WRIT2250 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Semicolon, Vocative Case, Dash
Lecture 9 – 14/5/18 – Punctuation
What’s the poit of putuatio
- Reveal structure
- Clarify meaning
- Modulate pace or rhythm
Punctuation should
- Consistently indicate connection (be used purposefully)
- Quietly do its job, be visible only to punctuation vigilantes
4 main types
- Stoppers (comma, full stop)
- Linkers
- Intruders
- Intoners (exclamation & question marks)
Use a full stop or period:
- To end a sentence
- After a iitial i soeody’s ae
Use a question mark:
- At the end of a direct question/interrogative clause
- Not after an indirect question
- You may omit it following a request or a rhetorical question
Use an exclamation mark
- At the end of an exclamative or a sentence indication high emotion
Use round brackets/parentheses
- To infer non-essential information into a sentence
- To give citations in academic prose
Use square brackets
- to insert information or explanation into quoted material
Dashes
- We use three kinds
o Smallest is dash or hyphen
o The en dash sits in the middle
o The Em dash is the largest
- The dash or hyphen
o Is used to form compound nouns e.g free-for-all; or compound verbs e.g spot-check
o In compound adjectives or modifiers e.g 320-odd, pre-existing, non-atie (ut do’t
hyphenate compounds containing –ly adverbs e.g well-prepared speaker vs poorly
prepared speaker)
o The Macquarie dictionary is the last word on hyphens
- The en dash
o To represet a rage or spa he you’re ot usig the ords fro/to or
between/and e.g see pages 5-14 (The summary goes from page 5 to 14)
o To show relationships of connection e.g the student-tutor relationship, the Sydney-
Melbourne flight
o To form compound modifiers with open compounds e.g Pulitzer Prize-winning critic;
the pre-World War II years
- The Em dash
o Instead of a comma pair or round brackets e.g the case – which became widely
known through the podcast – has been reopened (stronger break than comma, but
not as strong as brackets)
o To set off an aside e.g the essay was insightful – well done.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Quietly do its job, be visible only to punctuation vigilantes. At the end of a direct question/interrogative clause. You may omit it following a request or a rhetorical question. At the end of an exclamative or a sentence indication high emotion. Use square brackets to insert information or explanation into quoted material. We use three kinds: smallest is dash or hyphen, the en dash sits in the middle, the em dash is the largest. Is used to form compound nouns e. g free-for-all; or compound verbs e. g spot-check. In compound adjectives or modifiers e. g 320-odd, pre-existing, non-(cid:374)ati(cid:448)e ((cid:271)ut do(cid:374)"t hyphenate compounds containing ly adverbs e. g well-prepared speaker vs poorly prepared speaker: the macquarie dictionary is the last word on hyphens. Melbourne flight: to form compound modifiers with open compounds e. g pulitzer prize-winning critic; the pre-world war ii years. Instead of a colon (to announce something) e. g good writers care about one thing their reader.
