ENGLISH 9
Grading Period 5 Week 6: R&J, The Plague,
Punctuation 4/29-3/3
4/29-3/3
Objective
Assignments
HW
Mon
Read Drama;
Research the
Plague
WU: Correcting Fragments, ex. 28 1-5 (Writing
and Grammar pg. 356)
Read Act V, Scene 1
The Plague: art, Giblin article (read and annotate
article)
Article summary
due Wednesday
Tues
Read drama;
research
WU: Correcting Fragments, ex. 28 6-10 (Writing
and Grammar pg. 356)
Read Act V, Scene 2
Finish reading & annotating Giblin
Article summary
due Wednesday
Wed
Read drama
WU: Correcting Fragments, ex. 30 1-5 (Writing
and Grammar pg. 358)
Update & complete study guide
Dramatic Irony
Read Act V, Scene 3
Dramatic Irony
handout
(Workbook page
251)
Thurs
Learn dash
usage
WU: Correcting Fragments, ex. 30 6-10 (Writing
and Grammar pg. 358)
Dash notes
Punctuation Handbook
Fri
WU and comp book quiz
Punctuation Handbook
Movie
The Culprits
From the Toggenburg Bible, 1411
Lancing a Buboe
Medieval Art & the Plague
Medieval Art & the Plague
Bring out your dead!
PUNCTUATION MARK
NOTES
the dashing DASH
--
Punctuation: the dash
Mark: -- (—)
• The dash is used to show
INTERRUPTION in a sentence
• DASH = INTERRUPTION
• Rule #1 A dash indicates a
sudden break or abrupt
change in the flow of a
sentence.
• There was a fight at school today—
two guys fighting over a girl they both
thought was their girlfriend.
• In this example, the interruption
comes at the end of the
sentence, so one dash is
needed.
Rule #1
“If you don’t listen—oh, forget
it—you’ll never figure out this
problem.”
• If the interruption comes in
the middle of the sentence,
a dash is used BEFORE
and AFTER.
• Note that there is a full
sentence if the interruption
is removed: “If you don’t
listen, you’ll never figure
out this problem.”
Who likes dashes?
• POETS LIKE DASHES BECAUSE
•
•
•
•
•
THEY CAN ADD TO THE
MEANING OF A POEM WITHOUT
ADDING ANY MORE WORDS
“breathless” quality
“musical” quality
A way of emphasizing rhythm &
structure
A “jerkiness” that gives extra
interest to the words
In this poem, it gives the sense of
the end of life, the last few ragged
breaths
I heard a Fly buzz (465)
by Emily Dickinson
I heard a Fly buzz – when I died –
The Stillness in the Room
Was like the Stillness in the Air –
Between the Heaves of Storm
The Eyes around – had wrung them dry –
And Breaths were gathering firm
For that last Onset –
when the King Be witnessed –
in the Room –
I willed my Keepsakes –
Signed away
What portions of me be Assignable –
and then it was There interposed a Fly –
With Blue – uncertain stumbling Buzz –
Between the light – and me –
And then the Windows failed –
and then I could not see to see –
Rule #2
• A dash sets an explaining or defining phrase from the
rest of a sentence.
• Sometimes we’ll interrupt ourselves in the middle of a
sentence to add more information. This info is set off by
dashes.
• The symptoms of the plague—vomiting, swollen glands and high fever—
struck quickly and caused death within 2-3 days.
• Note there is a sentence without the interrupted extra
information: “The symptoms of the plague struck quickly
and caused death within 2-3 days.”
• Note what has been added explains what the symptoms
of the plague are: vomiting, swollen glands, high fever
• The added information INTERRUPTS the flow of the
sentence. Without the interruption, dashes would NOT be
used.
• I went to school—elementary school, I mean—in Los Angeles.
Rule #3
#3. A dash marks an
unfinished sentence.
• When we are interrupted in
the middle of a sentence,
it’s shown in writing by
using a dash.
• “You never give me a
chance to—”
• “Jim? Why, he is—” He
stopped talking and went
to thinking.
One dash or two?
• If the interruption comes in the MIDDLE of the sentence, it
must be framed with dashes, so use TWO:
• If it doesn’t rain—a good, hard and steady rain, I mean—we will have to
ration water very soon.
• If the interruption comes at the BEGINNING or END of the
sentence, ONE dash is enough:
• Complaining—that’s what I hate hearing!!
The Dashing Dash-• The dash is a “hip,” edgy punctuation mark
• favored by poets and journalists…
• So versatile, it can work like colons, parentheses,
commas, or semicolons!
• The dash can meet almost all your punctuating needs!