Sentence Structure Review Sheet #8: Punctuation
1. Semicolon – use between independent clauses not joined by a conjunction
(I went to the concert; Madonna did not care about me.)
-- between items in a series if the items contain commas
(The top scorers in the game have the following totals:
Bryant, 70; Iverson, 56; Radley, 2.
2.
Colon – use to mean “note what follows”
( Please bring the following:___________________________________.)
-- use between independent clauses when the second restates the first.
(The graduate was nervous about leaving her job; she felt secure there.)
-- use in certain conventional situations
 3:30 AM, Genesis 4:2, The American Scholar 26:3, Dear Sir:
3. Apostrophes – to form the possessive case of a singular noun, add ‘s: (boy’s hat)
-- to form the possessive of a plural noun ending in s, add only ‘(girls’ hats)
*** Note: Personal pronouns in the possessive case (his, hers, its, ours, yours,
theirs and whose) do not need apostrophes.
4. Hyphens – use with compound numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine and with
fractions used as adjectives (two-thirds majority)
-- use with the prefixes ex- self-, and the suffix – elect (midSeptember, mayor-elect)
-- hyphenate compound adjectives when they precede the word they
modify (well-known actor)
5. Dash – use to indicate an abrupt break in thought
(The way the argument started was stupid --- but why bring it up again? --- The problem
has been solved.)
-- use to set off parenthetical material ( The law states that only one person – and
that is the President --- can appoint justices to the Supreme Court.)
6. Parenthesis – use to enclose informative or explanatory matter that is added to a
sentence but is not considered of major importance
ex. The term bank holiday (in Europe it means legal holiday) refers to the
closing of all banks by FDR in 1933.
** Note Any material enclosed in parenthesis can be omitted without hurting the basic
meaning and construction of the sentence
** Punctuation marks are used within parentheses when they belong with the
parenthetical matter. Ex. My mother’s favorite expression (“Oh Brother!”) is outdated.
7. Quotation Marks – YOU HAVE MANY OF THESE RULES IN YOUR NOTES ON
CITATIONS!! But remember …..
 Begin direct quotations with capital letters.
 Commas and periods are always placed inside closing marks; semicolons and
colons are always placed outside closing marks
 Question marks and exclamation points are placed inside the closing quotation
marks if they belong with the quotation; otherwise, they are placed outside


Brackets enclose explanations within parenthesis. Ex. As the noted author
explained, “Much of the writing by the Irish has been about the effects of the
Seventeen [the Irish Revolution of 1917] on the young people.”
Use to enclose titles of chapters, articles, other parts of books or magazines, short
poems, short stories and songs.
*** Note: Underline titles of books, magazines, newspapers, works of
art, ships, etc.
Sentence Structure #3: THE BELOVED COMMA
** The highlighted rules below are the most important comma rules of all.
RULE 1: Use a comma to set off information that is not essential to the structure of the
sentence.
 Clive Owen, who currently stars with Jennifer Aniston, is a good actor.
RULE 2: Use a comma to highlight the location of the subject when it follows introductory
information.
 Because Mark heard the clock strike 7:00 AM, he hurried to his bus.
RULE 3: Use a comma to separate sentences (independent clauses) joined by a
coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, yet).
 The clock struck 9:00, and the werewolf decided to order a pizza.
4.
Use a comma to separate words or word groups in a series.
 We bought grapes, bread, milk, and cheese.
5.
Use a comma to separate two or more adjectives that come before a noun. Only
use commas if the conjunction “and” makes sense in their place.
 A tall, thin man answered the door.
6.
Use a comma to set off a noun of direct address.
 Mr. Bob, can you please move your cow?
7.
Use commas to set off transitional expressions (such as however, thus,
consequently, therefore) whether they begin, end, or interrupt a sentence.
 Therefore, the regular programs will be set back an hour.
8.
Use commas to set off geographical names and dates.
 We lived in Little Rock, Arkansas, from March 12, 1975, to June 15, 1978.
9.
Use commas to set off a person’s name from a degree, title, or affiliation.
 Maya Jackson, D.D.S., is in practice with Norris Fate, D.D.S., M.S.
The New York Times
November 1, 2013
What the Well-Dressed Warrior Wears
By KATHRYN SHATTUCK
Katniss Everdeen as fashion’s It Girl? That’s how the costume designer Trish Summerville imagined the
teenage warrior portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence in “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”
As a previous
victor, she must be camera-ready as Panem prepares for the 75th games.
In Suzanne Collins’s novels, a deadly competition is staged annually by the wealthy Capitol to punish the
Panem districts over which it rules. The trilogy and the franchise’s first film adaptation last year set the
general tone. But a new team, Ms. Summerville and the director Francis Lawrence, put their own visual
imprint on the next one, due Nov. 22. “Considering how the Capitol and Panem ingest and digest capitalism
and consumerism, and all the parties and galas they go to, they change fashions more quickly than each
season,” she said.
Katniss’s outfits ___ gowns of feathers, accessories in rough-hewed fibers _____ indicate her ascent in the
Capitol while evoking her home in the impoverished District 12. Her male comrades, Peeta and Finnick,
received magnetic, matinee ___ idol looks. And dressing Effie Trinket required tapping Alexander McQueen
and House of Worth for statement pieces, including shoes that forced Trinket literally to stay on her toes.
I DO, I DON’T For her grand entrance to the 75th Hunger Games kickoff, Katniss dons a fantasy wedding
dress by the Jakartan designer Tex Saverio ___ the one she might have worn had her nuptials to Peeta not
been quashed by the games.
“I wanted to have a subliminal feel of flames and feathers to keep her the Girl on Fire while also representing
the Mockingjay,” Ms. Summerville said. Mr. Saverio’s froth of layered organza features a flame-inspired
silver corset and fabric peacock feathers sprouting at the waist ___As Katniss twirls, the gown erupts, and
an iridescent Mockingjay dress rises from the ash. Using images of a mockingbird, blue jay, pheasant and
peacock ____ Ms. Summerville worked with an illustrator and graphic designer to create patterns of
feathers and wings, which she then had printed on chiffon and built into the Mockingjay dress.
DYED IN THE WOOL Katniss wears a one____shouldered, cowl-neck sweater vest, almost like a shield,
over her father’s leather coat. The piece, made by Maria Dora, a Los Angeles knitwear designer, is meant to
see Katniss through summer, spring and winter.
“I wanted to bundle her up a bit and give her something that had a feel of the Capitol,” Ms. Summerville said,
“but still with keeping in those nubby, big natural fibers — something, say, her mom could have made for
her.” Like a security blanket ____ the piece accompanies Katniss on her hunting expeditions and even to
bed on the Victory Tour. “It’s trying to marry both sides of her duality,” Ms. Summerville said, “having her
heart at home but also fitting into the Capitol world without selling out.”
SPRINGTIME IN PANEM When the Capitol escort Effie Trinket ____Elizabeth Banks _____ returns to
District 12 for the 75th reaping, she is adorned with monarch butterflies — on her dress, an actual Alexander
McQueen couture design____ her hair____ even her eyelashes.
“In her mind, it’s springtime,” Ms. Summerville said. “Her chrysalis has turned into this butterfly, she gets to
come out again, she gets to see the kids.” She wanted Effie to look uncomfortable. “I think it’s her penance to
herself,” she said, explaining that Effie loves all the grandeur, but that “she’s also really conflicted about her
role in calling the kids up for the reapings.” Effie’s waist is cinched a little too tightly, her heels are a little too
high, and her clothes are nearly impossible to sit in.
MAN UP “This time around we made Peeta’s character much more masculine,” Ms. Summerville said. She
laughed as she recounted meeting Josh Hutcherson, the actor who plays him, and saw how athletic he was.
“I was like, ‘We have to dude you up.' ” Using jackets and more structured pieces that amped up his already
muscular physique ______ she accentuated his rapid maturation between the first and second films, and
hinted at the emotional and sexual allure that drew Katniss to him initially. Ms. Summerville used a lot of
subdued greens in Peeta’s wardrobe “because Katniss’s favorite color is green,” she said, “so subliminally,
he’s always trying to woo her.”