shortstop threw her out.
A coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS) when preceded by a comma is a KEY MARKER for independent clauses. Remember, a coordinating conjunction ALWAYS coordinates like items. In this rule, the coordinating conjunction coordinates independent clauses. As coordinated clauses, it’s important to remember that the comma always occurs before the coordinator.
Rule 5 – Dependent clause, independent clause. Example: When the clock struck twelve, the mouse ran down.
When a dependent clause precedes an independent clause, you signal the end of the dependent clause with a comma. While this occurs most commonly at the beginning of a sentence, with (normally) an adverbial subordinate clause occupying the introductory position, followed by an independent clause, this pattern can happen anywhere in a sentence. So this introductory clause (or concluding clause) should be punctuated as a non-restrictive clause. Rule 5A (variation) – Independent clause dependent clause. Example: The mouse ran down when the clock struck twelve. Example (variation): The mouse ran down, when the clock struck twelve.
A variation on Rule 5 is when a dependent clause follows an independent clause without punctuation. Because this dependent clause is adverbial (most often a subordinate clause), it is not the same thing as a restrictive clause, and for this reason, when a dependent clause follows an independent clause, convention does not require a comma to separate the clauses. However, stylistically, you can make a choice to use a comma to separate the clauses for a variety of reasons: pace, emphasis, non-restriction, etc. Using a comma to separate an independent clause from a dependent clause in this context is not grammatically incorrect.
Rule 6 – Adverbial nonfinite verb phrase or prepositional phrase, independent clause. Example: To do well in school, you must study hard. Example: For success in school, you must study hard. Example: You must study hard, for perceived success in school.
Similar to the introductory clause, an adverbial nonfinite verb phrase or prepositional phrase in an introductory position normally calls for the use a comma to separate it from the independent clause. It is important, however, that you recognize the difference between an introductory adverbial clause (Rule 5) and an introductory adverbial phrase (Rule 6). While some offer a word-count rule for this introductory phrase (i.e., “Use a comma to separate an introductory phrase that is more than four words long”), the most effective (and most grammatical), is to get into the habit of using a comma whenever you use an introductory adverbial nonfinite verb phrase or prepositional phrase. Similarly, if an adverbial non-finite verb phrase or prepositional phrase concludes a sentence, the phrase can be preceded by a comma.
Rule 7 – Independent, nonrestrictive dependent clause or
phrase, clause. OR – nonrestrictive clause or phrase – OR
(nonrestrictive clause or phrase)
Example: Subordinate clauses, because they are adverbial, or non-restrictive, can move about in a sentence.
Example: Jane’s father, who is in his eighties, is an octogenarian.
Example: Jane’s father – well into his eighties – is an octogenarian.
Example: Jane’s father (pushing ninety) is an octogenarian.
A non-restrictive clause or phrase, in contrast to restrictive, is
extra or supplemental information. Since this information is not
required, you signal its supplemental status with paired commas (placing
a comma before and after the non-restrictive clause or phrase) or
paired dashes or parentheses.
This rule applies to all dependent clauses, including
non-restrictive adjectival relative clauses or nominal clauses, but the
adverbial subordinate clause is the most common, since it can move
about in a sentence. This means that if you place a subordinate clause
between the subject and the main verb phrase of another clause, you
must set it apart with paired commas (a comma before and after the
subordinate clause).
Finally, a stylistic consideration is the use of different
punctuation marks that function like a set of paired commas. While
paired commas is the accepted and conventional mark, you can also use a
double dash or a parentheses to achieve the same effect. Which set of
marks you use should be a considered choice, as each can serve
different ends for guiding your readers through your text.
Rule 8 – Independent clause: (to introduce a list or a restatement of the previous clause)
Example: The girl’s life was extremely hectic: school, work, caregiving, and studying.
Example: The girl’s life was extremely hectic: mornings
were spent in school; afternoons were spent at work; evenings were
spent taking care of her invalid grandmother; and nights were spent
studying.
Example: The girl’s life was extremely hectic: she was on the move constantly from morning to night.
A colon most commonly signals a list or restatement of an independent clause.
Rule 9 – Commas in a series
Example: The girl’s life was extremely hectic: school, work, caregiving, and studying.
Example: The girl’s life was extremely hectic: mornings
were spent in school; afternoons were spent at work; evenings were
spent taking care of her invalid grandmother; and nights were spent
studying.
In a list or series (words, phrases or clauses, you
separate simple items using commas, and separate complex items (such as
a list of clauses following a colon) using semicolons.
As we said, these rules by no means cover all possibilities for
punctuation in the English language, but they will probably cover 90%
percent of them. More importantly, they are adaptable and offer a base
for punctuating effectively.
This chapter begins to situate grammar and punctuation within the writing process and promotes grammar from a rhetorical perspective. For too long people have mischaracterized grammar and punctuation as rigid and prescriptive, something mysterious (possibly magical), and that a knowledge of “grammar” somehow transcends all other language considerations, especially in writing and writing instruction. For us, grammar and punctuation has a place in writing and writing instruction, but grammar is NOT writing and writing instruction. There are many who would like to believe that grammar is a single, unchanging entity: that the grammar and punctuation of American English is the same as it has always been and will be the same on into the future. But language is a messy business, constantly in flux, constantly changing for good and for ill. But, because most of us want stability in our language, this messiness leads some to mystify grammar and punctuation: something we believe but cannot articulate, something to apply based on a “gut feeling,” something we leave to the experts and the pedants. Many of us learned our first grammar lessons at home, informal as most of them probably were: “Don’t say ain’t!” “Don’t use contractions!” But these lessons were too often inconsistent both in delivery and in usage. Our next exposure to grammar came in elementary school: formal, acontextual forays doing battle with worksheets and deciphering the red-inked code of the teacher-expert scratched across our (often first-draft) writing assignments. As we moved into junior and senior high school, the mystery of grammar and punctuation became deeper and more complex, especially as our own language use became more informal and much different from those of our parents’ generation. The answers to all of our grammar and punctuation questions always seemed to be just out of our grasp, even though the teacher (that shaman) seemingly had the answers we so desperately desired hidden within that red pen. And grammar and punctuation became the most important consideration in our writing lives because grammar and punctuation seemed to always be the focus of comments on our writing. But once again, these lessons were too often inconsistent both in delivery and in usage. As the authors of this textbook, we believe that the basis of this mystery occurs, unfortunately, because over the years too many of our English teachers at the primary and secondary level have had too little training in writing instruction and too little training in grammar and punctuation instruction. But they were still expected to be the expert in the classroom, and this expertise was delivered with a certainty borne from position rather than understanding. To complicate matters further for the English teacher, responding to student writing is a complex enterprise. Responding to one student paper is hard work. When you multiply that times 150 papers, day in and day out, teachers have always looked to simplify their lives. Thus responding to student writing became dependent on the mystery of grammar and punctuation because grammar and punctuation, inexplicably, made the teacher’s response to writing easier, and seemingly more concrete:
In other words, grammar and punctuation appears objective; grammar and punctuation appears explicit; grammar and punctuation makes the response to writing quantitative and scientific. A writing teacher can find as many grammar and punctuation errors as necessary, assign a numerical value to each, and give the paper a score. Unfortunately, this allowed teachers to avoid the messy, time-consuming, difficult (and subjective) scoring that comes with responding to higher-order issues in writing. Therefore, in this way, grammar and punctuation has become synonymous with writing for far too many people across the country. This leads to a key misrepresentation of grammar and punctuation: learning grammar and punctuation makes you a better writer. For this false claim (and others), grammar and punctuation has been exalted among the practices of writing, placed on high without evidence or reason. But we make no false promises. This chapter will further your understanding of the complexity of language and the various grammatical and punctuation choices amidst that complexity. This chapter, in particular, will help you understand how to punctuate correctly (what the choices are and why one choice is more correct than another). But it will not, alone, make you a better “writer.” To be a better writer, you need to understand, both practically and theoretically, a wide range of writerly skills that go far beyond mere grammar and punctuation.